SATURDAY’S CONTEST

Hokitika Guardian, 1 July 1921, Page 4

SATURDAY’S CONTEST

DEMPSEY V. CARPENTIER. f . 1 SAN FRANCISCO, June 3. < Irrespective of,.the enormous stakes ■ in the Georges Carpentier-Jack Hemp- i sey world’s championship heavy-weight ’ bout to take place, in July 3rd., many thousands of dollars, are being raked in by the rival boxers, and more specially ! by the title-holder, who is adding his signature to newspaper articles, widely published all over the United States. In Dempsey’s articles the ego bristles, and naturally, be has, every expectation of holding the world’s l>elt. With the Frenchman,,who is not given to boasting of his abilities to defeat his opponent, an entirely .different plan has been followed by his npannger Fran- ! cois Dcschamps. The French inning u believes in solitude for the .preparation period of his charge, but wily newspa- ' per men and friends of 'njempsey have ; managed to penetrate the heavy ban i- ; carle that has hidden Carpeitier from the public gaze in the training period. But on one day Carpenter boldly 1 stripped away the veil of scprccy that up to the day had covered Ins training work when he hopped into,his openair r ing at Mnnhasset, in Long Island, and before a large and critical crowd of ; spectators went through a Is f-t workout. j Despite the vigilance of Descamps, the excited little manager, and the the Long Island police assigned, assign- • ed to the Carpentier camp, a crowd j numbering at least three score swept | through the barbed wire barriers and j into the space surrounding the ring. I Included in it were several fashionably j gowned women, who cheered the blonde ! and Apollo-like idol of the Paris prize ring. CARPKNTTKR’R HOT PAD. . Seemingly unmindful ol Hie crowd j and bis own expressed aversion to public ! work-outs, the glittering Georges, working at dazzling speed, boxed two rouo Is with Italian. Joe Dans. When Gans exhausted by the pace set Ivy the flying Frenchman, was dismissed ’‘Battling Henri Maroot. the sparring partimrchef was forth to slaughter.

Perhaps it was because "Dattbng Henri” cooked so well those deatfu'emb chops that Georges was kindly to him. ■At till events, he. remained strictly ,»i the defensive with Henri, calling upon the warrior cook to "ein blows upon him. Henri lushed out wildly at Carpentier, who stood in one spot, a la young Griffo, but not one of the well intended J>lo\vs reached their walk. There was an audible expression of admiration as the young French challenger, climbed through the ropes for his bout with Gans and threw aside his gaily-decked bath-robe. Stripped to the waist he looked more a boyish college track athlete than a heavy-weight pugilist girding himself for a do-or-die battle with the battering ferocious Clomp sey. But despite the slender, white-skinned form, the flashing French man looked fit for the liile fight. Carpentier ran in at the lmwildccd Gans like a flash and he greatly surprised the spectators. One stcond lie was projecting himself through the nil at his hapless ring-mate ike < Kosloff Russian; the next he was standing squarely in the ring merely swaying to avoid the wild rushes of the Brooklyn middle-weight. ■■lie’s a streak, and he’s in rare form,” was the composite judgment of the critics. “But is he big enough to withstand Dempsey?” The volcanic Descamps had an answer for that. “Non, that is nonsense.” said the French manager; “Beckett, he is a giant, powerful, stronger, and bigger even than your Gotch. And like a child he was before Koppentyay.” carpentier’s; speed. Those who have managed to witness Carpentier in action all agree that the. French wizard has few equals as* regards speed. One writer, Ray Pearson, remarked that one might believe, after listening to some of., the conversation around the camp, that the Frenchman had just as good a chance of winning the world’s oliampioiship by a knockout as lias Jack Dempsey. T?ut that was merely conversation that; might he tossed to the winds for the way Carpentier speeded in his work-outs poking punches at his sparring partners at long range, lead one to believe that when he started the “big fuss” with Dempsey on July 2nd at Jersey City, Georges would throw in the clutch for high speed that would enable him to travel so fast that Dempsey would not be able to catch him. Another factor that was producing much argument around New York was that only a short time ago everybody was saying Carpentier was too small to compote successfully against Demp-

sey. But sentiment in the last few days veered remarkably and at the time of writing it seemed to be generally believed that the European chum a pjou, who really was in wonderful condition, had the speed to offset the ad- \ vantage possessed by Dempsey in weight and in punching power. That was the peculiar twist of public opinion. Dempsey himself thought Carpentier would prove a hard nut to crack, as he styled it. Frank Knox, the X-ray expert, made one little Get one day of TOO dollars to ICOO dollars that' Dempsey wuld win inside of thirty seconds! Practically .every returned soldier of the United States is'opposed to Dempsov and the American Legion, which is a national organisation of former ser- ! vice men, has passed resolutions hoping to see Dempsey lose the title to Carpen- , tier, as the hitter won the immortal renown in the late war, whilst Jack Dempsey had to appear in the San Francisco courts to defend himself on a charge of being a military slacker. American qx-stoldicvrs wanjt To - she ■ Georges Carpentier wrest the champion- I ship of the world from. Jack Dempsey on July 2nd. D IvMYSEY INTER VIEW ED. VANCOUVER, June 16. A message from New York states that a week ago there was nothing but talk amongst Dempsey’s followers ’ as to how Dempsey ought to he a 10 to - 1 on shot, but some seem to have lost l confidence. This is duo to a variety of ; things. Many arrivals from England l and France tell of the betting there • even money—and of the French pre- ,* paration for celebrations there on the 3 night of the fight. 1 Carpcntier’s splendid condition and confidence are beginning to be felt, and most of aIL there lias been a rumour 1 that Dempsey is not in good condition c that he has lost his speed, finds fat - hard to remove and suffers from a s grouch. Tex. Rickard chuckles over all s this for he believed that too many y people in the. early stages of the trninj mg thought the Frenchman had no - { chance. “Now they wake up.” deelarj cd Hi-hard. l Interviewed, Dempsey said:—“l am > ;re ining as hard as e'-or ! did for a . IU--.iit, and lam not counting- on this , one until 1 see Georges Hooted and t hear the referee reach Ten.’ You can s never fell what will happen in a fight. { I am as likely to get it some time, i the same as anyone else, but 1 do not ? think it will be this time. If it is | v. ill be badly fooled.” f The arena will he finished ne\t- Cue--- - day. seating 60,000 and costing £50,000. p More than 2.000.000 feet -if lumber lias s begu used. The ring will be of steel, o IB feet square inside the n pes. The - boxers stools will drop below the level t of the floor during the periods of box-