The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-12-24
When Was Scared in the Prize Ring
7iuo Famous Boxers Tell Stories of the Arena
BY Tommy Ryan.

BY Tommy Ryan.
"The only time was ever scared in
the prize ring was right here in Min
neapolis. That was when I came here
to fight Danny Needham. I was a boy
then, only 18 years old, and Needham
was quite boxer with a reputation.
I felt like going to a slaughter going
into that ring and thoI had met with
little success previously I felt that
Needham was too much for me. ~. .
"But thought I would take the
chance and do the best I knew how.
When the bell rang in the first rounds
and Joe Mannix called us to the CEN
ter to fight I felt more like Jumping
over the ropes. Needham hit me an
awful blow over my heart in the sec
ond round and then turned around to
tell me that he felt 5sorry he was asked
to whip poor kid. Well that was the
needle. - 'A% e. 80. - -
It gave me courage and the, result
of the bout is too well known in Min
neapois for me to go into details. My
fight with Tommy West, in Louisville,
is the toughest I was ever in, and
thereby hangs story. I fought and
defeated West in the east and when
i I. returned to Chicago the Louisville
! club offered me a tempting purse and
large bonus on the side to come and
box before their organization. I i'm
mediately named Tommy West :, and
never gave the fight another thought
until ring time. BY that don It mean
that I. did not train, but I never ques-
toned my ability to defeat him as
easily as did down east. But I got
fooled and no one who saw that fight
will ever forget it. r.. E.lz n ~
West Hit Hard. -.
In the second round West hit me so
hard that I went down for the eight
count and no sooner got up than I went
down again. I heard the referee say
five, six and then I woke up and
began to laugh at West. I made a
swing which missed him two yards and
began "llidding' him. He thought I
was trying to draw him one and told
me that I could not trap him. That
gave me long enough to recover and
during the rest of the battle was
I more careful and finally won in the
sixteenth round.
The night that fought Needham I
promised him, during The fight, more
than $4,000 If I could win and every
time got chance / raised the offer.
Later it turned my way and I defeated
him by skill In the West fight I had
). experience, headwork and my feet to
carry me along and made no promises.
When / fought Mysterious Billy
Smith, that fight also was in Mime
, apolis, Smith hit me on my throat and
I could not shut my mouth for ten
rounds It happened in the fourth
round coming out of clinch and
could not remember anything on &C.
count of the pain until the fifteenth OF
, sixteenth round. hate to call it scared
/. but I was certainly nervous and saw
defeat coming my way during all this
time. ss Il.
:. sureness Was Misplaced.
/ The .surest ever was Of q fight is
8 the one lost at Maspeth, L. l., tt
e Kid Mccoy. I never was SO surprised
t in my life and like the Tommy Yves,
battle I picked the opponent myself
e Mccoy had been my trainer and rub
a Der. He was broke and continuously
0 wrote me letters telling me of hi
b plight and making s'touches" Of ST.
!. So or once in a while So. So when
9 was running my business in Syracuse
e and received a letter from the Maspetl
$ club I promptly named Mccoy, I con
|, tinued to attend to the buffet business
E and never trained a single minute l
s was the only time in my entire caree
/ that I neglected training for bout
r Always before and since I trained, NJ
9 matter how easy my opponent ap
9 peared. But / made the mistake tina
t time and the result is, well known
s Mccoy put himself into good hands an,
y was trained to the minute and mean
a while continued writing me letters an,
}. asking me for small loans-until afte
e our bout. afterwards learned tina
II it was a ruse to make me careless witt
' my training and it worked perfectly
q Later Mccoy and met in Syracuse an,
II i beat him SO bad that the police KEEP
him from getting knocked out in tn
fifth round and still later in Chicag
IS I boxed him six rounds-both on thei
Is feet, a draw and at the conclusion o
Z the bout the referee IN the excitemen