The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-03-16
RlTCHIE FINE
RING GENERAL

Milwaukee, Wis, March 16. The
prince and the pauper pugtlistically
speaking, met here Thursday night and
the prince prevailed. Ritchie, repre-
senting the royal lines of lightweight
championship, met his old rival and
former ruler of the clan and stripped
him of all hope of regaining the title.
1t was not a task easy of accomplish
ment, but the champion performed in
| a workmanlike style and made a
thorough job of it while he was at it.
Wolgast entered the fight with
everything to gain and nothing to lose.
Richie occupied just the reverse posi-
ton in that he was risking his title to
a dangerous opponent. The champion
realized the weight he was carrying
and fought a carefully planned n
perfectly executed battle from start to
finish.
A Real Champion. ...'
Wolgast fought with a ferocity born
Of desperation. Richie fought with
more cool Judgment and convinced
| even the most .~hidebound of the doubt
ing Thomas clan that he was a real
champion and q worthy successor Of
| Cans, Erne, Britt, Nelson and those
who, have gone before in the class.
| Despite the fact h men battled like
tigers as the pace quickened there was
little blood spilled. '..
Richie received a cut over the eye
which gave forth some Of the cardinal
moisture, but before the fifth round
this. had stopped and the men battled
to the final without any further bring
ing of gore. -. '.--
Ritchie fought a straightforward,
clever, clean fight. This cannot be said
for Wolgast. He butted, used his ell
bows in illegal style, and drew two
warnings from the referee and a liberal
| share. of Kisses from a crowd with
which he started a favorite.
The vast auditorium was packed to
the doors with an attendance estimat-
| ed at more than 5000. 1t was a
thoroughly cosmopolitan crowd en-
bracing representatives from almost
| every large city of the country. Despite
| the thrill n interest in the main
bout, it vas orderly in the extreme and
was handled in perfect style. The ring
| had been erected in the center of the
hall and tier upon tier Of seats rose on
the four sides of the ring. The i'm
| mense stage was turned into a veri-
table grandstand and every available
chair was in. use.
The preliminaries were Of mediocre
( quality in so far as interest went. The
crowd bore with them but the interest
Of the night conferred in the big go.
Kept Ritchie Waiting. -
Richie was first in the ring, wear
ing his cardinal bathrobe. His retinue
followed INT the first sign Of activity
for the rival camp came with the ar
rival of Thomas Jones, who attempt
| ed to indulge in a little goat getting.
Knowing that Richie was nervous,
Jones pulled the old gag of keeping
| him waiting in the ring while Wolgast
was resting in his dressing room.
Jones objected to the presence Of some
Of the pressmen in the corner where
he had elected for his charge to sit, and
voiced objections Of four or five min
utes' duration while the champion
chatting at the somewhat cavalier
treatment, sat in his corner and re-
eeived the assurance and cheering
messages Of his, handlers. Finally
Jones waived his point and allowed
Wolgast to come to the ring.
Then followed the delay Of tape in
|spection, glove adjusting and other de-
tails holding back the fighters until
almost a quarter Of II. Finally the
ring was cleared of the introduced
celebrities and the g1adiators were
called to the ring.
No Hand Clasp.
There was no shaking OF hands.
Richie glowered at his opponent and
WoIgast smiled at what he regarded to
bS HE A1iVohs liiSoALah5 sly lO. E1lISyH4"Ni
sent back to the corners and then
came the gong. They started in SLOW
ly.
Ritchie gave the first intimation of
his plan Of fighting by starting the
rapier-like thrusts with his left and
Wolgast did not seem anxious to start
tearing as he had done with Rivers.
He started so slowly that there were
complaints from the audience and they
| warmed it up. WoIgast, his head
shelled I'D in his left arm, started
boring in with the champion beating
him off with beautifully timed Tefts
~interspersed with quick, snappy rights,
Coming together in a rush. Wolgast
drew blood by cutting a slight cash
over the eye Of the champion.
There was little damage done in the
first round, Wolgast going to his cor
ner with a satisfied grin and Richie
showing no signs OF worry.
When the second round was young,
lWolgast called into play his familiar
plan of attempting to get close for in
fighting and was successful to some
extent, although he did NOT inhict any
| damage. He was arm for a too
liberal and literal use of his head as a
shoulder fmpelled projectile,s and this
seemed to stir Richie out OF his APP
parent calm. He fought back vicious
Nv,
Both men swung hard with right
and left and when too close for that
schorped With either hand tn an appar-