Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-01


SAN FRANCISCO, July Skinny
B-11 o. san FTarcisco gained the decision
Ove- Battling Nelson Of Hegewisch. Ill.
~ ths end Of twenty rounds OF as fast and
pretty fighting as has been seen in san
Francisco II many years. At no time was
either man in danger Of a knockout until
near the end OF the last round, when
Britt's right and left swings and upper
cuts, which he landed one after another
at will on Nelson's face. all but put the
Dane down and out.
Nelson did the greater part OF the lead
ing from start to finish, but he was out
done by Britt in cleverness, ring general
ship and everything but gameness and
ability to take punishment.
Referee Walsh, after announcing his de-
cision, gave Nelson only two rounds out
of the twenty-five second and seventh.
By his game fight Britt wiped out
finally the aspersions that some former
battles had placed on him. He showed
that keeping away from his adversary
is the chief part of his ring generalship.
His defense showed up better than ever
| before and his accuracy was never so
marked. He found his man almost at
| will, and from the tap of the opening
gong to the end of the last round there
was no lack of steam in his blows If
| anything, he showed up stronger in the
| last five rounds than in the first fifteen,
while in the last half of the mill Nelson's
hitting powers obviously diminished.
Nelson Disappointing
While Britt took no foolish chances, he
gave Nelson plenty of close quarter op-
portunities to put him out if the Battler
pointed many of his admirers by his
wildness. In the last eight or ten rounds
he swung with right and left for the
face scores of times and missed by a
big margin of inches. His favorite fight
ing tactics were to crowd his man, go
into a clinch and then with his bull head
press his adversary's neck, uppercut him
again and again to the face and body.
The great strength of Nelson was moth
ing new to the crowd of 10000 ring fol-
lowers who watched him tonight but the
equal and undiminishing strength of
Britt was a surprise that set them by
the ears and won for the local fighter
ringing yells of applause in at least
half dozen rounds. Nelson, on the other
hand was distinctly weakened toward
the end of the fight and in the nine
teenth was Jared backwards several
PAGES and all but off his feet by right
and left swings to the head. The Dane
showed his lessening strength in his
faltering foot work and the utter in
effectiveness of the blows he failed to
land
All through the fight the force of
Britts blows. great majority of which
found their mark, was sucn that a fight
er with less than Nelson's immense stam-
ina would have taken the count couple
of times and then stayed down.
A ringsider summed it up rather neatly
at the close of the fight when he re-
marked:
Lets call it Battling Britt and The
Enduring Dane ,"
Have Fierce Finish
Both men came to the center of the
ring with jump when the gong sounded
the opening of the last round. Alternately
the two men Wed with each other in hold
ing on. and Nelson, who in a previous
round had been warned by the referee for
butting appealed to Welsh to break
Britt's hold. They exchanged light blows,
and then Nelson crowded Britt to the
| ropes in a neutral corner and jabbed his
sore nose with a left. Bucking his way
out, Britt turned, swinging right and left
to the Danes face with a vicious force
that sent him reeling backward to the
ropes, and following up his advantage he
upper cut and smashed with both hands,
while the blood flowed down Nelson S
| face, and the crowd sent up roar of de-
| light that shook the incandescents.
Nelson failed to come back. The round
| ended with half a clinch and Nelson
essaying a weak upper cut with his left
1t looked as though the final gong was
all that saved him from a knockout. In
his corner a moment later Nelson vomited
! freely.
! Nelson carried away as momentoes oi
| the hardest 20-round fight he ever stood
up to a right eye all but closed, a slight
cash over the left cheek cut mouth ano
badly battered nose. Aside from a bleed
| ing nose, Britt showed up at the finish
without a visible dark.
Referee Walsh said:
"It was a good clean fight and the
best man won it fairly. 1 gave Nelson
only two rounds, the second and the
seventh"
Britt made the following statement:
Il have been going around two years
claiming that l was Nelson's master anC
not making any cry, as is the custom oi
defeated fighters. / bided my time wher
could fight my own fight and not on,
for the public and the results you see
Nelson could not have gone half a rounC
further. l never drew long breath.
am willing the meet any 1S3-pound mar
in the world"
Nelson was seen in his dressing room
He said:
Il have no excuses. Britt fought