Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-03-13
REAL STORY Of THE
SHARKEY-F|Tz FIGHT
Why Gun Fighter carp Was
Selected as Referee OF
the Big Scrap.
By Robert Edgren

BY Robert Edgren.
Few great battles in the ring have been
surrounded by so many peculiar circum-
stances as the fight between Tom Sharkey
| and Bob Fitzsimmons in San Francisco,
| December ., 1896. The ms and outs OF
that fight and the much discussed decision
are known to few men, and not one of
| those who know the true story has ever
given the facts to the public. It is a
| story beginning with the stormy career
of Wyatt carp, a notorious gun fighter,
last surviving member of family that
died with its boots on" and ending with
a scene in Judge Sanderson's courtroom
happened. through a curious chain OF
| circumstances, to achieve an intimate
acquaintance with Wyatt carp long be-
fore the Sharkey- Fitzsimmons match was
made.
When the Fitzsimmons-Sharke heht
came along Dave Magic had left San
Francisco. and carp was no longer a
bodyguard. But he was still around town
ana could be seen any afternoon along
/ newspaper row.
| thing OF the last moment In fact, he was
4 suddenly forced upon the promoters by
| an influence too powerful to be resisted
and the reason given to the public was
that carp. who had refereed prize fights
| at Tia Juana, San Diego with q six.
shooter In his belt, would guarantee fail
play backed by the power of gun law II
necessary. Fitzsimmons and his manager
objected, but at the last moment on the
| night of the fight Bob leaned from his
| chair in a rage and said that he'd fight
Sharkey under any circumstances. He
demanded only one thing-Sharkey must
| take off his hand bandages Fitzsimmons
| wore none himself. The police disarmed
L ta of
| bell rang
| The fight started with both men eau
tiously walking around each other. In a
| moment the untamed sailor rushed and
FltZsimmons met him with a light jab.
Sharkey grasped Fitz around the legs and
lifted him from his feet When they
broke Sharkey rushed with wild swings,
avoided the assault with ease. And now
| fltzslmmons began to fight. He hooked
his freckled left hand to the sailors chin.
and down went Sharkey like bag of
sand A moment later Sharkey was
knocked down again hard He was groggy
when the bell rang.
| All through the second round F'itZsim-
| mons kept Sharkey reelng although the
game sailor only charged in again and
again. In the third Sharkev. furious.
| roughed and wrestled and struck blows So
| low that the crowd shouted Foul until
carp was forced to caution him In the
| fourth Sharkev fouled continually. but
only succeeded in making F'itzsimmons
angry. Fitz smashed Sharkeys nose with
fierce right handlers. The amount of pun
ishment that Sharkey took was marvel
Gus.
At the beginning of the fifth Fftzsim-
mons crushed Sharkey's nose again, and
the sailor seized him about the legs and
threw him violently to the floor 1t was a
palpable foul, but carp did nothing Fitz-
simmons gashed Sharkey's eye with a
right handler. Sharkey clinched and struck
foul blows repeatedly, while the crowd
'e'ied ;" nn~er- Earn was blind to the foul
ing. Ftz broke away and knocked Shar-
key clean through the ropes and then
| leaning over, helped him back again GAL
lantly. Tom barely lasted through the
sixth. taking an awful beating His face
was mess. At the end of the round
Sharkey was hanging on, clasping Fitz-
simmons around the knees. carp didn't
stop him. Perhaps this wasn't a foul in
Tia Juara.
seventh round. The betting, hours before
the fight. had been even money that the
sailor wouldn't last the seven. Just before
the reht hagan betting commissioners had
Hooded the Mechanics pavilion and cir
c1'ated about among the N.nNO snactators
Offering rolls Of gold coin on Sharkey to
last seven rounds at even money and to
win the feht at l to 3. The monev didn't
apnear unti' WYATT Earn was in tho ring
All thronoh this seventh round Shartey
ciasnad Fitzsimnons about the legs,
Urrestled. struck constantly in the clinefes
(which was AGAINST their agreementl and
fou'ed In dozen ways. He should have
heen DISQUALIFIED on q dozen different oc-
rasinns. but carp wasn't there 10 dis
qualify SharEev. Tom was still clinching
and smuggling in the cliurhes when the
round ended amid racing tumult Of
protest from the spectators.
Now came the eighth round The figh,
had been scheduled for ten Sharkey
rushed and began roughing at once But
Fitzsimmons avoided the rush and up-
percut him heavily twice. Again shar-
key rushed. Fitzsmmons struck out
once, and then shifting. brought up his
left fist under the sailors chin with the
crushing impact of a lnaIlet. Down went
Sharkey fiat on his back. knocked out.
WYATT carp walked away. Sharkey
rolled over in vain attempt to get up.
He was barely conscious. His seconds
jumped into the ring. and one of them. a
man named Allen. threw up The towel
The house was in an uproar. Everybody
was yelling congratulations to Fitzsini-
mons
In the confusion Wyatt carp walked to
Sharkey.s corner. handed the ten-thou-
sand-dollar check to Danny Lynch Shar-
keys manager. and announcing that Shar-
key had "won ON a foul" Jumped from the
ring Fer a moment the vast crowd was
paralyZed with astonishment Then a roar
of rage rose to the rafters. but carp had
disappeared. The opinion of nearly every
man in that great pavilion was that
Fitzsimmons had been ''robbed in the
most cold-blooded manner" as one
| newspaper man said the next day.
One of the most prominent sporting
men in San Francisco President VIII
liam Freer Harrison OF the Olympic Club.
testified later that there was no foul blow
struck.
AS for Sharkey, he had been dragged
TO his corner still out. Lynch ordered
him carried to the dressing room Once
there, he called in Danny Needham and
tional Clubs manager. Gibbs. came up
with the club doctor. DIR. Lustig. They
were refused admittance. Sharkey was
supposed to be badly injured by a foul
blow-yet the doctor was barred out
| After an interval Of silence cries were
heard behind the partition. Later Gibbs
was admitted Sharkey was taken to a
hotel. He was bandaged then, but the
club doctor was not allowed to remove
the bandage or to examine him. For
several days after the fight Sharkey was
not allowed to leave his room. The few
reporters admitted there said that his
| face was a sight but the evidence of a.
| foul blow was never given out.
| Fitzsimmons sued for the purse. Both
, -'des gave testimony in court. Sharkev
an, his manager and the referee said no
| had been fouled. Allen, Sharkey's Sec
| ond. testified that Sharkey had been
knocked out by a fair blow on the chin.
| But the case was thrown out of court
| on the ground that the whole affair was
prize fight and illegal. and no legal