The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-26

1 battle, which was scheduled to go 20
 rounds Of this amount Burns demand
 ed and received $S0,0OO, this sum to be
 paid him despite the outcome of the fight
 Johnson had to be satisfied with S50OO and
 return tickets to London for himself and
 his manager, Sam Fitzpatrick
 According to reports both Johnson and | Burns bet heavily on themselves at the 1 prevailing odds, which slightly favored 1 Burns at the ringsde The fighters were 1 trained to the hour and fought before l what was probably the largest crowd that ever witnessed pugilistic contest Burns did his training at Darling Point while Johnson got in condition at Manley, a 1 seaside suburb. Besides a retinue of 1 skillful trainers who gave the men daily
 practice at the game of hit stop and | get away, both Burns and Johnson fol- lowed American training methods by do- 1 ing hard road work. Each man picked up | a lot of loose change by giving training 1 exhibitions twice week at the Stadium
 Since James J. Jeffres retired and 1 Tommy Burns claimed the championship Johnson has been trying to get the Ca 1 nadian boy to meet him and he has trailed l him throughout the United States and
 even to England in quest of a match | It was not until Mcintosh the promoter
 of this fight, and who also acted as ref
 cree, offered a purse of $35,OOO for a battle 1 at Rushcutter's Bay, a suburb of Syd- , ney, that Burns consented to meet John- 1 son. Then he stipulated how the money should split up, the size of tie ring and l all the conditions surrounding the fight. Johnson accepted and sailed from London | for Australia to begin training
 Johnson, during his ring career has fought 64 battles. and 22 of his opponents have gone to defeat by the knockout route He has lost but two fights, one a 20-round decision to Marvin Hart, and the other on foul to Joe Jeannette. Not since the days of James J. Cor bett has the prize ring seen so perfect boxer as Johnson Long and 1.-the, he is as graceful as a dancing master and as true as an arrow in placing his blows Especially delft is he with his left hand. and few boxers are able to keep the big black man from whipping their faces to tatters.
 In courage Burns was a bulldog all ways. Johnson. it was said by some, had yellow streak" In none of his many battles, however, has it been proved that Johnson would not take a good beating Neither Burns nor Johnson have been con- sidered men of the stamp of Jeffries. Sul- livan or Corbett in the fighting game
 At 10:42 o'clock Johnson entered the arena, accompanied by his seconds, Sam Fitzpatrick. Mullins, Unholz, Lang and Bryant. Wild cheers greeted him and the big black man turned and bowed to all four sides of the ring. Just as Johnson took his seat Burns apepared. He was smiling and the plaudits of the spectators were even more enthusiastic than those accorded Johnson. Burns took un his po- sition in the western corner of the ring surrounded by his seconds, Heating, Rus i sell, O'ponnell and Burke. When the cheering had died down somewhat, John son crossed over and shook Burns by the hand. The Canadian glanced at the big mauleys of the Texan and noticed that both were covered with bandages. Fear full that they might not be of the soft surgical kind, he scrutinized them closely. but finding them to his satisfaction he made no objection.
 The announcement was made that if during the contest the police should inter fere and stop it the referee would i'm rsediately give a decision based on points scored.
 When Burns stripped 1t was noticed that he wore elastic bandages about his el- bows. Johnson shouted across the ring half angrily. "You must take those off' Then the men met in the center of the ring and for a few minutes argued. Then they retired again to their corner. but Burns did not remove the bandages
 From Johnsons seconds came the an- nouncement that their man refused to fight unless Burns took off the wraps around his elbows and 1t looked as though there was a possibility of the fight not taking place, for Burns was stubborn and Johnson insstent on his point The ref cree here took hand in the controversy, and said that the wearing of bandages was not against the rules. Johnson still demurred, nevertheless, and Burns, with a show of impatience. had his seconds un- wind the tape. His action brought forth from the spectators applause.
 At Ills o'clock Johnson and Burns posed for a moving picture machine and receiving final instructions from Referee Mcintosh. retired to their corners. Then the battle began.
 First Round-After a few moments of preliminary sparring Johnson reached Burns with a sharp uppercut and the Canadian went to the floor, remaining there until the count of eight. He sig nailed to his seconds that he was all right however, and when he arose sailed in for Johnsons body. Johnson swung a hard right to the head and Burns staggered backward nearly across the ring from the impact of the blow. Then Burns, rush