The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-25
ST. Paul 0DYLOSES AF|GBT
BILLY O'BRdIEN WHIPPED BY BEN
NY TRAVIS, OFF THE THIRD
ARTILLERY
REQUIRED SEVENTEEN ROUNDS
Pronounced One OF the Gamest and
CIeanest BATTLES Even Seen
In the Philip
pines.

The Manila Freedom, copies Of which
came to hand yesterday, contains the
following account of a prize fight in
which former member of the Thirteenth
was defeated: ru
Billy O'Brien. of st. Paul, and Benny
Travis, Battery o. Third artillery, signed
articles early in March for a twenty
Ave round go at 1873 pounds with five
ounce gloves, Marquis of Queensberry
rules to govern
The bout was first arranged to- take
place April g. but was later postponed
the part of the principals
The tip was quietly passed around
among lovers of sport last week that
there would be a good thing on 1T
the Pasay track Saturday afternoon. Ac-
cordingiy, such as had the tip, wended
their way south and were early on hand
to see the fun.
The principals however, did not , ap-
pear until after 3 o'clock o Brien had
been suffering from bowel complaint for
several days and was in poor condition
for fight. He asked that the match
be postponed for a couple OF weeks.
Travis however. would not consent to
this as there were too many people to
be disappointed. There was some little
difficulty about the side bet, but this
was satisfactorily arranged by the iu-
dispensable Fisher who was stakehold-
er and the men weighed in.
Both appeared in fine condition and
Travis balanced UP q good pound and a
half under the required weight. o Brien,
however. had missed his rub for three
or four days and consequently was six
pounds over weight, thereby losing his
forfeit.
Then ensued a little wrangle over the
size of the ring. The ring. as put up,
was sixteen feet square, while Travis
wanted a twenty-four-foot ring They
finally compromised on twenty feet The
purse was handed to the stakeholder,
Mr.. Fisher, of the Hoffman house, who
arranged the fight, and the agreement
made that the winner should take all.
Sailor Brown was selected as referee,
and Jack" Stewart of the Fourteenth
infantry as timekeeper
O'Brien won the toss and chose the
southwest corner. His seconds were
Stewart and McVey. Of the Fourteenth
and Marshall, Of the Sixth artillery
Travis had in his corner McTigue and
Cook, of the Sixth artillery, and Eel.
linger, Of the Third artillery. The agree
ment was made that there should be nc
hitting in breakaways and that the de.
cision should not be given on a foul
When the men shook hands and came
together in the ring, 'Brien looked much
the heavier. Travis clean-cut limbs and
well-developed chest, however, betokenec
the fighting man
For the first few rounds Travis ap.
peared rather apprehensive and was very
careful % 2sa s4.ss man. 9. Rrien, on the
other hand, never lost his smile IRON;
start to finish. though after the ninth
round it changed from one Of confidence
to one of gritty determination. It was
the universal opinion at first among
those who know" that the go would
result either in win for O'Brien or O
draw. Travis can't put him out" they
said. and Travis didn't
A few light blows were exchanged ir
the first and second and in the third
Travis got first blood from a cut or
O'Brlen's nose. In the fourth more
blows were exchanged and Jack" Wal.
ton ventured the opinion that neither
of them can hit hard enough to dent
butter"
From this on 1t was easy until the
tenth. after which the go was hard anc
heavy untl the finish. In the ninth
OBrien sprained his wrist in a clineh
but continued gamely. In the twelfth
one of O'Brten's seconds jumped into the
ring and claimed foul and a free fight
ensued among spectators near his corner
While this was in progress, and while
OBrten was standing with his hands
down, awaiting the referees decision
Travis walked up behind him and land.
ed a heavy right hand swing on his law
The blow staggered, but did not knock
him down, and he quickly turned and re-
sumed the fight.
Although the blow might have appear
ed cowardly to some, it was a perfectly
lawful one, and O'Brien should have been
on his guard. That he was not knocked
out then and there was due only to the
fact that Travis could not strike q suf-
fclently powerful blow, and 1t Is q Sig
nif1cant fact that during the entire con-
test neither man was knocked down once
In the fifteenth and sixteenth O'Brisn
was very weak and crinched frequently
to avoid punishment. In the sixteenth he
fell to his knees, but rose again, and
Travis did not seem willing to administer
the coup de grace In the seventeenth,
after an exchange Of blows he turned
and staggered toward his corner, when
some one shouted, fight 1t out Billy"
He Immediately turned and went back to
the center OF the ring. A few more blows
were exchanged and Travis asked, Don't
you want to quit, Billy2 It's no use.
don't want to hit you" He then turned
and staggered toward his corner accom-
panied by Travis, who threw his arm over
his opponents shoulders In a half pro-
tecting manner, while O'Brien's seconds
tossed the sponge into the center Of the
ring
Every man who saw the fight unftes
in the expressed opinion that It was one
of the squarest ever seen In Manila, ana
at the conclusion the crowd was unani-