The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-01-01
Owen Ziegler, at As,
Is Successful Farmer

Very few pugiHsts have come from
the rural d1sHicts@Jess Willard be-
ing notable excxepion-and. fewer
still go back to the farm after they
retire from the ring. John L. .SulIi-
van has at last settled down to the
life of country gentleman, and Bob
Fitzsi narnons tried the bucoIic thing
in New Jersey, but the best taine- he
raised WAS mortgage. The great
majority Of the ring veterans stick
around the big cities, however, ana
you could oHabIy count on the fling
erS of One-ATmed man the fight
erS who have made good as agricul-
turtsts Baseball players who double
as horny-handed ti1lers of thes oil we
have in plenty, but the fighters seem
to prefer the region OF the white
lights.
Probably the most successful farmer
to be found in the ranks of the ring
artists is Owen NZieg1er, who used to
be a top-notcher among the light
weights and weiters. Owen was born
at Lonsdale, Pa, Jan 1, 1871, and so
will pass his forty fifth milestone this
New ears day. While never q. cham
pion, Ziegler licked a lot of the best
of 'en, and probably no other man
alive has SO many fights under his belt
During his long ring career, extend
ing from 1892 to 1905, he took part
in about 100 regular contests, as a
protest. onaI. He was an amateur
boxer for, several years before he
went after the coin, and in 1891 won
the amateur championship OF Amer
lea, defeating seven men in two nights
He also made a tour of the country
with a theatrical company, meeting
all corners, back in-19O1. and these
bouts, added to his amateur and pro-
fessfona1 Contests, make an amazing
total.
ziegIer is now a farmet in scho-
he VorIr T7ta
owns 200 acres, and raises chickens
and hogs and potatoes and cows and
other flora and fauna. Owen haslnot
lost his interest in the ring game,
and he recently took an active part
in the New York benefit for his old
rival, George Davigne.
Owen was twenty-one when he
started his professional career in
Pennsylvania Although a Tight
weight he round welters and middle
weights, and on one occasion In Ohio
he tackled heavyweight named
wilkinson, fighting with skin gloves,
and put him to sleep in thirty-seven
rounds. ziegler won most Of his
early bouts by knockouts, and in 1884
got a draw with Jack McAunffe. In
1895 he fought twenty-five round
draw with Jack Everhard in New
Orleans. ziegIer's first defeat came
in 1896 when he Aost a. ten-round
bout with George Green, the weller
weight champion, in San Francisco.
He fought Green again the next year,
and the original young Corbett' put
the Pennsylvanian to sleep in the
first round. While on the coast he
defeated the hard-hitting Da1 HRw-
kins and Eddie Connolly. In 1898
ziegier fought two draws with AGatty
Matthews, but lost decisions to Kid
McPartland and Jack Daily. Owen
fought two more draws with Matthews
the next year, but In 1900 he was
knocked out by Matty in the second
round at Niles, 0. Later that year
ZieEler fought Eddie Connolly. ule
Canadian, at Hartford for the alleged
''vvelterweight Championship and
knocked him out in the second round.
After a theatrical tour he returned
to the ring and fought several battles
in Savannah, but although he con
tinued in the ring until 1905, when
he was defeated by Cy Flynn in Buzz
faio, he was distinctly a has-been.
While he was still fighting MeGIer
also conducted a training camp near
New York, and helped to prepare
many famous boxers, including Jim
CorbeAt, Gus Rubin, Oscar Gardner
George McFadden. Tommy white,
Tommy Sullivan and Terry McGovern.
,-, r-Dn r-z,srE1T-lel mr.