The Washington herald., 1922-02-14
By ROBERT EDGREN.

L see Johnny kilbane prowlinS
around looking for a chance to
pick up a featherweight champion
ship bout. Johnny doesn't commit
himself. but the promoters say all
he wants is to have the other fell
low weigh in at the old feather
weight limit. 122 pounds ringside,
while Johnny. as champion and die
tator, doesn't weigh in at all. Un-
der these circumstances Johnny
doesn't care a whoop whom they
match him with.
He oughtn't to care. Not weigh
ing in Johnny would be as much a
featherweight as Jack Dempsey is
a toy balloon.
Chicago has the right idea about
running wrestling matches, enforc-
ing decisions in all bouts, two falls
out of three. and the referee to
render a decision and pick a win
ner in case there are no falls.
Draws eliminated and all that
sort of thing.
The only way to handle wrest-
ling is without gloves. Chicago
has had more unfortunate expert
ences with the mat game than any
other city in the country, possibly
excepting New York.
For years Chicago was the wrest
ler's paradise, and the wrestling
trust pulled off many a crooked
match and took many a big gate
without delivering the genuine
goods. The last great fiasco was
the Gotch- -Hackenschmidt match
with a gate of s104,000. There has
been others since that time, OF
course, but nothing on so huge a
scale.
These are. hard days for the
wrestling trust, with Chicago, New
York and other cities beginning to
pay some attention to wrestling.
officially. 1t was pretty soft when
promoters and wrestlers could do
as they pleased, and laugh at the
public afterward.
They haven't barred Johnny Will
son from Wall Street But IL he
goes on playing a game he knows
even less about than he does of
boxing he'll bar himself automatic
ally. It's a game you can't play
without the chips.
The trouble with Fred Fulton is
that he can't fight if the other fell
low insists upon doing his share
Of the hitting. II Fred could stop
into the ring absolutely assured
that the gent in the opposite cor
ner would come out and hold his
hands down at his sides Fred would
soon be champion of the world.
But that s. his only chance.
Fulton has everything but a fight
ing heart This isn't anything new
in the ring. q. =
Al Reich was built like, battle
cruiser. He was a fine athlete, and
where he wasn't expected to take
blows as well as give them he
looked like a world beater.
It's hard to describe this peculiar
characteristic. 1t isn't exactly lack
of courage, for Reich would stand
up to a hammering long after he
had stopped fighting back. He was
game to take IT." So is Fulton.
but when he is hit he loses all ag-
gressiveness. Gus Rubin. the Akron
giant, was troubled with the same
thing to a less degree. He would
HSnt ike a SIreak until ne was
hard hit. and then stand doggedly
up against a beating without fight
ing back. Other fighters, like Nc
Govern, Britt. Nelson. Leonard, Kill
bane. wolgast. and that lot of ring
gamecoeks always fought harder
when they were in danger. They
had the true fighting temperament
I've noticed the same thing often
in college sports Some of the
finest athletes in Arnerica-men
who would run themselves out to
the last ounce of their endurance
and fall as they crossed the finish
line-couldn't play football. They
had courage. but in a matter OF
personal contact with other men
they couldn't do their best.
Everard Thompson. of Princeton
for instance, the great all-around
athlete, came out for football and
failed to make good, He was a
beautiful specimen of an athlete.
with the physical ability to do any
thing that any man could do on the
Cridiron Yet. he Couldn't unaasura