The Washington herald., 1915-04-04

would triumph tomorrow. He was
all wrapped up in the first black
and white scrap.
What contrast it would be if We
only could bring back Tom Crib, the
English champion of 100 years ago,
and stand him beside Jess Willard,
wRiie Moiyneaux. the black, lined up
with Jack Johnson" he began. Not
SO much contrast in the physical pro
portions of The men. for they are re-
| markably similar. but in the a;yle of
hghtinS-the erect position compared
with the crouch: both arms held high
and out straight almost at right
| angles with the body, with only a
slight crook in the elbow of the
guard; the straight blow from the
shoulder instead of the half-arm jab:
! the utter lack of knowledge of a
knockout blow on the point of the
| jaw. and the frequent forearm throt-
Ting of an opponent in fall. They
didn't knew any more about the solar
pleXus, by name, in those days i'll the
fighting game than they did about
measuring the height of a mountain
by triangulation. They called that
vulnerable spot the mark
1T is not likely that either Crib
or Molyneaux would last a full round
If pitted against modern heavy
weight and the old system used
against the new. II wouSl be like an
engagement between battleship of
the Connecticut type and the forty
four gun frigate Scraps. There was
no careful calculation of distance no
nicely of measurement-just hammer
and tong from start to finish.
Strength and endurance were the main
factors, and while there was a sort
of science, ii was crude and unde-
yeloped.
The meeting between Tom Crib
and MolyneauX, the black. was the
first fight between black and a
white man in the history of the prize
ring. That is to say, the first actual
contest for n championship. The ne
gro was born slave in Virginia in
1884. He came to New York when he
was 20 years old and was a rousta-
bout in the neighborhood of old Cath
arine Market. His splendid physical
proportions and his ability to handle
his dukes. as they persisted in call
ing a fighters fists in those days at
tracted the attention of a titled Eng
lishman interested in athletics and he
was induced to go to England TO be
matched with siX-footer named
Burrows. powerful fellow, who
"S'eh iSc PouHuS-
'Molyneaux was then &c years old
and the most symmetrical man that
had entered the prize ring in Eng
land UP to that time. Burrows was
beaten to L pulp in half an hour.
Subsequently the black man defeated
Tom Blake, one of the cleverest men
of his day. An old sporting writer
said of him: Nature seems to have
endowed him with the heaven-given
gift of taking punishment kindly, his
body being almost callous to fistic ar
gument.
Then came the great encounter
with Englands white hope, although
they didn't call him that. Gentleman
John Jackson was master of cere-
monies. and he surrounded the twen-
ty-four-foot ring, in the middle of a
field. with circle of carriages to keep
of chilling east wind. Tom Crib.
five feet ten, weighed 1879 pounds.
Molyneaux, five feet nine, stripped at
1873 pounds. They fought thirty-one
rounds in fifty-five minutes. There
was strong prejudice against the ne
gro because of his color and national
ity, and one of the partisans of the
Englishman tried to bite his thumb
off.
"MolyneauN was declared the win
ner, but he was not satisfied with the
way he had been treated. and chal-
lcnged Crib to fight again. They
battled a second time on a platform
erected in a stubble field. In the sixth
round Molyneaux received a blow in
the pit of the stomach which doubled
him up He was practically helpless
and his seconds threw up the sponge
at the end of nineteen minutes
THE black man was never very
much good after that. He continued
in the ring. but rarely won His
most noted antagonist after CrI5b was
George Cooper, who gained fame as
the only man who ever stool before
the famous Dan Donnelly more than
ten rounds. Molyneaux was badly
beaten.
From that time forward his course
was downward. Disease ard dissipa-
tioh reduced him to a mere skeleton.
and he died in the bandroom of
regiment in Ireland in 1918. He was
unQues;ionably one of the greatest OF
the early fighters. black or white. He
bore singular resemblance to cur
own Jack johnson in bis fondness for
excitement in which speed vas an ele-
ment. Not having an automc pile
handy he drove fast horses. There
were no laws against fast driving in
1919 in England, SO he vent the limit
and nearly broke his neck