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GIBBONS MND M’GQQRTY TO SETTLEIMIDDLEWEIGHTMIXUP WEDNESDAYIBY JAMES J, CORBETT,Former Heavyweight Champion of thoAVorld.[Splt;rcr.il lo Tin* IlendddXepulillcan.]New York, Nov. SO.—When Mike Glg-bons of Si. Paul ami Eddlo McGoorty of Oshkosh have mottled their Ilitlo dispute with the gloves next Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, tho sports ought to have a good line on the probable successor of Stailo\: Kolchel. Jt Is the consensus of expert opinion that these lails are tho top-notchors in that IciuglChs division, and in the east at least the victor will be recognized as the most legitimate claimant to the l.onnrs.McGoorty is confident of success. lie ! says the popular Impression that Gibbons has it on him In cleverness is a• huge inislnkc which ho will domon-; strate to everybody’*! satisfaction. Mac j is also of the opinion that he can hit 1 much harder, and that after nailingMike with a couple of good punches the St. Paul mmi'H «klll will hnvc vanished entirely, and then goodnight Mr. Gib-bona. Tlmt'a his sido of tho stor*. Whether he can solve MlKb’n wonderful defense remains to be seen.Gibbons Is not giving out much talk for publication, but occasionally drops a few remarks which suggest that he Is quite some student of the game. Mike says that if he Is not unfortunate enough to accidentally hump into one of Mac's hard hooks in the first round or two ho anticipates little trouble in winning tho popular verdict. He fig-* ures Eddie dangerous only In tho cnrH ; stages, and observes that tho Oshkoshfighter loses form steadily as a boutprogresses.Ik He Illght fHo- points to McQoorty's engagements In this city to prove his line of argument. and to my way of thinking he has (he right dope. In all his fights hereabouts that have gone the full ten rounds Eddie has slowod up perceptibly- towards tho finish. Wlicn an adversary succeeded in avoiding the early aggressiveness Mac seemed to lose Interest In Ids job and usually finished at anything but top speed.Ii Is my belief based on the performances of the boys In New York that the bout will go the limit with Gibbons earning thcv popular decision on points. Mike has a‘great left hand, and knows how to use It to perfection. McGoorty showed in his bout with Jack Denning that a straight left annoys him considerably ami upsets his plan of battle That being the case, I think Gibbons will feed It to Idm throughout the contest. Should Mac begin to show signs of rattle when that tantalizing left Is doing its work the right may be brought Into the game. And if opportunity offers I fancy Mike can show that lie too, has a punch.At any rale the fans can rest assured lh«t they will see a great battle. The men are at present in grand shape, and unless sickness or accident should pr» -vent llu* mooting Wednesday, both wll‘ In* luoparwl 10 do their verj best. Which should bo good enough for an* lover of boxing.‘Garden Return*.I-ocal devotees of boxing will welcome tho return of the Garden Athletic club. Since that institution was forced to turn over Its arena to other enterprises with previous bookings the fans have not had what might be called a first-class entertainment. With the Garden In line again the competitors of the Madison Square club will bo forced to servo a better line of talent or get out of business-The bantams havo been exceedingly busy of late. Last week Jolmny Coulon appeared at one of tho local cluba in a ten-rouncj bout with Charlie Goldman, and now the wlso ones say the champion Is ready for tho toboggan.When ICld Williams, the Baltimore youngster, shaded him a month ago Coulon admitted hfa work was poor and offered as an excuse the long period of idleness which, lie claimed, had made him rusty. But In the Goldman match Johnny had no such alibi to offer, fils Judgment of distance wan very bad and lie boxed like it novice; h© appeared to have lost stamina and hitting powers.In the opinion of local students of the game Coulon is In danger of losing the title to Kid Williams wirn the pair meet In a return engagement the middle of next month. During his short career W Illlnms has cleaned up all the legitimate bantams of the cast and 1msMIKE GIUnONS (TOP), EDDIE JI’GOOItTY (BELOW).credit, he Is one of U»c most willing boxers who ever stepped inside tho ropes. He never loafed a minute, but ho knows little of boxing. While beating Reddy, tlio victory brought no glory. Tho Reddy youngster Is only a sccoml-ratcr. albeit a tough one. who can aland considerable punishment. hc-iloux wasted enough energy to lick a heavyweight, hut could not laud a blow where it would do any real damage. If ho cun be taught to box, Lcdoux inny wine day provo a formidable aspirant I for tho championship, hut not just now..At that I’d like to ace him matched \yet lo meet with defeat. The Kid Is a natural-born fighter who loves the game, not only for the coin hut for thefun of it He nas been dubbed a second Terry McGovern, and does resemble the former great Brooklynite In many respects. But he lacks that terrific’wallop that won Terry ids spurs.Willing Hut Unvrlrie.Charley Ledoux, flic French bantam,failed to live up to the extravagantpress agent j'ains that had been industriously circulated, nnd his debut with a local kid Battling Reddy was not particularly impressive. On the single performances Ills chances of gaining thoAmerican title do not look very rosy. _____At that, to give the little foreigner little das fi.with Kid Y/UHajriM, another rnshor. but witty a better knowledge of boxing It sure would he. a “head-one collision worth looking ui.If Bombardier Wells, the British champion, does not change Ids mind wo may expect him over here to help liven things up in the heavyweight ranks within the next few weeks. Wells will be made welcome. He Is one of too I extremely few of tho younger big fel- I lows who knows how to put his lianda up. With more experience tlie Bombardier might prove worth while. He had A1 Falser licked to a frazzle in the first round of their meeting last Juno, but with victory In his grasp apparently lost control and tried to rough it with the sturdy Falzcr, whoso wonderful powers of recuperation came to the rescue with the result that Wells succumbed. Very poor ring generalship. Indeed, and does not suggest a very liberal supply of gray matter In the Englishman's dome. However, the experience may help In the future.-Some Knockers*Jt Is proposed to start a “Philadelphia Boosters club,” with A1 Falzcr, Alike Gibbons and Eddie McGoorty as charter members. These boys seem todo well everywhere else, but the Quaker city scribes can't sco them at 311. Gibbons was the latest to liavo liin rop-J ututlou blasted by tho Philadelphia , system of picking winners. Judging • from the enormous advance sale for the Glbbons-McGourty match the New York fans do not take tho verdicts seriously.That a very essential quality called class Is lacking In tho ranks of the * white hopes was confirmed. If any doubt existed, by tha battle between youth and old ago at Buffalo last w^ek. “Gunboat Smith, a youngster weighing ISC pounds and ranked 03 ono of the most promising of tho newer crop of heavies, met the veteran Jack “Twin” Sullivan, scaling 1J0 pounds, and barely succeeded In earning a draw, according to newspaper accounts of the meeting. Sullivan at Ids best was never championship material* Stanley Kctchel, a middleweight, knocked “Twin out In twenty rounds. But then poor Stanley was a real fighter, not a “hope.”There are some folk who will have it that professional hoxlng has gone to tho “dcmnltlon bow-wows, and that present day champions in all classes are lacking 111 skill. Such a person Is G O. A., a veteran boxing fan or Boston. who wrote me tho other day as follows:Dncitn’t Like HopM,A comparison of the days ,whcn you, John D., Jackson, Fitz, Sharkey, and other really formidable men wero In the game with present day conditions is enough to make a fan cf any standing sick. The present crop of clumsy hams when In action must certainly aniuso you. It would be difficult to name half a dozen old-timers who could not have stopped tho whole lot of present day jokes, one after tho other. After seeing Kilbane. Coulon. TYolgast, Klaus, etc..in the ring, I have often -wondered where they would fit If their opponents happened to be Dixon. Lavlgnc, Fitz, Wolcott or any of the old-timers who went Into tho ring to fight, did fight, and wliat Is more, knew' how to fight* The results would certainly bo sad for the 1012 champions, Including our Chicago colored brother. The saddest part of all Is that a grand old sport has to carry tnis bunch of Jokes on Its back.I quote tills letter because St la a fair sample of many sent me by veteran fans who sini worship the Idols of old. Arguments that Involve comparison of hoxers of one generation with those who preceded them will arise, T suppose, as long as the sport has a vogue. Thera Is no way of settling such differences of opinion satisfactorily. Every | , man Is entitled to his own convictions and theories. Personally I agree with G, O. A. in part. Particularly in the heavyweight ranks of today there is
Newspaper Details
Salt Lake City Herald
Salt Lake City, Utah, US
Sun, Dec 01, 1912
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 20 Jan 2019
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