The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-04-06
JESS WILLARD rs
THEINEW CHAMPION
Superior Endurance Won and Smash
to Jaw Put Johnson Out in the
26th Round.

Jack Johnson. exile from his own
country, yesterday at Havana, Cuba,
lost his claim to fistic fame as the
heavyweight champion of the world,
the title being wrested from him by
Jess Willard, the Kansas cowboy, the
biggest man who ever entered the
prize ring, and the ''white hope who
1T last has made good. The result was
announced in The Reformer last night,
with details of each round up to the
10Th. Today Johnson, his wife and
little group of friends will sail Tor
Martinique, there to await passage
back to France, where johnson pro
poses to settle down and lead the life
of a farmer, raising pigs and chickens.
Willard the new champion, IS com
ing back to the United States to win
the fortune which was denied him yes
terday, when Johnson got $4,000 be-
fore the fight started, Willard taking
only small share of the net receipts.
Just what this share was is not known.
The fight probably has no parallel in
the history of ring battles. For ~
rounds, johnson punched and pounded
| Willard at will, but his blows grew
perceptibly less powerful as the fight
progressed until at last he seemed IN
| able or unwilling to go on. johnson
stopped leading and for three or four
rounds the battle between the two big
men was little more than a series of
plastic poses of white and black glad
iators.
| So it was until the 25th round, when
| Willard got one of his wildly swinging
| right-hand smashes to johnson s heart.
| This was the beginning of the end.
| When the round closed johnson sent
word to his wife that he was all in
| and told her to start for home. She
was en- her way out and was passing
| the ring in the Goth round when a
singing left to the body and a cyclonic
right to the jaw caused Johnson to
crumple up on the floor of the ring,
where he lay partly outside the ropes
! until the referee counted 10 and held
lup Willard s hand in token of his
newly-won laurels.
There is much discussion among the
followers of the fighting game as to
whether Johnson was really knocked
out. In the sense of being smashed
into Inconsistencies he certainly was
not put out. The concensus of opin.
ion is that Johnson expected and knew
there was no possibility of his winning
SO when knocked down he chose tt
take the count rather than rise and
stand further punishment.
johnson has often stated that fight
ing is a business and he would not
foolishly submit to repeated knock
downs when he found he had met hi.
master A second or two after Ref
cree Jack Welsh had counted 10 John
son quickly got up. 1t was well he die
50, for a moment later rush Of spec
tators to the fighting platform all bu
smothered the pugilists.
For an instant it seemed as if trou
bic was threatened and some so O.
more of the several hundred soldiers
stationed about the fight arena jumpe,
into the ring and surrounded the van
quished and the victor. Under escoF
Of the soldiers Willard and johnson
left the ring and went to their dress
ing rooms while the crowd cheered an
broke into wild discussion Willar
was out of his dressing room in a fey
moments and in an automobile on hi
way back to Havana. Wherever II
appeared he was cheered and laude
for hours after the battle