Show I. I COC Y LITTLE LITTLE ENGLISHMAN ONE NE OF OF GRE GREATEST TEST OF F ALL LL IG Ch Charlie Mitchell Pr Proved ved W Wonder ond r Ag Against John L. L Square right fight Firpo in s adt-s AI America Broke Brok T Takes kes Home Fortune By Robert Rpbert Edgren I Paoli n c the SpanIsh perU per took a close ten round decIsion over te HanSen the lengthy Dane Immediately there was some chatter bout Paolino as another Firpo Ot Of coUrse Isn't another an an- other FIrpo or anythIng like another an an- other FIrpo It If he had been another FIrpo he would haVe knocked Hansen Han Han- sen out as s quIckly as FIrpo out McAuliffe Hansen Is a tIne fine boxer but lacks stamina Paolino cant can't box at all but keeps on swIng swIng- I In in This This- country always has been kind kind- to vIsIting fIghters Perhaps partly because promoters like to use useS S the notion ot of International rivalry to help the g good od old ballyhoo Partly Part Part- ly because our our Idea of good sportsmanship sportsmanship sports sports- manship is to give a vIsitor every chanCel chance In the world 5 but not always invading fighters have llave been promptly socked and shipped back home Some have enforced respect and have stayed here One ne of the first notable S was Charlie Mitchell boxing champIon champion cham- cham pIon of England although no more than a mIddleweight Mitchell was found by Billy Madden when MadS Mad Mad- S den went vent to England and ran a Series serles se- se I rles ries of elimination heavyweight tournaments to find a man to beat i John L. L Sullivan WEIGHED BUT S after a few weeks In different different dif dif- ferent English cIties was carrying along a couple of gIants who looked big enough to beat anybody Then one night a little smooth faced S smiling youngster appeared and without any Introduction at all S spoiled Maddens Madden's show by knocking hIs giants out Madden could hard hard- ly believe It pos but carried Mitchell l along and nd saw him whip all rIvals He wanted a big man to fight Sullivan but at last Was convinced convinced con con- vinced that Mitchell might give the 5 big fellow lellow a fight Madden wrote letters to the New NewYork York and Boston S papers saying he was br bringing an an English champion to beat Sullivan This was the the of the well known as ballyhoo He worked up quite a bit of interest in ii Charlie Mitchell but he didn't tell anyone that was 5 feet 9 inches talland tan tall and weighed d nt hi his heaviest no Arriving In New ewY Y rk l I Madden had S meet the the reporters on on shipboard wearIng high heeled bo bots ts and a coat with padded shoulders but in g spite ite- ite of that the i sporting v re shocked to I find SuU vans van's coming rival rhal so The v was s almost deS de- de S d sa mch- mch ell cli h ha flew Into a rage and r refused fused to be made ridiculous b fight fight- lag ing so o small a man He t told ell elI h hed he'd d have to fight a friend of i. i y Sullivans Mike Cleary liven would even talk taik matchmaking S Sullivan thou thought ht Cleary who wh was a bi bIg man main would easily whip the coc r- r little Englishman Immediately accepted Sullivan 5 seconded ci Cleary his dIgnity as worlds world's champIon John L L. wore a tall all silk hat liat in In the orner or- or c ner although in his shirt sleeves Mitchell whipped Cleary in three rounds massacred him je- je tween punches looked aroun I and andL L jeer jeered d at Sullivan until lohn t. t V. V nearl arly blew up with rage InvIted sull Sulivan van to come into hito the I nd help lIs friend He offered I Ir r to lock head off too It ItS V S vas evening Afterward I I S ther was no excuse excuse for tor not l ht Ing i the Sullivan I fight fit w was was- s- s put on in o old d Madison Square Garden May 14 7 S 1883 L e Mitchell amazed the packed ii Garden n with hs his speed and s skill skillS ll S that Sullivan rush d furl furl- Mitchell evaded evadel him hini aft af af- t S i ter a afew few ex exchanges hanges caught John L. L witha a eft jab that th t mocked knocked him flat bu his back was the shock AmerIcan fIght fol fol- fol eer h had d. d But John LL L. L tt L' L bounded uP roarIng wIth fury futy and anci Mit h hll ll ale as fast as' as hek he k could run run swinging wild wild blows There was no standing against such Ir an attack Mit h ll dodged and J and jabb jabbed d and and got way away I jor a while but In the third roUnd t when h he had been knock knocked d dov do and to the ropes and smashed around nd the ring until It was mor more of a bull fight than a boxing match police poUce Interfered to save him from annU annIhilation Sullivan had nearly f toni t rn down the ring In his wild tf s. s and was still roarIng with r fury when the bout ended Five years yeara later ater when John was softened by wild dissipation they 4 sought fought Ip in Chantilly France bare tendon London Prize Prize- Ring Rules j T was as In n a private park In a S heavy heas' rain on a muddy turf Sulli- Sulli Yal plunged fOr a while but became becam O 0 exhausted that he stood still and f begged the dancing l to come in a d light and Charlie was so f weary leg fr from m leapIng around In i. i S the mud that lie he So bk by b byk k k- k mutual the fight was k stoPp stopped d an and 1 a draw S l en year after h first fought Sul- Sul livan j an Mitchell l then a wre k from the dissipation that most df the old old- f- f ff f time fighters Indulged in and 1 weighing only pounds fought Jim Corbett at Jacksonville Fla f and andas vas as badly beaten and knocked J. J out l In three rounds But even when t he visited this country years yeara after atter- S 1 ward a a round at old ld veteran Mitchell found that his boxing skill had become one of of the traditions S of the rIng Bob Fitzsimmons born in Hels- Hels ton Cornwall brought up In New Zealand came to this thIs thIs' country countr on ona n a sailing ship and landed in San Francisco With his worldly possessions pos pos- r sessions wrapped ill iii a bandana His rise was meteS mete mete- S orl or he e ils ws a fighting fighting-a freak ak the gre greatest tet weight that ever lived He won tl el yve championship from the thereat I great reat Nonpareil Jack D Dempsey the heavyweight championship from Jim Corbett Corbeit and when he was an anold anold old man Won von the light heavyweight champion from George Gardner Cardner his IlIs 1 ecord as worlds champion In InI I three weight classes never has been equaled by any other fighter Fitz became an American citizen Jeni Jem DrIscoll a marvelous f came came here and and whipped sOme of o oUr r best an t I feathers beginning with L Leach ach abd ending with Abe Attel Attell I featherweight champion n at at time This last was yas a a. n bout and went th the U limit sd Driscol Dris- Dris coIl col went home po pa n pew w title but lie he still Is rem nib red a as' as the cleverest and greatest little lIWe fighting fIght fight- Ing man out of f ingland OWEN MORAN FAST Many others have been less sue sue- One of th the best bt was wa's Moran who h have b c lightweight cha pl n b tut t for a athirst athirst thirst lie he could couldn't t. t quen h. h He whipped a lot of good goM fis fighters and nd was the only man aa who eVer actually actually actu- actu ally knocked out Battling but that was after Bat laSt tast the title to Wolgast Johnny S Summers came over with r a very good light light- t. t H nearly knocked out Tommy Tomm Murphy in his first fight I ut Jt wasn't so so su successful n HarrIson English champion started an InvasIon by meeting Eddie M at the old Garden manager know w McGoorty Eddie had the greatest left hand punch in the world and just two 10 of these in the first knocked Harri on cold S B Bombardier Wells a fine lookIng heavyweight came over to force Jack Johnson into a match The Bombardier was a great boxer and he could lilt hit Six feet three perfectly proportioned clever Intelligent and with a long knockout record W Wells lIs looked like I a real champion They started him with Al AI six feet three and POunds all fighting weight nearly t tore re t to pieces iff the first two rounds knocking him down and smashing hi his face tace out of shape with terrific a d perfectly I placed Each Um time got up he snorted violently to clear the blood from his nostrils and a ared ared red mist hung around him in the air In the third swung blindly and caught the Bombardier In the stomach knocking him down Wells Wells' was exhausted ed by his own efforts by that time and was quickly finished But he looked like Uke a marvel In those first two rounds Ic I-Ic tried agaIn and aid fairlY slaughtered big Tom I and Boer Beer Rodel and then w was s knocked out in twoS two rounds b bS' bS Gu boat I Smith The Gunner cli clipped Wells behind the Ear with hIs hIs' overhand rIght occipital punch baby could hit Wells went l home ome and was knocked out by Ge Carpentier Carpentier Car Car- and his career thereafter was uninteresting FIRPO GETS COIN S Luis Angel Firpo from the Argentine Ar- Ar gentine was a successful invader invader- FIrpo landed carryIng a sQuare shirt nd an extra Jd collar coila and minus other possessions He went back with a fortune of severa hundred t thousand American del dol- lars He came near the big title too Firpo looked Ilk like an an- an oher Jeffries His first fight was va to get ham and bean money out but li showell so sowell well that he dem demanded and got a fair purse for the next one Firpo nevel underestimated his value when he became known as the Wild Bull and he earned some big purses lie He had a fine line pf f knockouts Among othes be e k knocked Bill Brennan a corkIng ng l who once nearly Y Finall Finally FIrpo fought Dempsey Dempey at the fth witha a ga gate t over vera ver a He knock d Demp DempSey ey with ls first rIght uppercut knocked hIm down lat a swinging On- On the J jaw lW knocked hIm clear clEal out of the ring arid h q him limo dazed mind bewildered But Dempsey knocked Firpo down seven times Umes this thia action in ht the first round In the second round und Dempsey Dempse came bp lear headed arid feinting for tor arm rt Open pel care re Luis Luia and out as goon as h was up again Luis Luls' rne me back a y year ar later and a a rather discouraged fight Harry lo no I had bad the ambItion du out of f the Wild Boll nOIl and been wild since although h he a v. tights fights Iu in the Argentine Spall Italian champion invaded d dand and was knocked out by G Gene ne Tun- Tun ney There was mUch romantic interest In Carpentier the great French boxer and war aviator when hE came to fight Dempsey was a fist boxer with witha a He knocked out Battling Levinski for fol forthe the light heavyweight championship champion champion- ship but when he went after the bIg title Dempsey carried too many manyguns guns for him and finished him in four rounds before the greatest crowd that ever had seen seen a ring battle at that time Charlie Ledoux a tine lne bantamweight bantam bantam- weight 1 French rench boxer won von several fights in in inthis this country b was knocked out in a desperate tIght by Kid Williams the champion Ledoux came again and ana was alwa always al- al wa ways s 's popular but never reached a title S 'S GRIFFO CLEVEREST Young Griffo remembered as the cleverest fIghter of his time won many fIghts in this country and might have become a h JI if hed he'd taken any care ot of himself Griffo could stand on a handkerchief handkerchief chief and go three mInutes against any without being hit it He a boxing freak but ne he disorganizing thirst Among other ether very clever A Australians who made good In this country were were the Mur- Mur Ill I'll Tommy Tracey Dan Cree- Cree Hickey Hicke and Ui e gr al peter pe- pe ter Jackson Unable to get a fight with John L. L Sullivan Jackson 1 ig d and and knocke knocked out II I Sla Slavin vin for the British championship and was so effectually ther for several years that he started h me to A Australia to die oa th vay he stopped in California California Califor- Califor nia nia and Was Vas hammered helpless in ina ina a ot of rounds by 1 Jeffries Jeffri s th 11 a youngster j just st corning coming along Seeing Jackson done for tor Jeffries refused refused re- re fused to deliver the knockout blow arid iJ aSKed the referee to stop the the- tight t. t S Freddy Welsh was wis a very popular lIghtweight He v V VI I man 10 this country and and on n returnIng re- re ref turnIng to England was matched with Willie Ritchie flitchie and amid given gi th the lightweight on a a close decision In twenty rounds Welsh lasted some Ume asa t champion cham cham- pion after his ret return rn until lie he w was s knocked out ut by Bennt Benn Leonard Eugene another French war hero who lost p part rt of his lower jaw In the war and had It ft rebuilt so he could fight In the ring again carne canie over and knocked out Johnny Kilbane winning the worlds world's feath- feath title Unfortunately for he was forc forced d to stay anti alid light fight Johnny Dundee and had no title when he went home VI Argentine has won man many fights here o England France and Australia most ot of the su cess cess- tul invaders o of the American ring bring Of of N Zealand Zea Zea Zealand land W three worlds world's champlon ships Welsh of England one Car Car- and Criqui of FranCe e one each Maher and Tom Sharlee both from were we're terrific and each might have become be become be- be come a a champion if if they hadn't run Ul the two b best st punch punch- ers era hl inthe p world world Both vere svere kno knocked ked out by Bob ns but it Ii wa Jetrie who finished d Sharkey's career by cavIng in in his ribs ribs Id ht that desperate ive round rounda fit at Coney Island There was one more born foreign champion the great litte e Joe JoS Val Wal- cott from the Barbadoes BUt Walcot Val Wal- cot grew up in Boston and began his career there Copyright by the Bell Syndicate Inc A |