The San Francisco call., 1904-02-28
PUTS
Up GREAT FIGHT
Spider Welch Hammers san
Rafael Lad. but Fails to
Land the Knockout Punch
AWARDED THE DECISION
Local Man Has His Opponent
GrOggy Several Times, but
the Latter Stays the Limit

one OF the sporting surprises Of the
year vas handed out last night At Sau-
salito when Rudolph Crossman, an OBJ
scure lightweight pugflist from the
Wilds of Marin County, stood up before
Spider" Joe Welch for twenty rounds
and took a beating that would have
made an ordinary heavyweight quit
Grossmsu was unable 70 punch and
never assumed the aggressive, so the
decision was WeIch's b. many lengths
The engagement vas the main event
. q a boxing carnival given for the ben
; eft of the Sausslito Fire Department.
Buena Vista Pavilion. where the event
took place, was packed A large crowd
went over from this city and the bal
ance of the attendance was made up
OF sports from san Rafael. SausaIito
and way ports.
Il vas nearly 10 o'clock when the
principals entered the ring Welch was
u. perfect condition. while Grossmsn
appeared 10 be half dead from fright
and vas not trained for q fstic en-
counter. At the tap Of the gong
. R'elch started after his man and kept
chasing him around the ring, landing
hard lsfts often
Grpssman seemed doped. and the
spectators were OF the opinion that the
NH would end in the next round.
. W.slch continued his rushes in the sec
:ond and seemed 20 have Grossman in
. distress. But in the third the san Ra-
taei lad began 70 show some All Of q
sudden his face frightened and he let
60 a few at WeIch that brought forth
q round q applause from his admirers
But his burst Of speed did not last
long for In the fifth round Welch be-
- gan 70 shoot in his left again. He sent
home q dozen hard tabs- Grossman was
groggy and appeared ready 70 quit
o.. The wise ones thought they saw the
-fnish Of the battle, but again they
'. were doomed % disappointment When
We-ch started in 20 rush things in the
sixth Gresham iusugurated z style Of
'clinchirg and protecting himself that
puzzled The Spider Every tine he tried
. reach Gr0ssmsn the latter would
close in and hang on till the referee
broke them apart
WeIch maintained his sggressiveness
rtght along and kept boring IN con-
rtruously- The strain began 10 tell on
Eroszuzu and in the eleventh round
he nearly fell from sheer weakness
. Immediately after Welch sent him u
1his knees with q vicious right swing,
gut he recovered II a trice and stalled
: III. the round was over.
Prom the eleventh round on Gross
nan vas groggy all the time but still
d. FVslch could not put him 10 the carpet
He beat the German lad in Al unmerci-
FIJI mznner-so bad, in fact, that he
bIed profusely. but stiu he stayed with
3 the game
- L the last three rounds Grossman
gropes around the ring and seemed
.cbIiyious Of what was happening He
. had sust sense enough 20 Clinch and
shift around every tine Welch came
near him
WEIGH was trying his best 10 put in
the-hnsI wsuop. but that peculiar style
y the san Rafael rube kept him
Guessing At that. he landed some that
looked ike finishing touches. but the
German took them all without wincing
and was always ready for more
- Helch missed many swings in every
round Of the battle and did not display
ais usual steam Grossman showed
that he Is possessed Of no punch. for.
On many occasions. the Spider stood
: ID and lei him land Wallop after val
3-p, none n which had any steam
= behind them Jimmy Carroll. the
veteran lightweight. refereed the bout
Before the main event there were
several three-r0und exhibition bouts
between weIl-knOwn fighters. frankie
. Rel the champion bantam. opened Up
r%e entertainment with a 20 with John
Frayne. q local amateur Among others
who boxed were Cyclone Kelly and
Waller Moreno. Jimmy Carroll and
one u his ancient pupils. Tom Griffin
and BIZ CIarey and "Tanglefoot Nc
Govern and Billy Lynch.