THE FATE OF BILLY PAPKE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVII, Issue 1008, 1 July 1909, Page 10

THE FATE OF BILLY PAPKE.

The brutally cold fashion in which Americans turn down a loser is well illustrated in the case of Billy Papke, the middle-west middle-weight, who was an idol in San Francisco a few short months back for a few short weeks after he out-slogged and laid to slumber the mighty Stanley Ketchel. Writing of him in a recent issue of the “ Call,’ Wm. J. Slattery said, anent the possibility of Hugo Kelly-Jack O’Brien or Papke-Kelly matches: — This boy Kelly is as pretty a fignter as ever stepped into a local ring. He is deserving of a chance, though he has not been given much of a show lately. The last time he started on the coast was against Billy Papke in Los Angeles last December. He won the fight from here to Chicago and back again, but the best referee Jeffries saw was a draw. Too bad. “As for Papke, it is doubtful if he ever will do again. The last bloomer be tossed against Jim Flynn in Los Angeles should be enough to keep him quiet for a while. He has been coasting down that old toboggan for the last five months, and each man he meets gives him an additional shove on his way. If he ever did have anything, he surely lost it in California. “Coffroth does not figure to do much with Papke if he signs him to meet Kelly here next month. Papke has ceased to be an attraction. Why should the fans fall for him again ? Surely, they saw enough of him last Thanksgiving Day, when he stood up like a boob, and allowed Ketchel to regain the championship by clouting him all around the ring in 11 rounds.”