| Show I j jI BY WALTER i-f i h t I There Thero is very cr little danger of Freddy j t Welsh the tag tag and run run II worlds world fI champion champlon light j ht weight giving Willie Ritchie another crack at tho the coveted eted t L crown crOWD His latest statement from front fromi i I. the water i is Let Ritchie get some experience for a year and then if there theo is s a 3 public demand for a fight That is isI isa isa I I will consider his request I a a. fine lice of talk to hand out to an ex champion Once a man maD has hns held tho the title tine ho he h has hal had plenty of experience I Iland 1 I land and atul Mr Welsh will win find that there is a abig abig I big d demand mand in iu this country f for r another fight where a gamo game of tag is IS not acE accepted ac ac- I E as a n. great reat boxing contest as seems to b be tho the case in England Englad If the new champion chamion does not care to fight Ritchie again it will ill be bo well for him hint to toI toa I a accept the offer of Charley Chancy White who defeated Ritchie decisively in ten 1 rounds Whit White likely will be bold bold enough to fo go right to the National Sporting club chib of where Welsh won the title and give he the new champion cham ri pion n the battle of his career This White Whito boy is some fighter H He has hns been several se years getting to to the top but ho appears to possess all the class necessary Surely Welsh will not have ha havo o tr trouble uble finding oI opponents if he car cares cae to run the risk of losing his title Yet let it is a safe bet that the Briton will ill rest a a. year ear before he be tackles a n areal areal real tough one like White Some Somo are ard blaming for fi fighting in London but bit from a a. financial viewpoint he would have bave been foolish to have turned down th the tha proposition offered He made mado u upwards up war wards s of out of that battle or oras oras oras as much money as ho he could have made in three fi fights in this country and it itis itis itis is is doubtful if it he ho could have o defended th the title three times with boys bos like White in tho the field As it i is he can return ro re turn bere here and draw a championship louse house by br fighting the Chicago boy DOY in inC C California Writers and philosophers interested in thc the national game of baseball have b been n devoting considerable space in tho the thop p public prints to dissertations on the manifest t fallin falling off of interest in baseball baseball base base- ball lIf and some of them purport to see seethe seethe seethe the general decadence of t tho tio o game gamo Of course the pessimist who sees th the e downfall takes an unhealthy view of tho situation and the ultimate condition that such a ono ono one looks for will win never ne be but but there has been a 1 perfectly palpable deer decrease as in in the attendance upon professional atonal baseball this year and there must be some reason or reasons for it Some say ray that the decrease is duo to the toe depression de d in business others ascribe it to apathy on tho the part of the public others to the ownership of baseball teams some somo sa say that lack of confidence in ii the real sporting porting a aspect of baseball baseballs is s the answer and still others think the fight by tho the Federal league has accomplished accomplished P the thc result It is not BO so material material ma ma- which of these those is is correct The Tho bi big thing is that the attendance has decreased on the average of about 25 5 per cent and this in one ono year is is alarm alarm- ing If a a. modest student of baseball conditions were permitted to obtrude his individual views ios in this column ho would be bo inclined to say that a n good deal doal of the disinterestedness has come from the fact that baseball troubles arc aro given too much space in the tho public prints The Tho average fan docs does no not care caro caroso so much about tho the intrigue and politics and th the cutthroat incidents of baseball What lie he wants ants is gossip ossip about the players a as such and the results of games Hero we wo have bao another ra rattler who ho I is after tike Yokel Walter Bratz Bi-atz H Dear Sir Sir Sir-I I am writing you ou you in regards re to ro- ro gards to a match with Mike fike Yokel there thero at Salt Sat Lake ako ko City I have ha tried time after time timo to get et a a. match with him hint but always failed lie no always writes mo me and puts me off and he has done this for the last ast two years I am ana entitled to a match with ith him as I beat all the best middle wei weight ht wrestlers in Europe and in this country I am glad gad to say sar that r I have ha never nc lost ost a 3 match near my mr weight and I have good backing back In lug ing a against Yokel an any time timo ho wants to wrestle and ho he knows it it as lS ho un un- found it out when whon he wrestled wres wres- tied Pet Brown in Texas Now if Mr lr Yokel wants to wrestle hero here is his chance I am his man and ho he undoubtedly un knows it as that that is tho the reason rea rca son ho he never was as very c anxious to meet me But I will sPay I am rend for him himat himat himat at any time I sent a challenge to meet tho the winner of the tho Yokel Yokel-Beel match but Yokel wrote mo ma back that it would bo be the tho last match for the sea sea- son on Now he has put mo me off like this lon long enough and I am nm retting getting tired of it as I T think it is his duty to meet me and not sidestep me all the tho time So please put this in a as a challenge as Iam T I Tam Tam am entitled to a match with him bin I r re rh h have e a 8 good clean record I have beaten beat I Ien en men like Joe Turner Henry Henr- Gehrin Gehring Gebring Con Albright ht Henry Young I Olson Joe Walter Miller Carl Brown Ernest Kartje Hon Buttler Louis Bull Montano and man many oth oth- ers era I na nave have e wrestled a 3 two hour draw with Adolph Erst the light heavy heavyweight heavyweight weight champion of the world I r am amon amon amon on my way to tho the coast and will win stop and see vou you when I come como through Salt Lake Lako Please put this in as a challenge challenge chal chal- lenge and try to got et me a match there I will go o from hero here to Tulsa Okla Okia Thanking you ou in advance I remain yours for clean clenn sport CHARLIE A. A BENTROP |
