The Washington times., 1923-01-19

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of more or less capable
these people have proved failures,
liocrity.
only here and there have they de
liyered the goods to the extent an
| ticipated on what had been said
of and written about them. This
was not the fault Of the Stadium
management. They relied upon the
Endorsement of supposedly good
judges who were, in some cases, not
very poor opinion Of the quality
of Australian boxing.
As a rule, imported pugiIists
have been pitted against the best
Of our native sons IA their weight
classes, with the result that Whist.
ever they lacked n cleveFlees -.
desire to fight was shown up more
strongly than would have been
the case had those first shOWings
been with less classy adversariee.
"Once q newcomers forra was ex-
posed, the matchmaker would know
where to place him, and news.
paper critics would be able to write
Of their own knowIedge cOncefning
where the stranger had reached az
boxer.
he testing boxer need not be q
champion. He need only be q good
trial horse. A fast, VIGOROUSLY
prosecuted three-round bout would
serve to disclose the standard Of
skill the stranger possessed. No
knockout would be required, nor
should It be permitted.
The tryout used to be insisted
upon by the. old sydney Amateur
Gy1nnastic Club and the old Calf
fornia Athletic Club, in San Fran
cisco, Of thirty years ago.
America was, at that time, as
ignorant Of the quality Of Austria
liam boxing as we, today, are OF
the caliber of Californian ring men;
hence the fact that President l.. r.
Flilda and his directors OF the old
California Athletic Club took up
the position that they were from
Missouri" and wanted to be shown.
.Peter jackson was one Of the
first batch Of great Australians
70 cross the Pacific. Before they
would give him q hearing Is far
as arranging q match WAS con-
cerned, he had to demonstrate
what he could do. Con RiOrdan
was the trial horse selected.
jackson treated Riordan with
such scant ceremony that he leap
ed into strong popularity at once.
His high class skill was the theme
of discussion wherever sporting
people assembled. It was also the
subject Of many special articles.
Takers and writer's all wondered
if he was az great as q fighter
as he was az an exponent Of the
science OF the game.
They wondered no more when
they saw him in his first contest
on August. "a, 1888. He defeated
Chocolate George Godfrey, who had
scared the life out Of John L. Sui
Ivan, and emerged from the con-
test without scratch.
His straight left work was q
revelation to the Pacific coast fight
PATRONS He picked Godfrey. clean
off his feet once with a left-hand
punch and dropped him upon his
launches on the floor. The way
he drummed on the ribs in the
region Of Godfrey's heart with his
right made a vast crowd Of on
lockers stare.
The trial with Riordan had
brought Peter into a strong glare,
else he would never have been
matched with ''Old Chocolate" for
the colored heavyweight cham
pionship of the world.
1t was somewhat similar with
reached San Francisco IN May.
1890, they almost scoffed at him.
Eddie Graney said, i'm q recent
interview, that the fans Of those
days laughed at his long, lean
legs and largo frecIkles, and re.
fused to believe he could fight.
1.-THE Cornishman proved himself
to be q thorough workman, and his
name was at once placed upon the
list Of boxers awaiting engagements.
They did not keep him waiting
long. A prospective opponent of
Billy Mccarthy another from Aus
tralia, now an inmate Of the Lid.
combe, Sydney, State Hospital) fall
ing sick, FftZsimmons was immedi.
ately substituted, and again did the
value or trial demonstrate itself,
The stranger was well matched, and
the clubs arena held q capacity
house.
"FitZsimmons' ringmanship i'm
mensely pleased everybody who took
an interest in the game. It also
was source Of chagrin to some of
the unemployed middleweights who
had seats on that occasion.
Young Mitchell, who was middle
weight champion of the Pacific
coast at that time. made himself
conspicuous by yelling instructions
to Billy Mccarthy.
Why are you so anxious to see
the new man licked?' Mitchell was
asked. Came the reply: Because
he's a dangerous customer, and II
he once gets a start in this country,
he'll go right down the Iine.'
Here was engaging candor!
What a true prophet this man
proved. the world has known for
many day"