The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-03-11
0kEEFE WAS LUCKY
TO WIN FROM BRITT
Chicago Man Was III Bad Shape
When Referee Decided That
He Had Been Foulcd.
SOME CASES OF Low BLOWS.
Punches Need Not Necessarily BE
Foul TO Produce Swelling in
the Groin-General
Fight Talk.

Jack o'keeie played III the best sort of
| luck to get the verdict over Jimmy Brit,
| on fou! last Monday evening III their bat
| tie at Portland, the Pacific Coast man hay
| ing things all his own way III the sixth
| round, when Referee Grand decided that
| y heete had been fouied. Reports of the
| bout agree that Okeete would have been
put away i'll auOthr round at ne=t
The invasion Of the lightweight division
did not prove as successful as O'keefe an
ticipated. and he Will probably be in in d
hurry 10 get back 10 the Tea ther-weight'
punch after hts narrowing experience. britt
mad decidedly the better OF the go at the
middle Of the sixth, although Oheeie had
started the round apparently strong. and
me Shicaso man was an great distress When
Britt ianded a blow in the stomach.
referee Grant decided that the punch was
a fOuI ana stopped the uHut. Inc verdict
appears 10 have been extremely uupupuIdE
as Britt was heaVHy backed, the ODDS Oh
10 To against - INeefe having gone up to
. 10 / at the rlnSSldc. me coast sports
were on hand with !aISe bundles OF money
and the Chicago contingent could nave had
practically any price they asked.
Accounts Ct me bout SHOW that Britt
contrary to belief In Chicago, was the
quicker man OF the Two. tie landed lett
Jab AFTER left Jao TO OkeeIe'S face. the
!alttT responding Win rights TO Inc BODY.
Jacks nose was bleeding carry IN the bout
d succession OF let's on the organ starting
the blood in the tirst thirty seconds o.
milling.
BrtI fought in his usual crcuching posi-
ton and reached readily - Keefe stomach
ana face, the latters upright position not
protecting nm from the blows aimed at his
lace. Britt had the edge in the fifth and
. heete was clearly beaten at both boxing
and hard hitting when the sixth opened
Inc chicago man came up strong, but a
stomach "A "A
came the foul.
Doctor Denton. Il Portland physician. eX
amined y heete after the bout and stated
tnat he was badly swollen in the groin,
this probably indicating that a low blow
had been struck. Britt lost the decision and
VIII certainly try to wipe out the mark on
his record. TINS will mean at least one
more night for . keete in the West, II he
wants any more Of Jimmy's game.
Without attempting TO criticise either the
referee decision or the DOCTORS opinion.
both were most likely perfectly correct, II
may he remarked, in speaking of low blows,
that blow does not have to land below the
waist to cause a swelling on the body OF
the fighter struck. Those who saw Jack
. keeis and st. Louis Tommy Sullivan
fight AT the West End Club last summer
VIII recall that several blows landed in
Tommys stomach which We're low punches
although they were not fouls.
The result OF these low blows. although
every one alghted In spot made lawful by
the rules. was to swell sullivan : groin SO
days. The swelling extended completely
over the groin and was simply OF a sympa-
thetlc nature. caused by tho punishment in
the pit Of the stomach.
Many other instances might be quoted
where low blows had caused such sweiings.
And the swelling is very often more appar-
ent below the foul line than above it, sym
pathetic Inflammation seeming 10 have a
tendency To make itself manifest a little
below the stomach.
ms tact explains the howl raised by the
Britt hackers over the verdict. In the after
math Of the fight, dispatches state that the
hackers of Jimmy claim no low blow was
struck; they quote the case of Tom Sharkey
in his fight with Bob Fitzsimmons
Newspaper writer's at that fight, including
country. all believed that the blow was fair
when it landed, and they We're greatly sur
prised at Referee Earp's decision. 1t is the
genera. belief that Fftzsimmons was jobhed
out of the long end of that purs., In spite
OF the fact that reputable physicians, who
examined Sharkey, found that the sailors
hypo- gastric region was badly swollen.
Inasmuch one of Fltzsimmons's
punches was quite able 10 start sympathetic
Inflammation. the physic ans, opinion mas
at large upon the contest. There seems
nothing in the present BrItt-O'Keefe case,
however. 10 Justify any tuInult over the de-
Cision.
Some lively battles have been seen in the
history of the prize ring, in which specta-
tors and police took a hand as well as the
last Monday evening az Allegheny, Pa,
between Jim Jeffords and Jack q Brien de-
only did the affair wind up with Jeffords
kicking OBrien and jumping on him while
he was on the floor. but police twice in
vaded the ring. tore the lighters apart and
were then overawed by the spectators who
drove the officers away and made the scrap
pers resume work.
Before the contest took place. citizens of
guns If necessary to prevent the bout from
Allegheny said they would use shot
being fought. Two delegations of police
and a force of Constabes were on hand,
but the crowd seemed to have them badly
scared and their interference was fruitless.
Twice the police invaded the ring. In the
middle of the fourth and eighth rounds, but
each time they were driven out by specta-
tors.
Then a Constable tried to stop the affair
and was also scared out Of the ring and out
of a year growth. The authorities. how
ever. took revenge after the battle by an
that all the participants would be
The kicking episode came in the tenth
round. AS the men broke out OF a clinch |
they exchanged left-handed verbal compli-
ments. Jefrords instantly threw O'Brien to |
the floor and kicked him. being hustled
away by friends before he had injured his |
PROSTATE opponent to any extent. O'Brien |
Although illness on the part Of Hugo
of the fights at the West End |
Club. Il is rumored that hint has been |
given the promoters from a political |
source, to keep the institution closed down |
for a while. This il s;renuOusly denied by |
Manager Haughton. hut It is believed that |
may be behind this second post |
ponement of the fights. Kelly Forbes and
Love are ready enough for their battle and |
all the men are distinctly disappointed pc |
cause there will be no boxing tomorrow |
night. !
Bob Titzsimmons and Jack O'Brien are |
on the even OF getting together for their |
much-talked-Of bout, and the affair should |
furnish an interesting battle II really an
pears. however. as if Fitz had SO much of |
an edge in the bout TO make It extreme |
" one-sided.
Hugh McPadden and Benny Yanger IRE |
practically matched for a bout at Detrnit |
March y. This fight should be one of the |
best possible to secure in the feather |
weight division. and 1t Is pity II was not |
drought mere Il Il. w /