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HE CHAMPION I!Some Held Laurels lor Yeari Others Short Lived.GANS LONG HELD TITLENelson Ooes Not Billtm Prize Fighters Are Oorn to Success—Requires Years of Hard Work and Experience to Be Aale to Handle Dangerous OpponentsGans held hi* title io: many years and was a conspicuous ilgurc In pug-lllsm while b.- was in he Jimclight. tians might have been a very popular lighter but for Ms shady methods In Lhe ring. Even bis bitterest enemy must admit that he nas one Of the greatest lightweights developed in many yara. Up to Gaos' advent the honors belonged to Kid Lavigne. The •‘Saginaw Kid-' was a firhter in every sense of the word. Ho never flinched in the lace of punishment, and was ever ready lo mix it up with anybody at or near his weight. Dnvigne. though, did not possess the generalship, speed, science and craftiness that were the colored man's stock in trade.Gans In his heyday was an exceptionally clever man. Hi is still scientific. but he lacks the lire and ability to knock his men out as of yore. Gans was a great two li tndcd fighter. He bad the knack of bringing one of thoso short arm hooks seemingly from nowhere. These would invariably find a lodging place on his opponent's Jaw anil with so much rorce and precision that tbo recipient wax barely able to recover hts equilibrium before ten or twenty seconds (ild elapsed. The phys.que of Gans never suggested that of hard puncher. He looked more like a scientific boxer than a fighter. Still he was both of these, a rare combination in the pugilist of today.There always has been some doubt bs to whether Gans was a really game fighter. This troll received many (eats in many of the neiro's encounters. He has been accused of quitting several times. When he fought Frank Kmc at the old Broadwi.y A C.. New York. (Jans was making excellent progress and to all appearances it looked IB If he would win. Abruptly though. Cans refused to eontlnut. saying that Krne had butted him iu the eye. There was no doubt alxut Gans suffering from an injury, lor he displayed bis optic and showed a deep gash.Thono” who were at the ringside said that the cut was the result of a swing which Erne delivered in a fair way. Yet Gans would not go on. and the fight was over. Those who had backed him were dumbfounded over his action, nnd denonneed him then and there This fight gave Cans' reputation a black ej'e. nnd there were rumors that he deliberately quit because of a lot of money that had been placed nn him to lose by those who had been previously tipped off. This fact, though was never proved, so the reverse must be laid to Gans' cowardice more than aoytbiog vise.Stiil in other Ughls in which Gans lias been a principal he gave the impression that he was a courageous pugilist. For Instance, when he fought loo Walcott at California, not so long ago, Gaus received a sound thrashing. Yet at the end of the mill he was up and doing and the verdict of the mill was a draw. In a lot ol other combats Gans has shown his steel and never wavered when he got punched. Gans was too clever, though, to allow any of his rivals to get to htro very often. No matter how (earned In the manly art a fighter may be. he is almost certain to receive ueveral hard thumps in a scrap. Cans has been accused of faking a number of times and there have boon good grounds, too. for this suspicion. When he met Terry McGovern at Chicago, when Terry was at the height of his fame, tne negro'8 showing was far below his form. He allowed McGovern to get to him without much trouble and was knocked out in a hurry. Thi8 battle had all the earmarks of being a hippodrome and for years Gans was barred from fighting in the Windy City.All tlime titles In the various fighting classes are now held by white men. Six years ago It was different. At that time the featherweight, lightweight and .welterweight divisions were divided among George Dixon. Gans and JOc Wolcott. All'three have since passed out of the game and their laurels have reverted to white men. Abe Attell has succeeded Dixon. Nelson has replaced Gans. while Honey Meilody is looked upon as Walcott’s 8UcceBB0r. As there are very few colored fighters in' the ring today it lookn as if the white race will dominate the roped square In the way of leading honors for some time to come. Most of (he clubs throughout the country have frowned upon the efforts of negroes to become conspicuous in ring history. The only place where the black man receives any kind of encouragement nowadays is at Baltimore. There, however, he is. only allowed to participate in battles royal nnd In the preliminaries.
Newspaper Details
West Lebanon Gazette
West Lebanon, Indiana, US
Thu, Feb 01, 1906
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
John H.
IL, USA 23 Nov 2016
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