New-York tribune., 1922-12-17

Smith, the challenger, In a fifteen TOT
The bout, which should be one Of the
takes place on Friday night, despite
the Jersey Boxing Commission 70 pr
The fight marks the greatest oppor-'
tunity Of Midget Smiths remarkable
career and that ne will make q dssper-
ate effort 70 wrest the bsntamweight
crown from Joe Lyneh's venerable brow
gees without saying. The Midget has
trained for this battle a. he never
trained before, and he said yesterday
that he would have no excuses 70 offer
N he fails 70 demOlish tho hard.hitting
vest sider The boys are expected %
enter the ring at rs pounds, which Is
no easy task for either Of them.
II Lynch loses the ehampiorship on
Friday night IL will be the second timc
that the title has slipped away from
him. He lost II once 20 Pete Herman,
who subsequently relinquished Il %
Johnny qua, o. Jersey CITY, and he lost
Il 10 Lynch last sumner IN bout at
the New York Yelodrome. The scrap
at the Garden this week will be Midget
Smiths first real shot At the throne,
although he has always ranked amoag
the top notchers u the bsntamweight
division. While Pete Herman was still
close 70 his best form the Midget
handed him . severe plastering IN Mad
ison Square Garden, but AZ that time
Pete was not the champion.
Lynch Likely To BE Farohte
Lynch one Of the hardest hitting barr
l.. Al arfN1 nW0ha kIU
he ring on Friday night fayofite IA
the betting as behts title holderi but
there arc many experts who would not
be AZ all surprised to see the odds
fayoriug Smith before the bout has
gore many rounds. Those holding THE
view are Of the opinion that Lynch has
seen his best days and is due 10 be top
pied over.
Lynch will show IN his next fight Ia
AZ difficult "a trying % foreteli the
sort OF weather that will prevail when
the next baseball season opens. Joe
Is an in-and-Outer II there ever was
one. When he s good he 10 very, very
good and when he 10 bad he ie rot
ten. In his last appearances at madi-
son Square Garden Joe's performances
was so disappointing that the Boxing
Commission told him he couldn't box
around these parts any more until he
had ro-established his prestige, All OF
which nettled his manager, Eddie Mead
very considerably. In that matcn, when
was not for the bsntGmweight title,
due 10 the fact that both boys we're
overweight, Lynch's opponent Ess Jack
Wolf, Of Cleveland.
However, Lynch took the commits
sion's advice and HE'D himself 20 the
tall and uncut, where he met several
bantams Of mediocre cRliber None
Of these matches, 50 far ss the writer
has been able 10 learn, gaw Lynch dis
play anything like the form that
made him famous. None OF his oppo-
nents possessed anything like the class
Of Midget Smith. .,
Lynch, evidently aware that he Is
up against one Of the toughest assign
ments Of his long and varied career,
has been training faithfully and will
probably enter the ring against smith
In first class condition. He Is reported
10 have rediscovered his right hand,
and II this is true the Midget VIII DO
we'll 20 KEEP an eye on that deadly
weapon.
Battle May Preeipitate Trouble
The Smi.h-Lyneh affair has emerged
out Of a sea OF trials and tribulations
and there Is every prospect that con-
siderable trouble may Icy In its wake,
as there are already rumora the bat.
tie may cause a breaking on OF dlpio-
natie relations between the New YORK
and New Jersey boxing eommissions.
The Jersey commission has succeeded
In keeping Smith idle for moro than
three months and apparently Is dong
everything In It's power 10 prevent him
from meeting l. nch, which is an
honor the Jerseyites believe should fall
20 Irish Johnny Curtin.
Curtin and Smith we're matched some
three months ago, but Smith, due 20
an injured hand, was forced 20 can.
eel the engagement. This 80 ineensed
the Jersey boxing authorities, that
they slapped a six months suspension
on tho blond-haired, blue-eyed New
Yorker. Under a working agreement
with Jersey, the New York commits
sion took similar action, although
there seemed to be ample evidence that
Smiths hand was In no condition for
use In the ring. Later, Smith agreed
10 meet Curtin, the bout being set
FOR December I In Jersey City.
The Jersey Commission announced
that Il would lift the ban on Smith
lust as soon as he had carried out his
engagement with Curtin. Shortly be.
fore the date set for the match Curtin
cancelled Il on the ground that he had
suffered an injury In a recent fight
with Danny Edwards, the colored ban
tam. Innsmuch as Smith was ready
TO 20 through with the match and
because the postponement was no fault
Of his the New York commission de-
cided that he had suffered long enough
and declared that he could light In
this state, even though the jersey
suspension still stands against him.
Smiths only hght before taking on
lynch has been q bout with Frankie
DaIy. the staten Island bsntanlEslgnt, y - { p