Show speaking of 0 sports fiction pales pale s before career of kid mccoy by ROBERT mcshane ne release released leased by western N newspaper per union NORMAN ORMAN SELBY was the real mccoy and norman selby took his own life recen recently tir tn in a de mich hotel it was under the name of I 1 kofl of mccoy that hat selby became becam one on f the best and most glamorous box in ing g cham champions of half a century ago the real mccoy was originated when the kid billed himself that hat way in opposition to a rival who also cal called id himself mccoy there ere were no tears shed at the kids kids funeral he had caused too m much lich trouble during his lifetime I 1 had ad pulled too many mean tricks ana and was never too particular about how he ha fought as long as he was victorious rf ij but kid mccoy was a great fighter boxing old timers remember him as a paralyzing puncher one of the hardest hitters the fight game has ever known his skill was so great he could pit successfully his pounds against the best heavy weights of his day his cunning was wal almost diabolical and it was him cunning which made so many enemies for him lesson in cunning mccoy reveled in victimizing his bis opponents the old shoe lace gag was one of his b best t in the midst wes of combat he would uld pause point down and tell his opponent to hurry up tie your shoe laces when the victim looked mccoy struck sailor torn tom sharkey now living in san francisco recalls the kid with no fond memories he tells about their fight in new york back in 1899 the kid came into the ring that j A KID THE REAL mccot night with his gloves on Shar keys manager tommy rourke ordered the gloves removed they were full of plaster one good punch could have anve brought a permanent close to Shar keys career a fight sharkey will never forget odds were 10 to 6 mccoy would beat him when the kid knocked him down in the first round the ringside odds went to 10 to 3 but the sailor weathered the storm he 4 started working on his opponents I 1 14 stomach and the referee counted 10 over the kid in the tenth round sharkey forget the matter of the loaded gloves the most lurid fiction Is tame when compared to mccoys mccols life story at various stages in his career he was a millionaire and a hobo lie was a worlds worldly s boxing champion and a jailbird he married nine times three times to the same woman he served eight of a 20 year sentence for murder once he was proprietor of 0 a i jewelry store and once he swamped out saloons its almost impossible not to bf be melodramatic when writing of mccoy he was a melodramatic person his life was a series of fantastic adventures unpleasant memory tom sharkey recalls another uni I 1 pleasant incident in the kids life 1 I remember tom says how he met tommy ryan in 1886 1890 after working as ryans byans sparring partner and learning all his tricks still hiding his own skill he wrote ryan he was dead broke and sick and ryan give him a chance to make some money it ii would be just a workout for ryan but it meant a change for the kid he told ryan he even have to train ryan took him at hla his word and gave hirn him the fight mccoy beatham bea thim unmercifully and laughed about it the tables were once turned on mccoy however lie he was wa the ilc victim of an upset that ranks with the games most inexplicable meeting jack mccormick in 1899 in chicago the kid was rated a to I 1 shot to win one second after the bell the kid was stretched on the floor senseless mccormick had knocked him out with the first punch rugged individualist A note was found b beside alde mccoys mccols body his message was that he be no DO longer could stand the Imad madness iniss of the world perhaps the kid was discouraged because there was wag no longer a spotlight shining upon him he was a rugged rugge dand and ruthless individual only extremes meant anything to him he scorned the well trodden path always seeking glory and excitement when they could no longer be his he decided for or the first time to throw in the towel |