Show wo dav vwe Pugilist ica de as interpreted in old new orleans MADISON SQUARE GARDEN does a good M MANHATTAN deal of bragging about the manner and magnificence with which conducts its bashing affairs the latter day fans who hail the heavy beavy welter light and feather weight nobility know not of the past glories recently at a garden festival with my old friend john kennard once of new orleans where he practiced practice d law in the grand manner and moved among the antebellum ante bellum aristocracy I 1 was much regaled by his description of the corbett sullivan mill that rocked the nation in in those days said john the manly art a purely masculine entertainment one might say was conducted on a high scale and attended by gentlemen only the thought of my lady sitting in the new orleans olympic club under a rain of rosin dust and within sound of the gong was preposterous not until I 1 came to new york years afterward was it my lot to behold a woman parked within sight of the squared circle there ther e to be thrilled d at a knockout as delivered by the abysmal nai brute however we made no bones about turning a prize fight into a roman holiday with all its pomp and ceremony well I 1 remember the announcement that john L sullivan then world champion would fight gentleman ji jim m corbett the california panther to a finish an added feature in the same ring on succeeding days matched jack mcauliff with billy myer and george dixon with jake skelly A carnival at 50 per ticket for the three battles 10 for dixon skelly 15 for mcauliff and 25 for the main event between john and jim socialites socializes Socia lites make splurge As a member of the highly social boston club it had been my bract practice ice on previous occasions to secure cecur e prize ring tickets for m my y assoni associates ates the olympic club favored us with choice seats provided my requirements were made known well in advance with considerable alacrity I 1 made up a list which chic h totaled 1860 we pretty much monopolized the chairs in the rin ringside side section distin distinguished guir hed on that Z occasion from the back rows and bleachers by several coats of fire cracker red paint to further celebrate the carnival spirit that had seized upon us we ordered at a cost of a special dinner to be served at the pickwick club from which point we were driven in five horse drawn carry alls to the olympic club on canal street some distance from the center of the city in a quarter not particularly well policed fact is the custom of roughneck prizefight prize fight patrons upon leaving the club to seize upon other peoples vehicles throw cab drivers from their seats and drive away with an amateur on the box the passengers singing popular songs and waterfront chanteys chante ys to guard against any such reprisals directed at the boys in the red chairs I 1 engaged at 25 a private detective to guard our carry alls ails that we had hired at a cost of for the night mighty john Ls waterloo another little item was 15 for boutonnieres set at the right angle it ir our dinner coats then in in vo vogue ue for all championship affairs at the olympic club you need not draw upon anything other than your imagination agi nation in order to visualize the magni magnificence licence of forty odd new or Ife anians in dinner coats decorated with gardenias and seated in bright red chairs around a ring containing the persons of sullivan and cc corbett arbett engaged in a finish fight for the heavyweight championship of the world can you see them perfectly and never a calmer body of men you must have been magnificent with the exception of one member retorted kennard who at the end of the second round asked me how it happened that there were only two principals and four referees in the ring As a problem in optics that question to this day remains unanswered however I 1 want you to know that otherwise the delegation from the boston club was beyond criticism 1 how 11 ow was the fight if you ask me nothing to brag about sullivan came out of his corner like a tornado bent on wiping 0 out lit the california stripling i in n one devastating onslaught corbett Cor bott like a feather i in the path of a tornado sidestepped to safety and kept sidestepping side stepping for twenty one rounds aci nci never er at any moment in dan danger daner er sticking ri rights ats and lefts into johns johns face at bifi will boy saw the handwriting on the wall the san francisco phantom cut him down to the point of exhaustion where sullivan weary but willing though red and puffing puffin sank upon his broad haunches wiped the sweat out of his eyes and was vas counted out exclaiming while still seated lm im sorry I 1 lost the right fight glad ar an american won service |