The San Francisco call., 1897-10-05

to the center of the ring the instant the
gong was sounded and fiddled like Jack
ln-the- box in front OF Smith, but the
white-skinned lad was not the least bit
alarmed at what was coming.
He waited for Dixon to open the game
and stamped the floor hard with his left
foot thinking that the foot system of
feinting would draw out Dlxon's fire. but
the colored lad refused to accept of the
bait and fiddled for the so-cal4e opening
Finally Smith grew weary and swung
his left.
The blow was well aimed and timed.
Dixon stopped the flight of The glove
with his mouth and then the sport was on.
The colored champion brou yht inIo exc
cution all of his fancy blows. He tried
lefts Tor the jaw, rights Tor the body and
uppercuts, all of which Smith cleverly
avoided excepting a few body blows
which did not carry much steam.
At close range fighting Dixon almost
invariably came out OF the rally best man,
but his blows somehow did not seem to
distress Smith in the least.
The white lad certainly showed great
cleverness in stopping Dixon's left swings
or In allowing them to pass over his
shoulder. In TACT Smiths right shoulder
showed the red marks of his opponent s
glove which was intended to land on the
jaw. BY a quick turn OF the head and a
tended left handlers
Possibly the smashes he got from Dixon
in the cody when the fighters mixed
things may have hurt him some, but he
certainly did not show any sign of punish
ment.
In fact he wore a confident look during
the mill and scored strong lead from the
sixteenth round to the finish
Allowing that the contest was an even
I MT L.
said that Smith scored a strong lead dur
ing the last five rounds ana the referee 8
decision in favor OF Smith was received
with rounds OF cheers from the gallery as
well as from the reserved portion of the
house.
or course there were some dissenters,
but to man up tree it was evident tha
Dixon was outclassed last night by a man
who showed equal cleverness in hitting,
ducking and stepping, and who was the
stronger OF the two when the gong rang
for the drop of the curtain.
smith may have been a wild fighter,
but he handled himself last evening like a
veteran and, although a draw would have
pleased those who had wagered on him,
the decision was nevertheless honest and
fair. Dixon has retrograded.
A detained description of the fight fol-
lows:
Round both men came up smiling and
began fddling very last Smith stamped his
foot 10 draw Dixon out. but it did not work
Smith swings left and ands hard on Dixon's
nose. He tries the same blow again and lands
on the jaw. Smith tries again and his blow
gIances over the shoulder. Smith drives in a
right and they clinch. Smith leads with his
left ard strikes Dixon on the shoulder Dixon
then rushes in and tries left swing but is
cleverly blocked by Smith. Dixon rushes
again ana lands his left lightly OH Smiths
neck. Smith swings with his left and il goes
over Dixons arm. They clinch as The round
closes. All in favor of smith.
Round 2-Both begin iddiing fast in the
ring center. Dixon rushes and tries to land
his left, but misses. Dixon swings left and
lands lightly and Smith uppercuts Dixon OH
the nose. Dixon rushes in and Smith ducks
Both men rush in but no damage done. Soly
tries his right and it goes over the coIored
lads head. Smith makes terrific uppercut,
touching Dixon lightly in the face. Dixon
lands lett uppercut on the breast. Smith
misses lett swing. Smith ceverly blocks
Dixon's lett and right swings. Dixon stops
with his right hard left swing. Smith swings
right aud lands on body. Smith lands terri fc
left swing on the Jaw. Botn men clinch and
| fight roughly. Time was called as they were
iddling for another rush. This round was
about even.
Round 3-They came up quickly and
began lighting at once. Dixon lands left