Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-12-01
MURPHY A TOUGH
ONE FOR PACKEY
Harlem Lightweight Stays for
20 Rounds, Avoiding a
Knockout.
SHOWS GREAT GAMENESS
Battle One-Sided for Dozen Sessions,
After Which Chicagoan Begins
TO Slow Down.
SHOWS GREAT GAMENESS

when he was AWARDED the decision |
over Harlem Tommy Murphy at the |
end Of 20 rounds OF fighting before
6,000 critical spectators.
The Chicago boys victory over the |
tough New Yorker, whom 80 per cent |
of those present expected him to |
knock out, was clean and left little |
room for argument. but the rank and
file of experts and fight followers
seemed unanimous in the belief that
as an opponent Of Champion AID VOL
CAST the Chicagoan was an impossf
bility. Hence his victory over Muir
ply left tinge Of disappointment
among fight followers which they were
not backward in expressing.
Mcfarland and his handlers claimed
that he had broken his right hand In
the 18th round, and a cursory examtn-
alton at the conclusion of the battle
showed that member to be badly puff
ed and swollen, but of this the public
was not aware until after 1t had filed
out Of the arena.
MURPHY GAME FIGHTER.
If he really broke his hand, Packey
fought a wonderful battle. Murphy, on
the other hand, gave an exhibition of
gameness and ability to come back
rarely seen in prize ring.
During the early rounds Mcfarland
fairly smothered the little Harlem
fighter with a dazzling variety of
punches from which there was no es-
cape. Once he sent Murphy fiat on
his back, but Tommy was up in a
trice, apparently none the worse for
wear. Time and again Murphy was
all but fought out Of the ring into the
} laps of the newspaper men and appear
ed to be in great distress, but the well
defined punch was not forth coming to
!, give him his quietus.
All the time Mcfarland gave an ex-
. hibition of blocking, smothering, and
sidestepping that called forth cheers.
He opened cuts over Murphy's eyes and
. damaged his left ear until 1t took on
: the proportion of an egg. In the face
! of this constant rapid fire the stout
hearted little easterner fought back
every minute and made better show.
ing the last two rounds than did Nc
Farland.
MFARLAND BEGINS TO SLOW UP.
For IL rounds the battle was one
sided. Then 1t was noticed that Nc
Farland began to slow down and seem
, ingly had tired. In several of the sue
, ceeding rounds he would squirt and
pummel his antagonist numerically
but Murphy fought back with despera
ton, and some of his body punches
made deep inroads on McFarland's
vitality.
' After the 18th round Murphy tool
! on new courage and there was little
: question that he would last the q
I rounds. In the final two rounds he
electrified the spectators by taking the
battle to Mcfarland, and it seemed al
: If the bell terminating the contest was
as welcome to the Chicago man as Il
was to Murphy. Both fighters showed
the marks of the conflict, but the!
were of a superficial nature
III Summing up the battle, Mcfarland
H outpointed his adversary to such al
extent that the latter's gameness ant
n ability to absorb punishment did littl,
to make it a two-man affair. But tn,
II knockout punch was lacking and tn,
reputed power of the Mcfarland RICH
cross proved negligible quantity.
LITTLE BETTING AT 10 To 8.
There was little betting at the ring
side. The prevailing odds were 10 t
III s, with Mcfarland favorite. and n,
H Murphy takers at that There wa
some betting at even money that Nc
III Farland would win within Is rounds.
II The first preliminary terminated II
III the first round, when Joe Acheson sen
III Walter Kane of Chicago to the mat TO
III the count with left hook flush to tn
jaw. They fought at the featherweigh
H limit
vi Murphy was first to enter the rim
n at 2:52 O'Clock. He was followed a
II once by Mcfarland. The two fighter
n shook hands and were at once intro
duced. Jack Britton, a Chicago ligh
weight, jumped over the ropes and /!
sued a personal challenge. Refere
ii Harry Foley called the men to the eel
ter Of the ring and time was called q
III 1859 o'clock.
Hill RICHIE SPRINGS SURPRISE
HI Lon Angeles, Cal, Dec. I.-Win
Richie, lightweight from the trail
Ing encourage Of Packey McFarlan
achieved an international fistic rep
II tation yesterday by staying 20 round
II with Freddie Welsh, the British ligh
II weight challenger, who was to ha,
u gone on with I'd Wolgast at Verne
yesterday. Richie on "a hours noti,
substituted for Wolgast. Welsh W;
II given the decision, but Richie had hi
groggy on two or three occasions az
after the mil the one topic of co
versation among the fans conferred {
the question: How long would Well
HI have lasted against wolgast, if ii
II latter had been in the ring?'' Aft
an all night train ride from San Fra
M cisco, Richie entered the arena som
iii what heavy. Welsh appeared train
to the minute Welsh excelled in ril
I'LL generalship and did most of the lea
ing, but his blcvs lacked steam.