Omaha daily bee., 1893-03-09

| purses ended tonight. magnificent crowd
IN point OF size and personnel saw a great
| battle tonight victory won and defeat
| suffered. The scene was the most supcrbly
| appointed hsttc arena in any land The in
| terest tonight was not as great by many
| degrees as on the occasion of the battle for
| heavyweight supremacy last September
when the ponderous pugilistic idol of the
country was laid low by the modern prize
ring David, but the fight tonight was never
theless the most important and most general
SUBJECT OF conversation ON the streets, in
clubs, IN saloons in hotels and IN parlors
The committee had vetoed the efforts of the
newspapers to bulletin the fight, because il
did not want to keep any one away from the
arena, but the telephone bells iingled NOR
rilY and bulletins found their way in every
direction in spite of precautions.
Clubs and managers had tried hard for
months to bring the Australians together,
and after much pickering articles were
signed The greatest purse two men ever
fought for was obtained and Fits immons
and Hall went their respective ways to pre-
pare for the battle.
Either Seemed IA Good Bet.
They are men of somewhat similar build
Both are giants, strong, stCalthy big boncd,
long armed stubborn formidable fighters,
adopts IN science, experienced in the ring
and hard punchers Each has a distinctive
style. Each has been regarded as a wonder.
SO close was the match considered that for
long time even money was wagcred on
either, the pool rooms letting the bettor
take his choice.
Hall promised to go into the ring a favor
lite. The east has been anxious to revenge
itself on titzsimmons for the defeat of Jack
Dempsey, and they went to Hall, not only
because Hall was considered good man, but
because the section lines were drawn against
the south and tiJzSmmons There was not
much choice, however, and the betting was
consistent during the day.
Hall seemed most strongly favorlte and
F1tZslmmOns only slightly the choice of the
talent. 1t was to 10 Hall at nightfall and
% to 100 Fitzsimmons. An influx of Fitz-
simmons men ana several hundreds of Fitz-
summons money appearing in the pool room
late in the evening beat down Hall and made
t1tzsimmons for the time the favorite even
money demanded for Hall and to on his
opponent.
Wild rumors were rife before and after
noon There was unauthoritative threats of
interference every hour of the day, and
when these had been effectually run to earth
there was rumor that Hall had fallen out
with his trainer, that the fight was fixed and
that the purse would not be forthcoming
Neither man worked hard on his last day
before the fight Each hugged his quarters
except when Fitzsimmons drove in a carriage
to the criminal court and when Hall went
around to Moreau's to get bite with Char
ley Mitchell. Crowds trailcd at the feet of
either, but Fitzsimmons was the more popu-
lar from local standpoint and local faith
"Ho III Nun anu lOCdl lllOlCy WAS On ulu
1t Was Noers Busy Day.
President Noel was on the ground before
dusk, and the police Gordon was drawn
about the building before the day had been
absorbed by night. The crowd was repre-
sentative in character and thoroughly cos
mopolitan.
The two men reached the arena in ample
time to rest and to prepare themselves for
the battle. Charley Mitchell and Jack Nc
Aulife attracted as much attention as they
entered the ring as did the stars themselves
Both men were drawn TO fine point, so far
as condition was considered, but neither had
taken off much flesh and were strong. They
came into the ring with promptness and the
crowd did not have long to wait for hostili-
ties to commence.
Mayor Fitzpatrick was among the promi-
nent officials who came early to see the
royal battle. In the Hall corner the men
chosen to look after his interests were
Lightweight Champion McAuliffe, Charley
Mitchell, Squire Abingdon Baird, and John
Kline holding the watch. Most of them meu
of craft and experience. E'itzsimmons
had men with less reputation, but not less
faithful than Halls attendants, Billy F'tz-
simmons. his brother; Martin Julian and
Frank Bosworth, d. G.. OMalley keeping
time.
The men entered the ring at o'clock
promptly, Hall leading the procession
Referee Duffy took his position almost i'm
mediately and both he and Hail were
CIttTCu lOuulN. lUZSllDUOnS came IN waving
the United States flag and received a tre-
mendous ovation. President Noel and the
chairman of the contest committee, Joseph
Short, Joined the men in the ring, while
Captain Barrett took charge of the police
detail. Referee Duffy made a neat speech,
counseling the men to be careful and cool,
and the fight was on.
Fitz Did the Fighting.
Round Usual handshaking marked the
opening. Both men stepped nimDly to cen
ter and feinted for an opening. Fitzsim-
mons attempted a left uppercut in stomach,
but Hall backed away. He tried again for
the head, and failing, clinched Hall led for
the stomach, but received q tap on the
shoulder Fitzsimmons scored heavy left
on Halls mouth, a right on the heart, with
out return The audience yelled. Hall made
wild left swing and Fitz smilingly dodged
away. Fitzsimmons landed heavily with
left on the stomach and lodged a return
from the same hand. Hall landed a heavy
right on the ear and Fitzsimmons clinched,
Hall hitting Fitz with right on head.
Round 2-Fitzsimmons tried to reach the
stomach with left missed and backed away
tltZ attempted right on the body, missing
because of Halls clinch. The men were eX-
tremely cautious, but Hall received a heavy
left on the stomach, responding with left
on the head. Hall landed.a good left blow,
but received one on the head in return. Hall
was trying to land his right and F'itz shift
ing, Hall slipped away. Fltz forced Hall in
the corner, Out the latter Clinchcd to avoid
punishment. FiJz tried the left, but was
neatly stopped. Both men in a hot rally
scored rights on the head.
Rounl 3-t'itzsimmons was the aggressor
feinting with his left, which he landed on
the stomach. Hall received right on the
body and moment later Fitzsimmons re-
ceived two heavy lefts on the face and a
heavy right uppercut. Fitz clinchcd to save
himself, and Duffy had hard time in part
ing them. Fitz was clinchlng to avoid pun
ishment right along Both men were fight
ing hard when the round ended
Mister Halls Fatal Mistake.
Round 4-Hall came up the aggressor
t1tz landed heavy right on the jaw, knock
ing Hall into the middle of the ring. The
blow was tremendous right-hand swing
and landed full on the point of the jaw Hall
was long time in coming to, but he finally
drew his left hand up to his nostrils and was
finally helped to his corner by Fitzsimmons
his conqueror.
The referee awarded the contest to Fitz-
simmons, who, waving the United States
flag over his head. walked over TO his oppo-
ncnt's corner and shook his hand. and as he
was leaving the ring received tremendous
ovation.
When Frank Bosworth jumped through
the ropes after Hall had fallen and the bat
tie was apparently over, Eitzsimmons forci-
laF 11s l.