The Detroit times., 1912-02-28
|PETATOR AT RINGslDE
TELLS AGAIN STORY OF
LAvIGNE-WALCOTT FIGHT
1errific Battle of These Fighters
Is. Recalled by Possible
Comeback of kid"
/AVIGNE THE WINNER
husky Opponent No Match For
Saginaw Boy, But Game
From the Bell
|AvIGNE THE WINNER

f I|IA ue preulCllOn Oh JAMES - WI
beff that kid" Lavigne, the formel
|Uehtweight champion, can come
back, recalls the remarkable rims
cAreer of this wonderful fighter
Whose home is now in Detroit; par
LIcularly his second fight with Joe
Walcott, the following account OF
(which was written for The Times by
|one who was at the ringside.
In this battle Walcott sweated
himself down to 1913 pounds ano
11ade a last desperate attempt TO
r6gain his lost prestige, but the ell
@{6rf awaited him not, as his master
Isl two years before administered an
|o<her terrific drubbing and settled
Moreover all question as to his ability
In. all the speculation and theoriz
AZ about the fight there had been
Mich talk about the "Dusky
|Ik mon's" Improvement and the Kids
deterioration. While Walcott was
.D|obably stronger and heavier than
|< IA was on the night Of their first
+nketing, the Saginaw boy had also
'b&ttered his condition every day.
In the battle Of two years previous
.|fhe kid" simply went in on the
.'ehcrt end. to stay 10 rounds, and
Fought accordingly, but astounded
1.-THE crowd by his work and by beat
{ue Walcott to standstill after
MINING been numerically drilled and
xri1led by him for II rounds.
On the night OF their second meet
fne. the kid" went into the ring
with confidence acquired by his
previous victory. Lavigne always
had confidence. Gameness was his
Brock in trade, but he had need OF
aH the requirements that go toward
fhe making of great fighter when
he met the dusky one on their Sec
ond and last meeting.
For some reason never explained,
/aIcf of fake" had been raised pre-
vIous to this battle, but this sus-
r|cion proved i'll founded ere two
4 ronnds had been fought. Lavlgne
/ MS stronger, faster and cleverer than
before and carried the crowd away
by his magnificent work Walcott
showed gameness to an extreme, and
although coached and advised, ca
joled and threatened by O'Rourke,
he had to succumb TO the terrific
|onsIaughts OF the Saginaw marvel.
The battle brought out some inter-
|cnfing points. Lavigne should have
.
|h4 paid more attention to Walcotts
bIdy He also wasted many swings,
die to his desire and anxiety to put
tins quietus On his black opponent.
Outside of this his work was strong
a and aggressive all the way through.
Walcott showed superior ring
eGneralship. He stopped dozens OF
d1neerous rushes and fought open
...M
81 his old enemy's method OF forcing
the lighting from the start, he adopt
"a a game of waiting and saving
himself for further work, until the
kids" onslauehts made such a plan
Impossible. In the open fighting in
the center of the ring he did some
Wonderful work, countering with in
torest and continually landing hard
Oh the jaw, but against the ropes he
seemed to lose heart, and in the
short-arm work the Kid landed three
biows TO his one.
'Iayigne stripped as straight as
plumb line with the typical Jem
Mace look, but once in action he
]sBt all resemblance to the slow and
deliberate Mace and was only La
rtgne and nobody else, thinking next
I'd nothing OF guarding himself. but
Impending on his fists alone TO land
the plum.
EWalcott had been accused of treas
,lfing yellow streak, but IL his
heart contained such thing II was
changed into bar of pure virgin
gold OF courage. Twice on one knee
he fought, and fought like bear.
Al another time. In the middle OF
the eighth round, when IL appeared
that he was going fast. he stood up
ID his enemy and evoked wild
burst OF applause by his magnificent
Rameness, and Lavigne himself
nodded his head approyingly, say
ing: Good work. joe"
About 5000 spectators we're fur
nished thrills throughout the fight
and were brought to their feet, first
by the work of one man and then
cheering vociferously for the other,
and they got value received for their
entrance fee. Men forgot the color
line and forgot all prejudice TO the
black. They saw only two heroes
battling for life and they left the
auditorium with glowing spot I'm
their hearts for the two fighters.
It was In the first round that the
white boy showed the confidence in
himself. The first round was all his
and his friends cheered themselves
hoarse as he went 10 his corner for
The one minutes respite. with the
odds long way in his favor. but in
tie second and third rounds the sup
porters OF Walcott went into a frenzy
With his showing. These two rounds
were Walcott's without a doubt In
the excitement OF the mixup his old.
time strength seemed to have re-
turned and O'Rourke patted his
pfotege on the shoulder, saying.
Nov we have him. Joe" but Joe
made no reply, seeing trouble ahead.
Walcott, unlike Lavigne, kept him.
self covered continually and this.
combined with his boxing cleverness.
enabled him TO squeeze out OF many
a tight corner marvelously. His
crouching seemed n matter of intu-
iLIon- and twice -in-ths -fourtA- a.4a-
NH rounds Lavigne was tossed over
his back against the ropes after
b<nry swings that missed their mark
AID landed him OF his balance.
AT the end OF the seventh round
|nicott limped back to his corner.
tHiming that his old enemy, the
cramp.- had again attacked his leg,