CHAMPION WELSH.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 132, 10 July 1914, Page 2

CHAMPION WELSH.

A SIX YEARS' QUEST. STORY OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP. Specially written for THE SUN. At last a British boxer holds again the title that left England 18 years ago, when '' Kid'' Lavigne knocked out Dick Burge in the .seventeenth round of their fight at the. National Sporting Club, London, on June. 1, 1896—the lightweight championship of the world. Dick Burge did not actually hold the title —he was but light-weight champion of England—but neither did Lavigne. Those two men had to meet to thresh out the question as to which of them deserved the honour, and when Burge was beaten the championship went to America, to stay there until Willie Ritchie was induced to cross the herring pond to fight Freddie Welsh. For a long time Welsh has been the "paper champion"; now he holds the title, beyond dispute. , Let us go over, briefly, the ; history of the championship in the past' 18 years. George Lavigne, the "Saginaw Kid," held the title until 1899, when Frank Erne beat him, on points, in a championship contest at Buffalo. During Erne's tenure of the championship Joe Gans was fighting his way to fame. Gans and Ern6 fought in 1900j in New York, but Erne won?in 12 rounds. However, Gans made steady progress, and

on May 12, 1902, the pair met again, at Fort Erie. By that time Gans had fought over a hundred battles, and had lost only five of them —38 oi his contests he had won by knockouts. . When he met Erne, Gaps.'was. in..his primehe was 28 years' old jind at the top of his skill. That fact was forced upon Frne in remarkably quick time, for the famous negro knocked ,h,im put in a round. Gans kept the championship for six years. On July 4, 1908, when the great little negro was already attacked by'the disease which, brought about his death, he was knocked .out, in 17 rounds, by " Battling' J Kelson, at San Fra#cl.S£o.',.'' Battling'..Nelson, held .the title for two years, and then ■ he- had to strike his .colours to." Ad." Wolgast, in fight that lasted for 40' rounds. That was on February 22, 1910. Two years later Wfllie Ritchie entered upon the scene. In a four rounds no decision bout in Sam Francisco, in' Ma£ of 1912, Willie Ritchie showed such good form against the champion that the fight fans began to demand a championship contest between them. A «' PORK-AND-BEANS " FIGHTER. , Now, Ritchie's record differs greatly from the records of other light-weight champions. When he first met "Ad." Wolgast lie was, little more than a " pork-and-beans" fighter, one of the boys who provide the short preliminaries to big fights on the Pacific Coast. Up to the time he first faced Wolgast, he had fought only nine fights. Of those he had won three, and lost three —one, a 20 rounds go, to Freddy Welsh —and the others were no decision bouts. Probably Wolgast thought lie would have no trouble in disposing of the San Francisco man, for' a ■ > championship match was soon arranged. They met in 'Frisco on November 28, 1912. Wolgast started in his usual hurricane style, and for ten rounds he practically the only man in the points harvest/ Ritchie has declared since that part of his plan of campaign was to allow Wolgast to make the fighting for the first half of the contest, and tire himself. Be that so or not, it is a fact that after the tenth round Ritchie became the more important part of the picture, and Wolgast gradually receded into the background. The end came in the sixteenth round, when Wolgast fouled Ritchie, and a new champion was acclaimed. Compared with the efforts of previous champions, Ritchie 's road to the= title was an easy one. He 'soon made it evident that lie wanted to avoid all chances of losing it. In. these degenerate days it is not necessary for a champion to fight to make money. The music hall stage offers him an easy patli to fortune. So Ritchie proceeded to gather in the shekels by this means; Talk of defending* the championship against good men brought from him a demand. for .a big purse that frightened off the promoters, or. else pre) ceded an opportune accident or illness that foiled the challengers. However, public opinion had to tell in the long run. A few months ago Ritchie had to give "Harlem" Tommy Murphy a shot at the title, but it was only after Murphy had ,grown" old and tired ii} the quest. So Ritchie won. But that did not satisfy -America's fight fans> They recognised that Freddie Welsh had an indisputable right to a contest with Ritchie, and the latter had to, give way. He promised that he would fight Welsh, over the championship's route,

if Welsh beat Leach Cross. Welsh trimmed Cross. Even then Ritchie's ''slmiiesE^' was not exhausted. He was offered £5000; win, lose, or. draw, for a fight with Welsh. 'He replied that he could earn that in no decision bouts, without endangering his title. An offer of a guarantee of £SOOO, with a percentage of the gate and of the pic: ture rights and other "cuts," making in all about £7OOO, also found Ritchie unwilling. He demanded £BOOO straight, besides, transpoi'tation for himself and his party—possibly because he thought this demand would not be met. , But it was' met,t land IVIr Ritchie then found himself in the position of having to fight or- forfeit the ; championship. The only other stipulation he could make was that Eugene Corri should be the referee, and of course that was agreed to. And now German-American Willie Ritchie—his real .name is .Geary Steffen —lias lost his championship.

FROM CONSUMPTIVE TO fL CHAMPION. j Andjpi long and weary but romantic hunt for* title hftife had Frederick Hall Thomas, known in the ring as Freddie Welsh. The son of an auctioneer at Pontypridd, Wales, Freddie Welsh is 28 years old—he was born on Marth 3, 1886. As ah infant he was very delicate, and while he was still a boy lie, i showed such : a tendency to consumption that his parents sent him to the kindly climate of California. But his health'did not improve satisfactorily until he consulted a well-known authority on physical culture, in tlxe hope' that physical exercise would help him to combat He was advised tp try iboxingi to cuir6 his lung [trouble.; Wei sir at jonee .took up that fine exercise,-and h<* became so proficient aM'boxer : that it was suggested to liim that he might find boxing', a .most profitable profession.' So, at the age of 19, he managed to persuade a club in Philadelphia to give him a match. He was pitted against one Young Williams,, who was knocked-out by the slender Welshman in three rounds. Physical culture and boxing had turned a lad- disposed to consumption into a fine athlete, who had made a "hit" with Philadelphia's fight enthusiasts. So .Welsh obtained more matches, and he quickly built up a reputation. Among his earlyvietims was that tough customer Matty Baldwin. Some of the other boys he beat were also boxers With national /reputations. One of them was Australia's favourite, Hock' Keys, who was knocked out by Welsh in the seventeenth round of a fight at Dayton, -Ohio, in 1906. Early in 1907 Welsh Was in England, and at the National Sporting Club he beat "Seaman" Hayes on points in; a six-rounds bout. A month late'r he was given a 15-rounds contest at the N.S.C., and this time he beat "YoUng" Josephs, who was 101b heavier. ' . He next Won the light-weight chUmpioiiship of Wales, after. which he proceeded to dispose of every light-weight in England who would meet him —considerations of space prevent a full account of Welsh's career being given. The ellsP of. 1907 found liim back in America.*'! He on winning until he stacked up: against Charlie Neary, who was adrawrf; a bad decisioii-Tfwith him in 10 rouijidi, and then against "Packey" land. Referee M'alacliy Hogan declared that M 'Fa,rland won, and lie was hissed for saying so. That, too, was a ten [rounds battle. Then it was that Welsh first set his eyes steadily towards the world's light-weight championship. His first step was to beat Phil Brock in 25 rounds in Los Angeles. There, too, Welsh again met '' Packey'' M'Farland, but in a 25 rounds contest, and. this time the decision was a draw. Be; member that M'Farland, great, boxer that he is, has been prevented by the weight limit from contesting the lightweight title. Welsh .went on winning all along the line—among his, vietims were Abe Attell, then feather-weight champion, and Ray Brpnson, Retrnjur ing tQ Englajid, he: beat Johnny. Summers for the light-weight championship of that country, and fought a memorable 20-rounds. draw with M 'Farland .in : London.

BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT,, Then came the news that "Ad.'' Wolgast . had beaten '' Battling'' Nelson. The '' Battler'' had shirked a fight with Welsh, but it was hoped ,that-Wol-gast would be more amenable to reason. Out went challenge after challenge, and Welsh made another visit to America' in search of the title. But Wolgast remembered a little incident back in 1908, when he had tried to knock out Welsh in a training bout and had been knocked out himself. It was not until after Matt Wells beat Welsh for the lightweight championship of England that Wolgast agreed to meet the clever lad from Pontypridd.' An agreement was signed for the pair to meet in November, 1911, at Los Angeles, and forfeit money of £IOOO each was posted. But on the afternoon before the fight was to be held Wolgast was taken to a hospital, ill with appendicitis. Welsh's, luck was out. The next day Willie Ritchie, who was then helping 1 ' Packey'' M'Farland to train for his fight with Tommy Murphy, was put forward to fill the gap, and Welsh outpointed him. It was a bitter blow "to Welsh to be deprived of his long awaited chance for the championship. So a few months later found him back in London, where he won back the English championship and then beat Hughie Meliegan. The contest with Meliegan was declared by the National Sporting Club to be for the "world's championship; the manner in which Welsh had been side-stepped in the United States was a big factor in that decision. On paper, therefore, Welsh was the world's champion then. But he wanted to make his right to the title indisputable. Last year he went. back, to the States in chase of Ritchie. Now the trail that has taken six years in the following has ended,

A GREAT ARTIST. *

What is Welsh as a boxer? He is a great artist who lias assimilated all the best of ■ American style of boxing and combined, it with the best of the English style. He is dazzling at long range, and a terror at in fighting. Though he is not quite as hard a hitter as he was some years back, he is almost, if not quite as skilful as he was when an Australian who watched him fight Mehegan wrote:—"Welsh is the cleverest, prettiest, daintiest boxer I have ever seen. Take the late 'Jackie' M'Gowan at his best, Griffo when he was at his top, and Eddie Williams, compound all their good points, purely artistic, and even then you have not the grace, finish, and style of Welsh. He is the superfine superman in the

orthodox English conception of boxing. He would send a crowd at a biograph show into ecstasies by his agility, Ms adroitness, and his artistry. He is as light on his feet as a ballet girl, as quick in movement as a panther, as fast in slipping his opponent as Papke. , He is delicious and "delightful to watch, and he makes any other man not possessing his showy qualities look commonplace."

. Such is world 's champion Freddie Welsh. He <is more than that in private life—he! is ; a student of Ibsen, Maeterlinck, and other great poets and dramatists. And he is a vegetarian; b|it report has it that occasionally Fredklie: varies.,the monotbny of vegetariaiiisW, by me|tls of nothing but meat. But .those tumbles off "the vegetable cart are few and far between, and they are carefully veiled. all, Welsh is? i character. How long he 1 Will hold his title it ia difficult to predict. His powers must wane before 'long, for he has fought 'many fights in the past nine years. Doubtless he soon be challenged;by Charlie White,: another Britisher has done mo£t ; of his boxing in -the States, and whp give Willie Ritchie a gruelling in their jrecent ten-rounds contest. It will bei a rare event indeed when two British born boxers contest the world's light-weight championship. r : ; a. l. q.