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Show STAGE IS SET FOR IS LIGHTWEIGHT BQ1 1 . .. : Both Ritchie and Rivers Cc I - fident of Victory at Sanj Francisco. I CHAMP 10-8 FAVORl' - Yz Fighters, in Pink of Cori 1 tion, Will Enter Ring T at 1 :30. I I By International News Service. SAN FRANCISCO. July 3. Tori r; row afternoon at the Eighth stj arena Willie Ritchie of San Francii ; champion lightweight of the world, J put his title iu jeopardy in a 20-ro"i contest with challenger Joe Rivera Los Angeles. Tt will bo the first t: ", in the history of California wherei native sous have met for the title, ' to add to the attractiveness of f match, a native sou, Eddie Graney, Z'. "little horscshoer, " will act as refei J. Tt will be a contest between a boy fi southern California and another j from northern California, with a C fornia referee. . This is one contest that has exf m fight followers guessing. 2STo liji weight .bout of recent years has ) , such an oven look to it. Rivera's, mirers are cocksure that the little j.: H lovv- from the south is destined toj T.'. prive Willie Ritchie of his tl Friends of Ritchie are ,iustas sure t Willie's title is as safe in a bout n Rivers as though he had it locked "1 a burglar-proot safe and 110 one i but himself know the combination,;1 So far as the contest is concerned morrow's encounter promises one of liveliest glove sessions in this sect for some time, y The betting indicates how closelyj: - (Continued on Following Page.) STAGE IS SET FDR LIGHTWEIGHT BUT (Continued From Preceding Page.) public holds the lads. Tonight the pdds were 10 to 8, with Ritchie on the honor end and there was no indication that tho figures would chanjio. It will be the first, time that. Willip Ritchie has defended his title since he won it from Ad Wolrzast, and many tans who hold to the theory that "uneasy "un-easy rests the head thnt wears a crown," believe that this will be a handicap to the champion. Ritchie is a very proud young- man. and he probably prob-ably realizes that to lose his title tomorrow to-morrow would be a dire calamity and for this reason ho will fight to tho last ounce of enerjry from the time the, bell taps sending them away until the bout is concluded, Tho handlers of the champion are confident that their boy will retain his title, and Ritchie seems the most confident con-fident man in the camp. "Willie says that he never felt half so good for any contest before and he declares that the only anxiety he harbors is an impulse to hear the starting gontr, so that he can start the process of clearing Rivers out of his way. Rivers May Surprise. Ritchie figures that his natural advantages ad-vantages of height and reach will be of great aid to him in this bout and though some persons 'figure Rivers more rugged than Willie, the champion does not share such views. Ritchie is one of ihe most untried champions that ever defended a title. Ho has had very few important matches, and while he showed considerable consid-erable form in all of them, he has never yet displayed any marvelous brilliancy. Judged on both his gymnasium work and his past record. Rivers is a grand little fighter. He's a short coupled lad, well set up and he gives out tho impression of being a veritablo fighting fight-ing machine. Rivers loolcs the fighter all over. His shoulders aro most magnificent, tie has plenty of speed and he seems to "be a ver3 decisive puncher. There are those who think that gameness will bo a factor in settlinc tomorrow's disputo and there arc those who doubt Rivers 's gameness. The Mexican's record, however, how-ever, would indicate that there is scant foundation for such a charge. Both Confident. Both fighters took things easy today, to-day, doing just enough work to keep their muscles limbered up. Ritchie spent the afternoon with relatives in San Francisco and loft early this evening even-ing for his San Rafael training camp, lie expects to be up by 7 o'clock in the morning and will break camp at 10 a. m. to go to the Eighth and Howard How-ard streets arena. Rivers spent a portion of the aifter-noon aifter-noon touring the peninsula in his automobile. auto-mobile. Late this afternoon he came down and put in a couple of hours at Granoy's headquarters on Market street. "Tt's great to think that by this time tomorrow T'l be the lightweight champion," declared Rivers before returning re-turning to camp. Graney expects to have Ritchie and Rivers in the ring uot later than 1 .30 p. m. Tho main event will bo preceded by two four-round preliminaries between be-tween local fighters. |