Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1893-03-09
A REMARKABLE FIGHT
Hall Knocked Out in The
Fourth Round.
THE WINNER GETS S37,5O0.
Fitzsimmons Shows High Degree Of
Pugilistic Skill.

New ORLEANS, March 9-The greatest
middleweights i'm the world met last night
In the ring Of the Crescent City Athletic
club, and 1t required Bob Fitzsimmons but
Is minutes TO prove that he was the best
man of the two. He beat Jim Hall In four
rounds and won s37, 800, the long end OF a
$4,000 purse, and the largest amount ever
contended for in the prize ring. FitZ
realized about 5000 for every 60 seconds
In which he was engaged in battling with
Hall. The loser gets but $500 out of the
purse. 1t will hardly pay his training ex-
penses. The result of the fight may In a
measure be regarded a. a triumph for
America for IL Fitz was born in England
and reared in New Zealand, he was to all
intent hnd purposes an American citizen
when he stepped into the ring, having
taken the preliminary steps towards TAX
ing out naturalization papers yesterday
morning.
The men had been regarded as most
evenly matched, and while Fitz was
slight favorite at one time and HILL at an.
other, at no time were long odds given on
either. Fitz's victory Is generally attrib-
uted to his wonderful agility. He was
quicker on his feet than Hall and gave the
latter no rest while they were In the ring,
adopting tactics that were n great surprise
to the majority OF those who follow ring
events. 1t had been expected that Hall
would be the agressor and that Fitz would
endeavor to keep out of his way and ex.
haust him by occasional jabs on the nose
and mouth, and the general stiffness OF
which he is past master. On the con-
trary,
Fitx Forced the Fighting
and kept Hall too busy avoiding wicked
blows to do much execution on his own
behalf. The winner displayed a marvellous
judgment Of distance, and his hitting was
also as clean as the proverbial whistle.
Both men danced about the ring like
French professors Of the art of terpsi.
chore and missed no opening for an
sffectual blow. The blow the ended the
fight was as unexpected as 1t was effectual.
The crowd had settled back for "A long and
evenly contested fight and when Jim
went down and was counted out his
friends could hardly realize that theii
favorite had been beaten. There were at
least 10000 people around the Crescent
clubs arena.
They entered the ring at 9;10, and, after
the gloves had been weighed by Police
Captain Barrett and donned by the fight
ers, Professor Duffy gave the usual lecture
to the contestants, and the customary
handshaking Of the principals and theiI
seconds followed. At 9:l9
The Fight Begun.
First round-The men stopped briskly
to the center Of the ring and spared eau.
tiously. Fitz led with his left for Halls
head and fell short, and Hall jabbed him
lightly with his left on the neck. Fitz got
in a hard right handed swing on Jim's
stomach, and both men cleverly avoided
hard blows In the rally Again Hall
jabbed Fitz on the neck, and the latter
countered ON Jim's wind as the round
ended.
Second round-Both men were cautious.
Fitz swung his right lightly on Hall
and followed it up with a left handed
jab on Jim's stomach. The latter jabbed
Fitz on his neck, and then each landed a
straight left handed face blow, and clinch
followed. The gong rang as the men were
engaged in sharp infghting, neither doing
much damage. Honors were even.
Third round-Neither was disposed to
take the offensive at the opening. They
fddled for half a minute and then Fitz
landed twice on Halls stomach. Then
they SPARED again for an opening, and
Oiih hol III IlkhAhdhucT Oh DOD utCh.
An exchange of light body blows was fol-
lowed by rally at short range, In which
the execution was heavy. When they broke
away Jim jabbed Fitz on the chin and Bob
got i'm his right on Jim's body. 1t was
anybody's fight 80 far, but Fitz had dis
played the most science.
Fourth round-Hall came up as conf
dent "a ever Both men were smiling when
they put up their hands. Fitz reached
Halls stomach with his left but the blow
lacked force and Jim retaliated by jabbing
Bob on the face with his left. He tried to
land his right but Fitz ducked and they
came together in a clinch. When separ-
ated by the referee, Bob quickly got out Of
range. Then came the knockout blow.
First Fitz feinted with his left and drew
Jim in for an opening and quick as IA fash
Bob swung his right with terrific force and
planted his fist squarely on the point of
Halls jaw. Jim went down with a thud
as suddenly
As f FeIied with n Crowbar.
The great crowd arose to a man, and
their cheers drowned the voice of the re-
feree as he counted Hall out The shout
ing Of the spectators was fairly deafening
as Charley Mitchell, Jack McAuliffe and
Squire Abingdon rushed to the ring and,
lifting Hall tenderly from the floor, car
ried him to the chair I'm his corner. The
defeated pugilist seemed almost lifeless
He had been put to sleep by one OF the
clearest knockout blows ever delivered
and was unconscious for some time. No
sooner did the referee declare him q win
ner than Fitz seized a small edition OF the
Stars and Stripes that had been placed in
his corner and ran around the ring waving
the flag above his head amid the wild Ell.
thusiasm. Then he crossed TO Halls
corner and shook the limp hand Of his still
unconscious opponent
1t was a remarkably scientific contest
while IL lasted and both Of the combatants
showed that their regulations for puglis-
tic skill was well deserved. Still the show
ing made by Hall was not altogether what
bad been expected Of the conqueror Of Ted
Pritchard. Before the contest everything
had seemed to be In his favor lie won the
choice Of corners. His seconds were two of
the cleverest men who ever figured In
pugilism and he had been trained TO per.
feet form by the assduons care Of the most
paisssaking handlers. As for Fitz he
was, as he always In, in the pink Of condi-
tion.