The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-08-04
ONLY ONE SOLDIER TITLE HOLDER M FIGHT RING LEFT
Criqui's Defeat Leaves Joe Lynch As Only Remain
 ing Ex-SoIdier Champ
Fly WESTBROO< PEGLER heased Wire to The Age-Hersldb

NEW TORY, August 3,-The last one of the soldiers who fought in the war and lived to win titles in the safer and sauer and far more lucra- tive prize fight business of the last few years has now been turned back. defeated. Eugene Criqui will sail for France in few days, an eX- champion within a few weeks after his accession to the featherweig title, ring championship that he tried to defend as bravcly as he cluns to his musket in the war.
 Joe Lynch has never been ex- plotted for the fact that he dug member with Mickey-himself- O'Dowd of the pick -and-shovel bri- gade in France. But that he did, so he did. And he is the last title holder in the ring who was a soldier in France unless Gene Tunney be considered a champion because of his fragmentary title of American light weight champion an honor twice re- moved from the true title which is DempSey's.
 In the original scale of weights and divisions all men above the middle weight limit had to fight heavy weights as large as they came and Charlie Mitchell and Bob Fitzsim- mons were true middles who fought true heaYies. Tunney's title is one grade below that of world light heavyweight champion held now by Mickey McTigue of Dublin and Tom Gibbons could whip the pair of them al the weight limit of 175 pounds for their class.
 Roland Todd who beat Ted Kid Lewis for the European middle and bright light heavyweight titles as well as some miscellaneous other re- stricted championships was also soldier in the real war but the whole bundle of the championships which he holds today cannot equal a real world championship.
 Lynch and O'DOwd "Buddies."
 Lynch and Mickey-himself- - ODowd were on opposite ends of many a steel rail that was laid through tho mud up to the line. Joe was skinny 11S-pounder with some experience in the ring but with only vague aspirations as to the cham pionship. O'Dowd was middleweight champion of the world at the time. having stopped the camembert king of the class. Al Mccoy, in Brooklyn shortly before proceeding to the other side of the big green water.
 Sedgeant Ray Smith of Panama, Capt. Bob Roper, and Bob Martin came out of the army with leaping ambitions and their friends told them that any man who has had the nerve to sign on the line for service wherever hard pressed government wanted them to serve, could beat the ears off any of the boxing instructors 1 and shipbuilders they would have to meet in American rings. Sergeant | Ray has never even crashed into the prelimnaries around New York. | Captain Bob just barely did. And | Bob Martin. the heavyweight cham | pion of the A. F F.. was stopped at | last after a hitch-and start career by, Floyd Johnson, a boy who was
 only kid in IT.
 Lynch was badly frightened when | he lost the bantamweight ch knpion- ship that first time to Pete Herman | So ever since he bought it back from | Johnny Buff year ago he has been 1 conducting his business in very l conservative manner. In hIs class 1 he is better prize fighter than f Criqui ever was. And since Carl Ire
 maine went away and Joe Burmau began to show symptoms of the trcm bles when hit on the chin, it appears
 that Lynch s as worthy a champion in his class as might be found in any of the eight divisions.