OCR Text |
Show RUfilOR SAYS VILLARD PLANS TO GIVE TITLE TO DEiiPSEY Big Jest Has Intimated That He Will Relinquish Hi Claim to World' Heavy Crown After New Year' ff DV1CK8 from Wichita Fall.. Tn, where in Willard haa bHn maklna hl l"ilne. headquarter, for .evernl niontlia. Indicate that the heavy-l heavy-l weight rhnmplun of the world may announce hta retirement from boxinc In the near future and turn over hie title to Jack Iempev Willard thua far haa declined to diacuaa hla Intentinna tn this regard, bins. Intiinala friend, of the lltleholder aiert ha haa Intended for aome time t. X" abandon the title and that he hn all but made up hla mind not to bo nrofeaslonallv ajraln. popular champion goea) without aay in. He haa already given aufflrlent proof of hla aupeiiorlty over all othet boxer. Hip one-round knockout ol Kulton and decisive defeata over ever other boxer he haa met since that or-caaion or-caaion have marked him aa the great- . eat uuflllat of the timt.-a. Xi.traTj mains only tieorgea c'arpentier, t hi xreat French champion, and It la likely like-ly Iempsey and the Frenchman will jmeet in thia country next year. I It la known that lempaey haa be- sought Willard for a chance at the ;iitlf, and that the contender haa asked Jthe champion to turn over the titl to 'him tf he does not Intend to defend It. Advices from St. Paul foreshadow 'the reentrance of Mtke t.lbbons Jut, jthe ring, for Mike i is said to tie in 'excellent condition aa a result of hie I work aa a boxing Instructor in one ol the army cantonments. Mike haa ta-1 ta-1 ken on weight, but hia speed and I cleverness are undiminished and h appears to poaaesa the old powt r in 'his punch that shattered the aspirations aspira-tions of many a pugilist in other days GIBBONS AFTER JACK. Mike's ambition, according to hi. J friends. !m to meet Pempeey. for he feels sanguine that he at least can outpoint t lie 1'tah boy. It will be recalled that Glboona easily nfaied Jack Dillon In a bout In the West a couple of years ago. Jack waa In fine shape at that time and fo'ught his hardest, but Gibbons outboxed htm and won easily on points. Mike wants to return to the r Int. for the express purpose of boxing LMtnp-sey LMtnp-sey and would prefer to meet him In a match of twenty rounds to a decision. de-cision. Dempsey already haa been sounded on the proposition and la aaltt to be favorably inclined. It la not unlikely the bout may be ataiced at New Orleans, the promoter in which city. 1ominlck Totorich, has be'ti bidding T"r Ihe cotilesl. It la no secret that Willard Is not In condition to fight. He Jiaa been doing little exercising In recent months. Prior to Fulton'a knockout at the hands of Jack Ierrrpey, the champion did entertain serious intentiona of reentering re-entering the ring, but When Frederick fell a victim to Iempsey the champion cham-pion decided he'd better quit the ring -I wiiiumI f ts I tin I. while rwnipm-T ia a mighty good fighter, he la so much smaller . than the champion that It . would be a poor match. Jess, furthermore, further-more, feels that he can defeat Iernp-sey Iernp-sey easily on account of the tremendous tremen-dous physical advantages he would have ovrr the I'tah boxer. Friends of Willard everywhere assert as-sert that In alt likelihood he will rr-' rr-' tire after the first of the year. It ts uncertain aa yet whom he Intends to designate as champion, but It Is altogether al-together probable he will name Demp-s;y. Demp-s;y. WOULD PLEASE PUBLIC. If Willard should retire and turn over his title to Jack Iempsey his withdrawal from the ring certainly would meet with the approval of the boxing public. Wlllard's steadfast re- t fusal to defend the championship fori many months hns been a black eye I to the sport. Indeed, he Is one of the j most unpopular world champions the rams has ever . known, whereas) he I would have been acclaimed the world j over had he met all comers. i Folowlng his defeat of Jack John- ! son, the negro champion, Willard waa the most popular pugilist extant. His great popularity was proved in his bout In New York, four years ago, (when he defeated Frank Moran In a jlO-round bout In Madison (Square Gar-, Gar-, den. the match drawing n "gate" wf l record prorortiona. Hut Willard has ' i' not defended his title since that oc- j cue ion. On the other hand, he has Ignored fr-"e,i -hntig of ft group of I formidable contenders. meanwhile capitalizing his honors with a circus. After aelltng hla circus several months ago lie embarked in the nil business and la reported to be making so much money In hie .new field that he la going to quit boxtng for good. |