The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-02-15
EXCELSIOR CLUBS BOUTS
Seventh Annual Tournament Held
Last Night.
NiLLISCHEk's FINE SHOWING
Clever .Phtladclphian Wins Ills Battle.
George hendicy. OF Trenton. n. J.,
Gave Good Account Of Him.
self and Was Well Received.

self and Was Well Received.
There was crowded house at the
seventh annual tournament Of the Ex-
ceisior Athletic club held i'm Music hall
last night. The winners of medals in
their respective classes We're John Bo-
iand, OF the Excelsiors; Joe Willischek.
or Philadelphia. and Harry Marx. of
Philadelphia. Boland Is In the l15-
pound class. Willischek i'm the 1a5 class
and Marx in the ,5S class. One of the
battles was u draw
The proceedings began at $50. Jo-
| seph McNally, president of the club,
was referee. and John Il. Brown, of The
Tribune, and James j. Coleman were
Judges. Sig. Cohen was timekeeper
Each bou. was three rounds of three
minutes each. with one minute rest
II the judges failed to pick winner
the referee east the deciding ballot !;
otherwise his position in the ring was
to separate the boxers when they
clinched and 20 decide claims of foul
Jerry Heenan. of :he Nonpareil Ath-
letic club, OF Trenton. n. j.; George
Stewart, of the Caledonian Athletic
/ club. of Philadelphia. and John Boland,
| OF the Excelsior Athletic club, were on
the programme to fight in the li5.
pound class. but Stewart did not APP
pear, and when Heenan weighed he
tipped the scales at l24 pounds, which
made him ineligible I'm the class he was
entered; therefore no one being on the
lists to meet Boland. he won the prize
by default
But Boland and featherwright
william Lavenbergh, of PHILADELPHIA,
went ON in an exhibition bout There
was some very clever sparring, without
any injury to either in the way OF hard
blows. Boland was IN excellent condi-
tion; he had an easy time Of 1t with
his opponent and could have defeated
him easily II the bout had been for a
medal. In the last round Boland land.
ed twice for every once on the part of
his opponent. The decision of the
judges was given in favor of Boland.
Willisehck Is q Favoritc.
Great interest was manifested in the
appearance of Joe Willischek, of Phila-
delphia. who has ingratiated himself
with the Scranton lovers of good. clean
boxing and scientific showing. Willis
chek has attended every tournament
held by the Excelsiors within the past
four or five years and his cleverness
needs no introduction. He was attend
ed In his corner by Fred Clark, of
Philadelphia. This was the best bout
of the tournament. Willischek's live
ly leads and his trim condition were the
duIHlIdtioH VI tie spectators. Inc
three rounds were clearly In favor of
the Philadelphia boxer. He inflicted a
good deal of punishment on his New
Jersey opponent and got scarcely a
blow In return.
The first round was scarcely begun
when Willischek landed a hard blow
and after that Heenan remained on the
defensive and was kept dodging in and
out of the corners to avoid punishment
GIiThf n IA
pear4nce on Heenan's nose before the
round was over. The second and third
rounds were contested with great vigor
Heenan kept aiming his blows for the
body and usually did not fall short in
any of his attempts. But while he was
doing this Willischek got in. hard jabs
OH the face. The latter was In the pink
OF condition. and his boxing was very
fair. Sam Weldon, a heavy darkey
from Trenton, who wanted to enter the
15S-pound class, but was more fitted for
26S- pound class, was Heenan's second
The judges agreed on Willischek as the
winner
The third event was between Edward
Dempsey, of the Excelsiors. and George
Hendley, of the Nonpareil Athletic club,
of Trenton. The New Jersey man gave
evidence Of being a foul fighter. but he
did not profit much by low hitting. and
in the second round he cha nged his tao
tics and kept leading for the face. The
second round was evenly contested.
Dempsey was very anxious to give his
man a knockout blow: Hendley fought
warily and remained i'm the back
ground until nearly the finish, when he
made a vicious onslaught and did not
desist until Kennedy was so groggy
that he reeled around and would have
fallen but for the referee caught hold
of him and conducted him to a seat.
The winner had to prepare to meet
John Tighe later. AS there We're three
entered i'm this class. one man had to
engage in two bouts. Before the box
ing began they drew lots to see who
would meet In the preliminary; then the
winner would have to meet the third
man.
Bout Between Marx aud Farley.
Harry Marx. Of the Caledonian club.
of Philadelphia, and James Farley, of
the Nonpareils. of Trenton. next ap.
peared. The latter represented HIM
self as 145-pOund boxer. but he was
heavier and had to go in the class with
Marx. 1t was an unequal match: Marx
had much longer reach and was taller
and heavier.
Notwithstanding the disparity be-
tween them. Farley fought gamely. but
he was striving against too many odds.
and before the end of the third round
Referee McNally ordered the engage
ment closed and gave the decision to
Marx.
The last event was between Hendley.
who defeated Dempsey. and John
Tighe. The sentiment of the spectators
was with Hendley for the good show
ing he gave in his setto with Dempsey.
Tighe Is q well built fellow and as ac-
tive as cat. but his agility was need
ed. He forced the fighting and landed
some severe swings on Hendleys neck:
yet he invariably got an equal ex-
change. OF the two the Trenton boxer
showed the better. science. and he put
UP a very game battle. The third
round was spent in clinching. and the
judges agreed that an extra round was
necessary to enable them to give de-
cision
Tighe did the more leading in this
round, and when time was called. one
of the judges. Mr.. Brown. decided i'm
favor of him: Mr.. Coleman could not
decide i'm favor of either. and after Il
good deal of haggling Referee McNaIly
called the bout q draw This incensed
Tighe and his friends. and they wanted
to challenge Hendley to n finish fight
in three weeks. but the latter did not
give any definite answer.
STUDENTS ENTERTAIN.