The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-11-23
SHARKEY THE WINNER
His Fight With Corbett Ends in a
Disgraceful Fiasco.
sHARKEY HAD THE BEST OF IT.

One of Corbett's Seconds Jumped Int'
the Ring, Evidently With Premedl
tation. and Referee Awarded Figh
| to Sharkey on a Foul-All Rets on.
| New York, Nov. 23.--The Sharkey
| Forfeit fight. which was witnessed bS
| the largest and most representative
| gathering of sporting men that evei
! congregated to see ring contest
ended In a most disgraceful flasco last
| night at the Lenox Athletic club. Cor
| bett had the worst of the encounter
| when one of his seconds, Connie" Nc.
| Eey. jumped into the ring. appealing
| to the referee. thus violating the rules
and the referee Honest John" Kelly
| had no alternative but to disqualify
Corbett and award the bout and the
| $4,000 purse to Sharkey.
McVey's interference was absolutely
inexcusable, and the referee, believing
that there was Job" in McVey' )
action took it upon himself to declare
all bets off. Before Kelly did So how
ever, many of those who had bet on
Corhett, and they were legion, ap-
pealed to the referee to take such
action. while the Sharkeyites shouted
against such interference on Kelly's
part and protested that he had no au-
thori;y to declare the bets off. How
ever, the referees word went with the
majority of the spectators, and con-
sequently all money paid on wagers
made will be refunded.
Tt was an unfortunate and abrupt
i H.,
interesting fight. For weeks both Cor
bott and Sharkcy had trained faith
+ fully and carefully for the contest. and
when they stripped each of them show
cd in excellent condition. Sharkey was
very confident ol success. and the
manner in which he acquitted himself
in the ring while the fight lasted show
ed very plainly that his confidence was
founded on good ground. Those who
believed that Sharkey could not fight
fairly changed their opinion after the
bout had gone one round. On the other
hand, Corbett hit the sailor in the
body rather low, and Sharlley protest.
ed.
Sharkey's qulckness and aggressive
ness was astonishing from the very be-
ginning, and from the first it was evil
dent that he held Corbett safely. In
the second round there were wild yels
from the admirers of the Irishman
when he floored Corbett with right
swing on the head, preceded with
powerful blow on the body. Sharkey's
rushes We're successful invariably. and
Jim's quickness and leg work were
tested to their utmost in trying to
evadn the aggressive sailor-pugilist.
That Sharkey has improved wonder
fully gees without saying. and on the
other hand. that Corbett is not the
Csrbett Of New Orleans is beyond
question. At no time had the Cali
fornian the upper hand of his younger
and more sturdy rival. Sharkey Is a
fighter. and clever one at that. and
his work last night stamps him beyond
all doubt as being second only to Fitz-
simmons.
From the second to the eighth round
Sharkey held decided advantage. In
the ninth round. which was SO pro-
ductive of disappointments and un-
looked for Incidents. Corbett seemed
to be stronger than at any time dur
ing the fight but 1t was evident that
he was slowly but surely falling under
Sharkey's onslaughts. 1t was two to
one on Sharkey after the second round,
and had not McVey acted as he did
there is very little doubt that Sharkcy
would have won easily. Some Of the
most prominent bankers, brokers. law
yers. doctors and business men in this
and other cities were present during
the mill, and not one of them could
see any reason for interference by Nc
Vey. The general belief is that McVey
acted for some unexplained motive, and
some persons said that he jumped into
the ring to prevent Corbett going un-
der
When the big Californian realized
what had occurred he was furious with
passion and rushed at McVey. Had he
caught the latter there is no telling
what Corbett would have done in his
frenzy but the police were on hand
and rushed between the men. thus
avoiding p scene which would have
added to the disgraceful exhibition.
A close estimate placed the attend
ance last night at 5000, and 1t was
learned that the receipts exceeded
$i5 COO Tickets for seats near the ring
brought fabulous prices. The original
cost was $50 each. but last night twice
that sum. could not purchase one of
them, and in two instances they
brought S10O apiece. The other tickets.
costing IS to SIS. brought prices in
creased two and three fold, and the
club management did not put on sale
any Of the advertised 50 admission
tickets. The anxious sports gladly paid
S. and in many cases S. fer the priv
ilcTe of standing up at the extreme
ends Of the building.
The, doors of the big building were
thrown open at o'clock, and immedi-
ateIy the rush for admission began,
although the big fight did not begin
until nearly II o'clock. BY $3.50 o'clock
nearly every seat in the house was oc-
cuped. Bankers and brokers of prom-
inence lawyers of note and business
men, representing nearly every phase
of trade, mingled with well known
politicians and held animated con-
versatons in close proximity to the
rinGside.
In the preliminary bouts Charley
Schultz defeated Jack Sullivan in seven
rounds. Both are local boxers. Kid
Harris, of Chicago, defeated Charley |
Roden, Of Jersey City. in nine rounds. !
The latter had his jaw broken.
During the first bout there was a
commotion in box at the ringside. |
Kid Mccoy the pusilist who is to meet |
Peter Maher at Coney Island next |
month. had gained admission to the
arena disguised with false black
whiskers and mustache. Some days |