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Show COFFEY OR MORAN FIRST, SAYS JESS lliinks Winner of October 19 Bout Will Be His 'R First Opponent for Championship; Comments M on Reappearance of Battling Nelson and Packey A McFarland, Viewing Their Ambition in No JB Laudatory Way. By JESS WTLLABD. leavyweight Champion of the World.) "opynght. 1915. by A. M Memtt. All rights reserved V -v ATTLING NELSON, who ha been J dodging the pugilistic graveyard 1 for several years, was led into the ring against a boy a little rlltore than halt his age down at Juarez i?:dav. "The bout went the full 1Yenty rounds and at the end the de- srpn was awarded to Bobby Wanh. i , Nelson took on this battle for one 3Cirpo9e; if he had been victorious the omoters had practically agreed to jig up a $i5t000 purse for a bout be- een the Batrler and Freddie Walsh, - aieh would jfive Nelson another chance tbe title which he once so ably de- aded. Nelson should Know better. There usaa no reason in the world whv a fighter :ta iho naa enjoyed his era of prosperity ,-p -id has a snag fortune put away, should ant to "'come back" as often as a eedy promoter is willing to put him i. I have no desire to take a verbal am a Nelson; I am jnai generalizing. One figure stands out prominently in y mind in this connection. I refer . - Ad Wolgast. also a member of the " ssociation of Lightweight- Ex-cham-ons. True. Wolgast came after Nel-n: Nel-n: but that is no reason whv be ! ' ould try to best Nelson's longevity cord. Wolgast has something like $250,000 Meowed away ; yet here he is fighting I comers for a paltry $750 and $1000 '-paltrv sums when it is recalled that P(Volgas"t used to clean up from $800u i $10,000 on any of his fights when ','. used to hold the championship. -alls Wolgast Foolish. J, jit is all very well of Wolgast to try ' add to his "fortune. But he has no isiness to do it at the expense of his alth. Even io his palm- days Wol-Bt Wol-Bt was an unluckv fighter. He es-tped es-tped few fights without breaking some 3nes in his hands. Even in his train-g train-g he was unfortunate. Something or her would crop up to cause cancellation cancella-tion of his mo?t important bouts. Wolgast is not a frail lad bv any eans. He still has that little, hardy dy and ragged constrtution that en-iled en-iled him to fight his way to the top. But how long can he go along fight-g fight-g younger ment It will Wolgast 's isfortune some day to take such a rrible bfeating that he will have to tire from the ring forever. Mayhaps ; will be bo badly injured that even is money will not afford him any com- Ad is indeed a silly boy to expose imself to the dangers, the uncertainty : the game for a few thousand dollars hen he has so much laid aside. A !w minor victories for him mean noth-lg noth-lg but a few more thousand dollars, ut all the time his vitality is being ipped, his strength undermined ana is features more disfigured. And Wql-ast, Wql-ast, at present, is no prize winner in beauty show. T elaborate on Wolgast s case because e is of the more recent vintage of ex-hampions ex-hampions who ' are struggling to get ack into the ring game. The next ling we shall hear, I suppose, is that tob Fitzsimmons is nut with a chal lenge to fight me for the heavyweight title. Rest assured I will not spend many sleepless nights worrying over Mr. Ruby Robert, for I have enough on ray mind considering the eligible for a matoh with me. Says Packey Is Vain. Now let us ponder over the ae ot Packev McFarland. Here is another fighter that has a quarter oi a million in the bank, yet he is going to engage in a battle Saturday night, the outcome of which will mean nothing to the fight going public. Packey is to fight Mike Gibbons. He is to receive $17,500 for his service, regardless of how the bout terminates. Packey does not ned that $17,500 to save him from ruin; yet he is coming out of a two year retirement to show us thst he is still among those present. I diagnose McFarland 's ailment a I vanity. He has an inkling that be can outpoint Gibbons; surely be does not hope to knock out the man who is gen erallv looked upon as the best of the middleweights. Packer is in danj;r of being knocked out, and the prevail ing i lea among the so-called experts is that Gibbons will put over a finish ' ing blow before the tenth round. For that reason alone, to my mind for the reason of showing that he will not be knocked out Packey took on the match. I can ascribe no other reason for Packey "s return to the ring after show ing himself to be a capable business man. He must be a capable business man to make a promoter gi vp him $17,500 for a ten-round. no decision bout, with no championship io the balance. bal-ance. Jess Soon Ready. It is hardly likely that I will defend my heavyweight championship before another eight weeks, although I am ready to take on all challengers right now. I am in honor bound to give daily exhibitions vat the show I am traveling with until November I; aftet that it is optional with me whether I care to continue or quit. If by early November a challenger is picked for me and a promoter offers a suitable purse, I shall be ready to step into the ring at a moment's notice. I have not neglected my training during dur-ing mv tour. I box every day and go through practically the same stunts tha r helped me get into condition for Johnson at Havana. Although I have no desire to commit myself, I have a hunch that either Jim Coffey or Frank Moran will be my first opponent when T return to the ring, ft all depends on who survives their coming bout. It is scheduled to take place October 19, and I will endeavor en-deavor to be at the ringside and report the bout. It will not be up to me to 'choose my opponent, as public sentiment will pick the man for me. I am glad to see my former sparring spar-ring partners making good in the ring. Jim Savage and Jack Hemple, who helped prepare me for the big fight, are making quite a reputation for themselves. them-selves. What pleases mo most is that they are not trading on my name, although al-though Fome promoters have attempted to exploit them' on the strength of their being in my camp. These two boys are getting along on their merits. And wouldn't it be one of the queer quirks of fate if one of them were to be pitted against me for the championship champion-ship in the near future? |