Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-09-12
KNOCKS OUT BRITT
rBATTLlNGr NELSON WINS ONE
OF THE GREATEST BATTLES
OF HISTORY.
Fat } Fab That Disposed of Call
fonia's Pride Was Delivered in the
Eighteenth Round Men Fight
Like Demons = Story of the Victory
tory.

San Francisco, Cal, Sept. lin a
fight that will long stand in class OF
Its own in the history of ring contests,
Battling" Nelson of Chicago, knocked
out James Edward Britt of San Fran
cisco at Colma Saturday afternoon.
The end came in the eighteenth round
and was clean-cut, fairly won victory.
This Is a simple staten ent of the re-
suit.
The story of the battle itself is
thrilling No element that goes to give
a fight the superlative title of great
est was missing The surroundings,
the crowd, the known bitterness of the
men toward each other, the uncertain
ty whether there would be fight at
all I'D to within quarter of an hour
before the fight actually began, the
cleverness, gameness and endurance
displayed by the boxers-these are
what made the fight a great one.
1t, was the story Of many another
ring contest-the success of the strong,
sturdy, enduring fighter, against the
clever, cool boxer This in brief is the
description of Nelson's and Britt's ring
characteristics respectively. From all
very first moment of the fight until
Referee Graney finished the count of
ten seconds, Nelson forced the fight
ing.
Thought battered by innumerable
bruising blows on the face and body,
and at times very tired, Nelson never
for one moment gave ground. He came
back after every vicious attack by the
clever Britt, always ready to exchange
blows. For the rushing, forcing, per-
sistent tactics Of Nelson, Britt could
find no effective counter. The Califor-
MAN tried every blow known to him
to stop his tireless opponent. In every
way he failed. Britt punished Nelson
severely, knocking him down once and
staggering him several times, but
never was he able to beat him back
and change the aspect of the fight.
Britts Only Chance in Third.
Only once, in the third round, did it
appear to those close enough to Judge
the tide Of the battle, that Britt might
win In this round he reached the
most vulnerable spot on Nelson's mus
cle-armored body-his stomach. with
two terrific right-hand blows that car
ried Furnishing force behind them. Mel
son faltered for a moment and doubled
over. Quickly turning his attention
to Nelson's face, Britt sent terrific
right cross that dropped the Dane to
his knees There was a great shout
from Britt's friends, but the citation
was short-lived. Nelson got up before
the timer could reach the count of two
and fought the only way he knows
how to flght-always coming towards
his man. At this critical time for Mel
son, the gong sounded a rest, a most
cheerful note to Nelson's supporters.
The call of time for the succeeding
round, however, found Nelson fresh
and ready to resume. Nelson was al
ways first to begin the rounds, though
not always first to land blow. Time
after time, he would glide along after
Britt, much after the style of Fitzsim-
mons, never clever on his feet, but al
ways seeking to shorten the distance
between his opponent and himself.
This tireless persistence-a most dis
couraging thing to the opposing fight
Grand his marvellous disregard OF
physical punishment, won the fight for
Nelson. Though the pride and credit
of the victory belongs to the winner,
he is not entitled to. nor did he receive
all the praise. Britt, had he never
achieved ring victory, must forever
be remembered as one of the gamest
men that ever faced foe. After his
most successful rally in the third
round the popular Californian weak
ened Many of his friends seated very
close to the ringside saw the change
and ventured the prediction that Mel
son would win Britt had done his
best in the third. He has used all his
strength, all his cleverness and all his
blows; yet he failed to achieve a
knockout. Thereafter Nelson took
Britt's blows with more confidence and
without fiinching.
Rounds Pretty Much Alike.
Except in spots, the rounds were all
pretty much alike, Nelson always fore
ing, Britt always giving ground; Britt
trying to keep Nelson at the end of his
snappy left, and the Dane using every
means to get inside the Californian's
two good hands. Whenever Nelson
broke down the defence or accepted
blows aimed at him, he would hammer
away at the body, always coming out
of clinch with swinging at the jaw
The agreement to break at the call
of the referee, and the referees inter-
probation Of the rules and their strict
enforcement was much in Nelson's ia
vor.
In the fifth round, Britt held mo-
mentary advantage, staggering Nelson
with a series Of blows and making
desperate effort to win by knockout
This was the first round in which both
threw aside all knowledge of boxing,
and slugged vigorously, both hoping to
end the fight with one blindly deliv-
cred lucky blow. Both were bleeding
at the close, but Nelson was the
stronger. 1t did not seem possible
that fight could be much fiercer than
the fifth round, but the succeeding
period of three minutes brought the
vast crowd to it's feet and kept it
there throughout the round They
slugged each other ceaselessly. Both
were bleeding and weary limbed, but
always game. In the last minute of
the sixth, Nelson suddenly took the
lead and getting Britt in a corner,
beat him about the body and face until