Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-24
RING FATALITIES
ARE DISCUSSED
BOB FITZSIMM0NS KILLED
SPARRING PARTNER
Some Boxers Lose Nerve After Land
Ing a Deadly Blow--Many Hard
Hitters Observe Extreme
Caution

1t was thirteen years ago that Kid
Lavigne struck Andy Bowen fatal
blow that many believed would wind
up the career of the Saginaw pugilist
For several months Lavigne worried
over the affair and remained in retire
ment, but he was finally induced to
meet Jerry Marshall.
Then he got back to form without
| further delay.
He beat Jack Everhardt and Jimmy
Handler, after which he fought draws
with Marshall and Young Griffo, the
Australian. After that he beat Wal
colt in the memorable battle at Mas
peth.
Lavigne then went to England and
defeated Dick Burge, following which
were victories over Everhardt, McPaTt-
land, Connolly, Walcott and Tracey,
and draws with Jack McAuliffe, Tom
my Ryan, Charley McKeever, owen
ziegler Jack Daily and Frank Erne. to
whom Lavigne had lost the lightweight
championship at Buffalo.
Jack Root of Chicago, after the death
of Tom Lansing, has taken part in fifty
| ring contests, meeting such men as
Australian Jim Ryan, Billy Stiff, Frank
Craig, Aleck Greggains, Tony West,
Dick O'Brien, Dan Creedon, George
Byers, Kid Carter, Marvin Hart, John
| WIFI ana OInerS.
Hard Hitters Are Lucky
1t is peculiar fact that some of the
hardest hitters have never been mixed
up in a fatality. 1t is probably be-
cause they have been extremely lucky.
In many cases 1t is not the blow on the
jaw or over the heart or in the pit of
| the stomach that causes death, but it
is the fall which inevitably follows
when man is in a groggy state and
! is practically "out" on his feet.
Then in nine cases out of ten his
head strikes the floor, which, if not
sufficiently we'll padded, brings on a
fracture of the skull and concussion of
the brain.
| Wide-awake referees can often pre-
vent fatal accidents by stopping fights
when one of the principals is in bad
shape, but such officials are few and
| far between
Such sluggers as Jeffries, Maher,
Walcott, Wild Bill Harahan, McGov-
ern, Cans, Ryan and Mccoy never in
| flicted injuries that even approached
being fatal.
But other heavy punchers have been
on the anxious seat more than once
when beaten opponents have been un-
| conscious in hospitals for hours.
Some followers of pugilism have ex-
pressed the opinion that when a boxer
is unlucl5v enough to kill an opponent
in a glove contest he becomes so dis
heartened that he can never display
I the old spirit and dash in the ring
again. Yet this is not always the rule,
says the New York Sun. Fighting
with the average pugilist is a pro-
| feSsion, not pastime. Once in a while
there is a contest in which the men
| show bitterness of feeling, due to the
prevalence of bad blood, and deliber-
ately try to inflict harmful injuries,
| but on the whole fighters box strictly
on their merits for the money there is
in it and the reputation that goes
with victory. There are cases where
a pugilist who has landed a fatal
knockout punch has lost heart there
after and has quit the game, but they
are comparatively few at that.
When Leslie Pierce ended the life Of
| Bill Vernon with a heavy blow on the
Jaw he soon retired from the ring.
Jimmy Barry, the former bantam
! champion, went on with several battles
after he had killed Walter Croot in
England.
Never the Same
But he was never the same and soon
! got out of the game. 1t was in 1899
that Barry came east and Joined Shar-
key, Dixon, Eddie Connolly, Lavigne
and others at their training quarters on
I
self there for several important fights,
but he began to brood over the death
| of Croot and concluded after a week s
stay that he had had enough.
Frank Mcconnell is another boxer
who was never the same after his
fatal bout with Jimmy Franey. These
are the exceptions to the rule, however,
for on the other hand there are numer-
Gus instances of boxers who have killed
opponents in the ring doing better
work than ever before when they have
resumed operations.
1t was after Bob Fitzsimmons had
killed his sparring partner, Con Rior-
dan, in a friendly bout at Syracuse,
N. Y, that he earned greater part of
his fame, for he defeated Peter Maher,
Jim DAILY Gus Rubin, Sharkey, George
Gardner and others, to say nothing Of
capturing the heavyweight title from
Corbett at Carson City, New.
Oscar Gardner also did some remark
able fighting after a fatal bout with
| George Stout in Columbus, Ohio, nine
years ago. Since then Gardner has
taken part in sixty fights, the best OF
his opponents being Tommy White,
Harry Forbes, Tim Callahan, Marty
MeCue. Jack Hamilton, Billy O'Don-
nell, Martin Flaherty Jack O'Brien,
Solly Smith. Tommy Hogan, Dave Sui
livan, George Dixon Sammy Kelly,
Sam Bolen. Terry MeGoVern, Jerry
Marshall, Patsy Haley, Joe Bernstein,
Eddie Santry, Kid Broad, Billy Barrett,
Eddie Lenney, Jack McClelland, Gene
Bezenah. Joe Hopkins and Joe Fair
burn.
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