The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-15
BOWEN BADLY BATTERED.
LaTisne Knocks Him Out With Ease in
Eighteen Rounds.

The New Orleans Man No Match for the
Michigan Kid, and the Latter Made a
Monkey of Him-Bowen Terribly Pun
ished, and His Death Feared After He
Had Been Knocked Out and Remained
Unconscious for Twenty-eight Min
utes.
New Orleans, Dec 14-George (Kid) La
vigne. of Saginaw. Mich. knocked the pu-
gilistic aspirations OF Andy Bowen of this
city into the proverbial cooked hat to-
night in the eighteenth round in the pres
ence OF Of $500 spectators at the Audito-
rum club.
The contest was for a purse of $500 at
lSO pounds weight. but both men were
over the scale. Lavigne tipped the beam
at 1856 pounds and Bowen at 1873. The
Louisiana man was clearly outclassed.
and while he has developed a little better
judgment from his training with Dempsey.
it was not enough TO give him a chance
against the kid" from Saginaw.
It was one of the cleverest fights that
has ever been pulled Off in this neck of
the woods. and the kid" made monkey
Of Bowen throughout the whole contest,
playing with him as a cat would with a
mouse. He took his time at knocking
him out. and only did so when he got good
and ready.
The gong saved Bowen several times,
but it was conceded by the spectators at
the outset that Bowen was to be the loser,
He put up a game fight by staying up for
his punishment. but he was poor at fight
ing back. once Bowen went down and
waited for the referee to count seven.
but it availed him very little. He was Sc
verely punished; his left eye being closed
and his face all bruised and his lips swol-
len to twice their normal size. Lavigne
was unharmed and as fresh as Al the
opening of the fight, but his left hand
was swollen to the size Of his glove.
The knockout blow was delivered by a
left-hand drive on the side of the jaw,
followed by a cross counter with the
right hand on the chin and Bowen dropped
squarely in his tracks, his head striking
the floor with a resounding thwack that
sounded all over the house. He was un-
conscious for twenty-eight minutes. After
eight minutes work by his seconds he
was carried to his retiring room and Drs.
Schuppert, Hernana and Finney were
called in 1t was then thought that he
would not recover, and Sergt. McCabe
placed Lavigne and his party under ar
rest. They were released on the recovery
of Bowen, who, when he regained con-
sciousness, attempted to speak, but was
cautioned to remain quiet and turned
over, saying, "All right"
a.oa -. ~l,.s,
stepped into the ring, accompanied by
his seconds Australian Billy Mccarthy,
Billy Layton, and AL Spitzfadden, with
Ben Spiggs of Chicago as time keeper.
He was followed closely by Lavigne,
with Jim Hall, Sam Fitzpatrick, and
Martin Murphy as his seconds, and George
+. Considine of Detroit as time keeper.
Prof John Duffy was referee, and Sam
Stern official time keeper for the club.
The police were in charge of Sergt j,
NJ McCabe of the First precinct, and
perfect order prevailed.
Bowen forced the fighting for the first
two rounds, when Lavigne sized him up,
and proceeded to make a chopping block
OF the hard-headed Orleanian. He proved
good man with both his right and left
hands, landing with either at VIII, and
whenever and wherever he wanted to.
Dempsey had trained Bowen for the fight,
and gave him some valuable lessons in
ducklngs DuL lhe hlu caught ONO MS
style of ducking, and landed an effective
upper-cut every time.
After the fight Sam Fitzpatrick stated
to the Southern Associated Press represen-
tative that Layigne would like to take on a
go with George Johnson of England at
1926 pounds, for a side bet and the largest
purse offered by any reputable club.
The Ryan-Dempsey fight will be on to-
morrow night, with Ryan selling in the
betting at 100 to so.
Among the well known sporting men oc-
cupying prominent positions about the
ring were the following: Parson Davies,
Tom Ryan, Jack Dempsey, A. Erlanger,
B. B. Curtis, Joe Choynsk jim Barry.
D. c. O'Malley, John Hogerty, Frank Ives.
Sandy Waters, F. 3. Bowers, Senator
O'Malley of Chicago. President Jules Ro-
sier of the Pastime Athletic Club, Lew VI.
Houston, Fred S. Cox and many others Of