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Show DESPITE WAR, BOXING GAME HAS FLOURISHED Number of Bouts High; Sport Killed in. New York Through Squabbles Among Promoters, Fighters and Commissioners; New Champions., THE boxing game during the past year bus been very successful, despite war conditions; of course there have not been so many big events and fabulous purses hung up by promoters, but on the whole the season hag been better than most clubs and promoters hoped for. The one srul blow to the game was the killing kill-ing of the sport in New .York state, iuo to tho squabbling among fighters, managers and commission officials. There was no occasion for the killing of the game in the biggest center in the country, and while it is to be regretted, still it may be for the best, as it will I V be the means of rooting out a lot of 3 undesirables and place the game on a firmer basis when it does come back, wiiich it is bound to do. That the people of the states like boxing may be judged from the fact that, according to tabulated accounts, over (int.) 0 contests were fought in regulalion rings during the year in this country and Canada, with 90 per cent of them in the s-tates. Jn Australia Austra-lia there were many bouts held, estimated esti-mated at about 2300 battles, as weekly shows were held at h'rishanc, Melbourne and other towns with twice a week at Sydney, ur.d probably another 400 contests con-tests in New Zealand. In Kngland the number was not so great, but hundreds and probably thousands of bouts were held by tlie soldiers behind the lines, as boxing has been one of their chief amusements. Ju London and other big cities in England shows have been held two and three times a week, except V f during the hot spoil in" the summer time. At least 2000 bents were held, making a grand total of around 11,500. Out of this numbtir of matches only three fatalities have been recorded, that is in regulation rings. New Champions. Titles have changed hands in several classes and claims have been made by boxers who say they can not get the - champions to enter into title matches j and therefore allege they have a right to lay claim to the y.trne. ' Starting with the i. ghtest "of cham- I piojjs tho fly weight there are three . tnr-t who claim tho championship ?rankic Mason, ."lohrny Kosner and Young Zulu Kid. Tnis is for the American Amer-ican title, as there is no disputing the L j'act that Jimmy Wilde of England is tho bona fide f!y weight champion of i f V the world. The three American bovs i Jyniy have a cha.i.v Ihis. witn.i-r to fight 'f 0T ii i:::t and settle the dtsp.:te between In the bantam weight tin.:, Pete f A , 1 1 o ' 1 1 1 : i ii is still recognized a.' eh.mi-! eh.mi-! jt pi": al; hough he was iiven a M are when if ho f ..light KraiiK io Burns, the Jersey bantam, at Now Orleans a lew weeks ago. However, Herman wo- from l.uri.s fairly and retains Ids Iaini, although al-though there are numerous oif.1 about , the couutry who still na'ii:;.ir that Johnnv I'rtle el' St Paul is the .real bantam champion. The ilis i.te arises from the fact that Krtje won on a foul f r Kid iliiuni .n .1 !;'. It was unlv ihr-uigh lack of any von: from thi'" referee ar that tune that EiUe was ' not given recognition. It is 1 1 v prob- I ab1, that Mrtle and Herman wib meet I ugni:i in a world's chatrionsi.i;i bailie Inline this cnsou ami tlie w. liter will , ijten have a clear title. Kilbanc and Leonard. Hi tin- foathrr weight inn Us. Johnny Xilbane, who has held the championship champion-ship ' not only of this country but of the world for several years, announced his retirement. Of course that may be during the period of the wars as Johnny I is at present training soldiers in camp, if he does retire there will be another scramble for his title, as there are few boys of class right now in that division. ! There is no disputing the fact that I Benny Leonard holds the lightweight championship although his victory was accomplished in a no-decision contest con-test in New York on May US of this year, when he scored a knockout over ! Freddie Welsh in nine rounds. It is seldom that a title changes hands in a no-decision contest and it was the surprise sur-prise of the boxing world ar the time, oiiu'e then Leonard has demonstrated his ability as a champion ;md has scored numerous" knockouts. ' Although Benny & has knocked out forty-one men during his career as a fighter, while one of his nearest rivals, Charlie White, has scored fortxliiiockouts. There are several sev-eral hoys j.axious to get a crack at WORLD'S CHAMPION BOXERS. Flyweight (112 pounds) Jimmy TVilde, Great Britain. Bantamweight (118 pounds) Pete Herman, United States. Featherweight (125 pounds) Johnny Kilbane, United States. Lightweight (135 pounds) Benny Leonard, United States. Welterweight (145 pounds) Ted Lewis, Great Brittain. Middleweight (150 pounds) In dispute. dis-pute. Claimed by Mike O'Dowd, Mike Gibbons and Harry Greb, United States. Cruiser weight (170 pounds) Battling Bat-tling Eevlnsky, United States. Heavyweight (175 pounds and over) Jess Willard, United States. AMERICAN CHAMPIONS. . Flyweight (112 pounds) Frankie Mason and Johnny Rosner, claimants. Bantamweight (118 pounds) Peter Herman, New Orleans. Featherweight (125 pounds) Johnny John-ny Kilbane, Cleveland. Lightweight (135 pounds) Benny Leonard, New York. Welterweight (145 pounds) Ted Lewis, formerly of London. Middleweight (160 pounds) Claimed by Mike Gibbons, Mike O'Dowd, Harry Greb and Jeff Smith. Cruiser-weight (175 pounds) Battling Bat-tling Levinsky, Philadelphia. Heavyweight (over 175 pounds) Jess Willard, Chicago. AH weighings at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. af-ternoon. CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND. Flyweight Jimmy Wilde, Wales. Bantamweight Joe Fox, Leeds. Featherweight Charlie Hardcastle, Bamsley. Lightweight Freddy Welsh, Wales. Welterweight Johnny Basham, Wales. Middleweight Bandsman Joe Blake, Yarmouth. Light heavyweight Corporal Harry Reeve. HeavyweightSergeant Billy Wells, London. AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONS. Flyweight (112 pounds George Mondies. Bantamweight (118 pounds) Vince Blavkburn. Featherweight (126 pounds) "Vince Bkickburn. Lightweicht (135 pounds) Lew Edwards. Ed-wards. Welterweight (147 pounds) Tommy Uren. Middleweight (160 pounds) Tommy Uren. Cruiserwelght (175 pounds) Dave Smith. Heavyweight (175 pounds and over) Dave Smith; also claimed by Albert Lloyd. Leonard 's title, among them White, Richie Mitchell, Johnny Dundee, Joe Welling and Frankie Callahan. Any of these boys is entitled to a try at the championship. In tho welterweight class, Ted Lewis remains supreme, having won the title from Jack Brit ton in a twenty-round contest at Dayton, Ohio, June 25. There are several good welterweights in the country ,iust now and Lewis will have to be at his best to successfully defend his laurels against such boys as Joe Fagan, Bryan . Downey, Augie Ratner and .Marty Farrell. Mix-up Among Middies. There is no recognized champion in the middleweight class, although .-the quest ion of cha mpion is much nearer settlement now than it has been at any time during the past three years or since the time Stanley Ketchel was killed. Al McCoy, who some of the writers id aimed won the title when he defeated George Chip, was knocked out recently by Mike O'Dowd of St. Paul n nd of course the latter claimed the title. There is nothing cleur to it, however, how-ever, but it will serve to bring about the settlement of the matter. Mike Gibbons, also of St. Paul, and Harry Greb of Pittsburg, have equal claims to the title and without a doubt, most people credit Gibbons with being the bct of the lot. Mike will have to prove the case, however, by beating Greb and also O'Dowd. Greb was more business like and some time ago deposited a forfeit for-feit of $1000 and tnid claim to the title. The only way to settle it is for Greb and O'Dowd to fight it out in a championship cham-pionship battle and then Gibbons would nave a chance ti challenge the winner unless he should retire in the meantime. mean-time. Wattling Levinsky still holds the lidit hen vv weight championship, and Jess Willard is supreme in the heavyweight class for the simple reason that he ha? t a k e n u o c li a n ' es o f d e f c n d i n g the |
