Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1901-05-22
VETERAN
Manager ofCham'
pions.
Something About Life
of Billy Madden.


the one who has best withstood the
exciting years of the kind of life
prize fighter leads is BILLY" Madden,
says the Cleveland Leader. TO see
him as he walked up and down the
Cleveland streets between the Wed
dell House and the Star Theater when
hero recently, one would hesitate to
believe, If told so, that he was fam
o,is prize fighter thirty years ago, and
that he had boxed before enthusias-
| tic crowds in the old Cleveland
theaters twenty-eight years ago with
George Siler, the latter known to the
present generation as "A referee of prize
| fights.
Billy Madden is the father of mod
ern prize fighting. He has made more
champions than any other American
alive, and he was the first to conduct
prize fights on business principles.
For years he was celebrated prize
fighter himself, and was never de-
feated in u fight.
"rhe fighting games all right" he
said to IL reporter last week, "and 1T
will soon be as good as ever. I've
| been in ii for a good many years, as
manager and fighter and it is going
to be permanent thing. 1t is the
only business not in the hands of q
trust. They will never stop fights.
OF course, the old-fashioned kind Of
bare knuckle fights, such as they used
to have years ago, will never come
back, but there will be boxing con-
tests, and they will be permitted by
law sooner or later everywhere. The
people want them, and in this coun-
try the people get what they want.
Your new Mayor here, Tom John
osn, has got the right idea, unless he
is playing for the gallery He seems
to believe in giving people what they
want He says he Is going to close
up the gambling houses, and that is
right. They are all wrong. / dom
believe in gambling houses. Any mar
that can afford to lose money gambling
5 has got enough so that he has home
or a place where he can so and play
with his friends without going to Q
public gambling house.
when / was a boy of fifteen OF
eighteen / was making good none!
in New York as a pasterer. 1t wal
. too tame. wanted to do, something
2 that would give me Il contest with I
chance to win over somebody else,
= gave up II good job to 1go.sto work n
h bartender in fighting saloon, at tina
= time the only fighting saloon III New
:. York got the chances for contest
l. there that ] wanted. | used to pu
on the gloves with whole lot o
young fellows for fun. 1t was no
long before I got into the business o
fighting, One of the first public fight
ever had was with Tim Collins
of London. We fought with gloves i
|, New York city. In 1871 i met Eddi
y Hanley, of New York, and the sam
year licked Tom Hart of Cleveland
with bare fists in the same ring dow
in New orleans in which the famou
y Mace Cohurn fight was fought.
u TN those days there were no sue
't fights as have been had in recent year
1t was all against the law, and tn
T. crowd would gather at some plaC
n where they thought they would 1
n free from police interference, or whel
they could make an arrangement wit
IN the officials and fight with ban
knuckles. 1t was not called a pri1
q fight unless it was with bare knucl
s. les. There would be the toughest Kin
of gathering at the ringside.
s. would be crowd of gamblers, tough
pickpockets, and thieves, with re
Ill genuine lovers of sport. 1t was II
d. ually like riot from start to fms
SIS Those fights were nothing like the o
e' derly fights of modern times, VIII
he the police on hand, and perfect ord
preserved all the time.
ed During the seventies l was tigh
IS ing almost all the time. In 1877
beat Tom Dempsey to a finish in Ne
mt Orleans, and the same year be
Jack Sullivan in bare'knuckle tigl
up in Wisconsin in thirteen round
se. In 1873 fought draw with Jl
Taylor, middlcweight champion OF Il
: West outside of Chicago. 1t was
great time, We fought AN hour III
\ ten minutes, and then the chief
police of Chicago arrived on a freig
train with bunch of officers al
arrested us. We were outside t
state of Illinois. having gone over t
Indiana line TO he safe from the Cl
cago authorities, but the chief ear
and kidnapped us over the line ba
into Illinois, and arrested MS. He IL
his job for IT,
II was busy fighting and givi
exhibitions all the time, and in IL
/ went up into Canada and defeat
\ Professor Richardson. 1t was ha
10 get people interested in any XII
OF a glove contest in those days. Th
wanted the bare knuckle fight. Son
times tight gloves were used but II
was only to evade the law. j RENE
ber once out In Leadville, / foug
five men in one night with gloves, a
got $i00 for it.
ST was in the seventies that | We
TO Canada and began to teach b'
ing. | advertised that would tea
n man who did not know thing abe
boxing to be good enough in
months so that he could knock {
the best man in Montreal. l did II
took man named Bill Ryan out
sewer, where he was working
L.. I-,,. Il