Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-07-18
WELSH-RITCHIE
MILL UNUSUAL
IN MANY Ways
BY GEORGE coNSlDINE.
rBy Latest MALL

LONDON-The worlds lightweight
title changed hands July after TWEEN
ty rounds of the most remarkable
fighting ] ever saw. Perhaps the most
remarkable feature of all is the fact
that neither Freddie Welsh, who won
the decision SO far as the refree was
able to announce it, nor Willie Rit-
chie-who started fully 200 potential
knockouts without landing one-even
staggered his adversary once.
Viewed from this angle, Freddie
Welsh won the title more easily than
any challenger of aay division who
ever annexed a worlds championship,
for Freddie never even was slowed
up by Ritchie, while the latter was
coming more strongly in the twenti-
eth than in any other round of the
fight, ~. >.@~ -.
There really were only three blows
in the entire fight that by any stretch
of Imagination could be called effec-
tive, and the San Francisco boy land
ed them all. Once in the third round
Richie caught Welsh coming in with
straight right to the stomach that
made Freddie glad to be able to hang
on and stall through the remainder
of the round. =... r.
Landed Three Hard Blows. .
Again in the thirteenth Willie land
ed the same right straight on
Welsh's nose, opening an old cut on
that member. In the seventeenth Rit-
chic caught Welsh square on the jaw
as the latter was Strengthening out
of crouch, but not even these wal
lops did more than give Welsh's sup.
porters an instant of apprehension
and none of them compared in force
with the many others that Richie
started that did not land. ss. {. j
AS hard as it is to admit it, I've
got to say that Welsh went out in
front from the tap of the gong and
with each succeeding round increas-
ed the lead. until when the fight was
half over the ringside bettors were
derisively shouting offers of "A pound
to a penny ($5 to cents) on Welsh.
And that brings me to the second re
markable feature of the fight. ~.
For week prior to the contest
odds have been 6 to on Welsh, but
at the ringside tonight hundreds OF
Welsh men who had travelled $50
miles to see their idol annex the IT,
tie, literally threw their savings at
Richie fanoiers and forced the odds
up to to 4, even as high as to l
on Welsh. " +"
Fought to Get at Welsh.
| could not stand to see the cham
pion and the United States look like
monkeys. and took all that came my
way at these odds. And here is per.
haps not the least remarkable thing
Of all-thes instant the final gong
sounded the widest pandemonium
ever heard anywhere in my life broke
out In the next second Welsh's Sec
onds had literally thrown Welsh's
wife over the ropes iLlo the ring and
into the new champions arms. At the
same instant at least a hundred men
in evening clothes were through the
ropes, fighting each other to be the
first to embrace and kiss Welsh. 4
Richie and Referee CORR were
both literally showed out of the ring
on to the floor and If any decision
was announced it was certainly not
from within the ropes and it is equal
ly certain that nobody heard it.
Throughout the fight Owen Moran
and Matt Wells sat on either side of
me, both betting on Richie. They
didn't worry much about Welsh's SUI
perior showing in the first ten rounds, |
but from then on both fighters show
ed feelings of dismay. s.... |
II was a beautiful contest-prob-
ably the finest exhibition of clever /
ness in any ring ever saw. And in /
the subject it would be
most unfair not to mention the fact
that Richie was boring in and trying
Just as hard in the twentieth round
as he was in the first.