River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1906-04-12
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| PrizeRing |
INTERESTING LETTERS OF AN
EX-WORLD'S CHAMPION
HEAVYWEIGHT
By BOB FITZSIMMONS
Copyright. by Joseph B. Bowles-,
MOST FIGHTERS DIE POOR.

the other day brought me up with a
round turn to take a look over the
field of fighters who have gone to the
bad financially after winning all kinds
of good hard money in the prize ring,
and l began to think back over the list
OF men knew, something OF in one way
or another who have come off no bet
| ter.
It's funny thing, but the average
fighter never has much horse sense
when it comes to handling money.
say the average, but don't count my
self in on the average by whole lot,
because I've got a neat little bundle,
and l am going to hang on to it. I'm
plenty cagey enough for that.
It's an actual fact though, that most
of the fighters have gone off, and
have wound up in restitution at the
end. Perhaps some of these college
sharps who find good living in fig
uring out things of that sort and
writing yarns about them, can tell
what angle in a boxers nature brings
him down that way, but | can't, and
SO I'll leave it to them. I've been
looking up the records. a bit of late,
and the first instance I can remember
off the bat, SO to speak, is Yankee"
Sullivan.
Anybody who knows anything about
/ the ring at all knows he was top
notcher in the game half century
ago. Yankee" was, as l say real
fighter, and his real name was Frank
A. Murray. He went along and beat
everything that was put up against
him for awhile-and a good while at
that, until he met Tom Hyer, and Tom
took his measure. Then he stacked
up against John Morrissey, and John
trimmed him, too. He was down and
out and he went west He landed III
California somewhere in the fiftieS.
and the records show that he ran
across the vigilantes who were dealing
out law and order in Frisco about
that time. They figured him out for
a bad man. and he went to jail for
awhile. While he was there it Was
dopcd out that he was mixedup with
gang of burglars that were pretty
busy there, and while there wasn't a
shred of evidence against him, the Wig
ilantes arranged to execute him. He
was murdered in his cell. but he put
up a game fight, just the same. Ha
hadn't penny when he passed over
the divide.
.
Everybody remembers John P. Glow,
who was shot through the heart by a
policeman at Denver, in 1890. The
roliceman's name was F. G. Marshall,
and the shooting occurred December s..
When they went through the dead man
they found Is cents, and that was
everything he had in the world but
his clothes and yet he had cleaned
up e. good bit of money in his day.
There was John Morrissey, who
gathered up more money than any
either fighter OF his time, not even ex-
ceptine John L. Sullivan, and he died
with AZ cents in actual cash on him.
After Heenan put him down and oat,
he went into the gambling game and
Opened up somewhere on Broadway
in New York. I've been told on good au-
thority that at one time MOrrisSey was
worth s2,5O0,000, and that he was
steered by old Commodore Vanderbilt
in some big real estate deal After
the Commodore passed away Morrissey
hit the toboggan, and passed on to join
the rest.
It's a fact, too, that his widow Went
to work in a collar factory up in Troy,
n. Y. and worked for years for dol
lar day. They tell lot of stories
about Morrissey, and it has been said
he gave his wife 100000 worth of dia-
monds, and that she used to like to
wear them all at once. Of course it's
history that Morrissey became state
senator of New York. and later a
congl essman. but it didn't make his
fall any softer that I've heard. 1t
was his fault. in way, too, that Bill
Poole got his death in 1855. It's a
long story to go into here, but Bill
got mixed up in politics, and double
crossed Morrissey some way. They
were going to mix it up with the bare
knuckles, and they were going to meet
on a dock. Each man was to have
two friends, but Poole showed up with
800. and the beating Morrissey got
soured him for years. Of course he
was going to get square, and he did It
in February, of the next year. A
gang hoped him one night when ne
was in Stanwix hall, on the Bowery,
and Bill was shot. He lasted nine
days. and he went over with the rest.
1t isn't necessary to mention that he
had two dollars and half when they
looked him over.
George Fulljames got his up in
Manitoba few years ago, while he
was IL the ring with an unknown A
local man had some heavs money on
the unknown, and when the time came
where George was going to hand his
opponent his, the local man Drained
him with a bung starter. | don't be-
lieye the case was ever looked into by
the police
Their there was John Gully, a crack
erjack English fighter He made a
pot of money. and after he left the ring
got seated in parliament, and then
went in for racing and some dickering
on the exchange. He began to drop
his cash as if he was catching cold,
and towards the end feared he was
going to die in the workhouse. A lot
Of his old pals, however, saved him
from that, and he died pauper ac-