St. Paul daily globe., 1892-12-29
Great Gameness Displayed by
the Little Son Of
Erin.
Two Minor Battles Decided
Before the Little Fell
lows Meet.

of Elizabeth, N. j., and Connie
Sullivan, of New York, and another of
eight rounds between Billy Leedom, of
Philadelphia, and Motfatt Flanerty, of
Boston. The fights were all of light
caliber and in consequence thereof there
was a decidedly slim attendance. Many
noted sports, however, were present.
Plummer was the favorite, being
backed with considerable money, but
the Irish lad was expected to put up
most stubborn fight and give every
BODY run for their money. At the
opening of the first bout it was very
evident that the house would be slim.
The First Bout
was commenced sharp at $50 o. m.
Hughey Boyle was little slow about
making his appearance. Sullivan was
the first to hop on the stage, accom-
panied by his seconds. The men were
not long in preparing for the fight, and
the moment that Prof. John Donohue
called time they sprang nimbly to the
center of the ring and commenced hos
tilitIeS. The little fellows fought for
purse of $500, of which the winner got
$400 and the loser Sl0U. A fter ten rather
most leading, and in which neither
seemed able to put the other out, the
referee awarded the bout to Sullivan.
1t was announced 10y Fred Burns.
master of ceremonies. at the conclusion
of the first bout, that Jack McAuiffe
was in the house and wished it an
nounced that IL was no fault Of his that
his fight with Dick Burge for the SO, 900
purse of the COney Island Athletic
club fell through. He was ready and
willing to fight, and signed the articles
furnished by the club at 133 pounds. and
that he now stood ready to meet any
man in the world at that weight. which
is the lightweight limit. The Coney
Island club says that all McAuliffe had
to say was correct.
The Second Bout
of the evening, that between Leedom
and Fiaherty, was then called. The
men weighed l54 pounds. This was a
fight from start to finish. Flaherty had
his opponent groggy and down in the
first round. but Leedom was sufficiently
recovered in the second to do some good,
stiff Furnishing. In the third Flaherty
dropped his man again with straight
left and then came near losing the fight
by making three fouls. From then un-
til the eighth and last round it was give
and take With Fiaherty's work shade
to the good. Each man waited for
chance to use his right, but it came not
They punished each other severely,
Flaherty. however, getting in more
telling blows, and the referee awarded
him the contest. They, too, fought for
a purse of $500.
The fight of the night then took place.
The referee was Johnny Eekhardt;
club timer, Bob Stoll, Of New York.
The contestants were Billy Piimmer, Of
England. champion bantam Of the
world. and Joe McGrath, champion 1l0-
pound man of Ireland. They fought for
a purse of $4,000. the winner to take
Sc, 900 and the loser $500. PIimmer was
seconded by Charley Norton, of Newark;
Bennie Murphy and Harry Evans, of
Birmingham. England. Joe Connolly,
of Newark, was his bottle holder. and
Alfred Jewett, of Philadelphia, held
time for him.
McGrath Was Looked After
by Martin Murphy. of San Francisco;
Peter Maher, of Dublin, Ireland, and
holder was John Brady, of New York,
and his timer Jack Sheehan, of race
track fame. Plimmer was strong
favorite among the betting men, as most
of them had seen him fight on one or
two other occasions and knew well
what he could do, while no one had the
least idea of McGrath's ability. The
fight commenced at l0:30 p. m.
Round One-The referee called the boys
into the center of the ring and shey got at it.
Plimmer led with his left which was short
McGrath knew the game he was up against
ana kept away. plmmer played for tie
stomach. and McGrath for the head. Each
got in few light taps, and were shy in the
Round Tv o-Plimmer forced matters and
punched McGrath whenever he pleased.
Billy continued to punch McGrath leading
with a light left and forcing his right on Nc
Grath's eyes. McGrath looked to be very
Round Three-McGrath has reputation
for taking punishment, and he ably sustained
his reputation. Plimmer kept jabbing his
| left into McGrath's mouth, and soon had
that opening full of blood. McGrath began
to improve, however. and landed two or
three hard blows which made Billy vince.
All Plirnmer's Way.
| Round Four-Phmmer forced the fighting
| and landed just when and where he snw fit.
| In swinging his right Plmmer missed his
marx and slipped and fell. McGrath also
went partly down, but neither man struck
blow. Plimmer was up quickly, and from
| this out he had everything his own way,
| chopping the Irish lads face into jelly and
knocking him down twice. The Irish lad
was game and stood his punishment man.
| fully Plimmer was cool and landed every
| blow good and solid.
| Round Five-McGrnth's face was covered
| with blood, and Plimmer forced him TO his
| knees McGrath deliberately butted Billy in
| the stomach. but Plinmer did not want the
| fight that way. He bought McGrath to the
floor with right-hand swing on the jaw,
| but the lad was game as pebble and, al
though repeatedly Knocked down. he got up
| and took his punishment. Plimmer landed
| his right aud left and had McGrath stream
| ing with blood. and the gameness of the boy
| was something marvellous. McGrath stag
gered to his corner when the bell rang.
| Round SiX-This round was almost sick
| ening to behold 1t was extremely brutal
McGrath was pounded until he was SO grog-
gy that he could hardly stand on his feet
| He was knocked down four times, but
GameIy Got Up
each time before he could be counted out
Had Peter Maher half his gameness he would
now be one of the ossempions of the world
! 1t was only the gong that saved him lhe last
| time he was knocked down.
| Round Seven-This round was another eX-
| hihition of gameness, and, although forced
! to the floor repeatedly, McGrath kept at his
| work, although fighting without the slightest
| shadow of q chance of winning. He was
| repeatedly knocked down, and each time
| seemed to be the last, but taking advantage
| of the ten seconds, he arose gust before being
| counted out. Cries Of Take him of, etc..
] were heard, but accepting his punishmenG
| he kept pegging away until ne had no
| strength left and was bound to be defeated
| for the first time in his life.
| Round Eight-Plimmer tried to bring the
| fight to hasty finish, and went at his man
| with right and left and showered blow after
| blow upon his battered and bruised face. but
| even then he could not put him out. Nc
| Graih was knocked down repeatedly. but
| bobbed up each time before he was counted
CO VT T 10 n
| crowd yelled Take him off y and out of pure
| pity Jimmy Carroll threw up the sponge.
| Peier Maher distinguished himself by I'm
| ming away from McGraths corner i'll the
| onds for throwing up the sponge.