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■ * ** jr » » V 1 1 Ii 'nr? rx v V’f« ftcvmany jrars ngo.Gibbons vs. McFarland, Battle of Stars.X Madison Square garden arena of New York City on the night of F- b. 12 two boy* ary to anmvcr the gong for a ten round battle which promise* to attractthe greatest assemblage of pugilistic fansthat any fight has drawn sin ’he daysof the old Hort«.»n law in one corner ofthe ring for this contest will be Mike Gibbons, the “ St. Paul Phantom,*’ as he lami wn by ringsider*, while ;n the other will be Pack* y McFarland of Chicago, undoubtedly the most clever boxer the game has known for a decadeIn the days of the Horton law whentwenty round bouts were permitted In New York, the class of millers was much higher than at the present time. Men who bore the names of Bob Fitzsimmons, Joe choynski, Kid ’ McCoy. Tommy Ryan, Frank Erne. Joe lt;;ans# and many others climbed through the Yopes to do battle. Today the situation is much different. On th* fingers of one hand can be counted the boys who might be classed with those of Horton law day*. Two of these select few are the one- who promise to make history on Feb 12. for it can positively »»* said that Mike Gibbon* and Packey McFarland are by far the best of the crop that has sprung up in yar*For more than two years the managers of Gibbons and McFarland have engaged in constant wrangling, the object being toframe a match between these two clever millers. There were two obstacles which It seemed could not he overcome One was the split of the money the boxers were to re*ceive for their services. The other was moreimportant, for it seemed that rv ither fighterwas willing to agree on a weight mutually satisfactory.It is a safe bet that the match would have been just as far from being arranged today had nJt a compromise been reached, withthe Gibbons side making the concession.l he match, which was made recently when Eddie Reddy, manager of the “ Phantom,” was in Chicago, resulted from Reddy’s willingness to allow his lighter to weigh in at 145 pounds at 4 o’clock on the afternoon of the contest. Emil Thlry, McFarland’* manager, strenuously demanded the weighing intime be set at 5 o'clock, while Reddy wanted the time set at 3 o’clock. Suddenly Reddy played hi* last card, offering to make the weighing in time 4 o’clock, and Thiry. find-By RA Y C. PEARSON.ing he could not gain his point, agreed,lt; (inching the match.McFarland never has fought as a legitimate welterweight, and one of the Chicago boy s secrets will become public property when he steps on the scales to make weight. He always has claimed that he was a lightweight, and he always has battled the boys in that division, mo^t of the time entering the ringat catch weights. Gibbons also has been seen live about his weight, and often he hasbattled the boys who,are legitimate middle-weights.There are those who believe McFarlandht» the better of the argument before theboys enter the ring. They think Gibbons will have a lot of trouble in making 145 pound* at 4 o’clock, and also if he docs make that notch h* will weaken himself to such an extent that lie will be unable to put up the battle of which he is capable. Gibbons doesn't figure tin dope that way at all. and to use H4s own words is “just tickled to d* nth that Packey consented to allow bun to weigh in at 143 pounds*I’he writer is pretty wnll aware that the St Paul Phantom * knew what he was doing w hen he agreed to make the stipulated weight for Packey. ft Is only necessary to look hack a flt;w months to the time when Gibbon* fought a ten round bout with Spike” Kelly of \ 'h lea go in a Kenosha, Wis., ring Tip weight agreed om for that match was 145 pound at 5 o’clock. W hen Gibbons stepped on the scales he weighed a fraction less than 141 pounds, and he never was inbetter condition for a bard fight* What h*did to Kelly was sufficient to show* that he had not weakened himself in the least in getting down to the low weight notch. This would Indicate that Mike will have no trouble in making the weight for Packey. Ail the talk made hy Manager Reddy since the match was closed that Gibbons would have to “dry out to a shell is all the regular ” P. A. hunk.”Looking at the weight proposition from the McFarland side gives one the impression that it is “ pretty soft for Packey The Chicago boy con build up without any trouble, and it is a safe bet that when he steps on the scales he will not weigh less than 143 pounds, a difference of only two pounds over that demanded of Gibbons. Then from■t o'clock until fight time, which probably will he about !*:.'{•• o'clock, both boy* can take on ali the weight possible. Gibbons of course. will be able to take on more weightthan his rival, an.I it Is likely that he may outweigh I'ackcy hy about fl\e pounds when they enter the ring.^ssps^Gibbons and McFarland have shown th»m-s*lv«'S t*» h»' two millers who certainly know more about the science of boxing than any others in the game today. Both fight with their heads as well as with their hands and flt;H»t McFarland just ” dotes” on the left hand jabbing game, which he learned years ago in tin* old Gilmore school. He pecks away untiringly with that mitt and Inflicts a lot ot minor damage, such as closing lamps and bringing the gore from the “bugle. His greatest damage is done with the right, for after straight* ning up an opponent with his left jab he crosses with his right to the Jaw or body as he chooses When the occasion demands he uses a left or right uppercut with gOOd effect.Just how effective thrse Wallops will he on Gibbons remains to he seen, but those who know the game do not think that Packey will make a great deal of headway They figure that McFarland may he able to con-rod pretty often with his famed left jab hut they are not *o sure that he *l!l mak* good with the right mauley.” Gibbons, too, likes to jal» hut the chances are thatPackey with his n**cd will beat him to that punch-♦ •The one point In which Gibbons has it on Packey is hitting ability. IT there is a knockout in this batth it undoubtedly will come from the business end of a Gibbons fist. The St. Paul fighter is a harder hitter than Packey, and lw demonstrated that fact only recently when ho knocked out Boh McAllister, the California middleweight, who outweighed him by close to ten pounds, in seven rounds. Gibbons is capable of putting out a man with either tlie right or left mitt, and itwill be up to Packey to show all the cleverness for which he is famous to keep out ofra nge.Summing up the contest makes it appear that the boys are evenly matched for a battle over the ten round route. If it were a twenty round fray Gibbons would be the guess.
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Anaconda Standard
Anaconda, Montana, US
Sun, Feb 01, 1914
Page 56
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USA 08 Mar 2019
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