Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-02-01

r. W. MAXWELL lead in the early
s .,,dsi hut O'Keefe came back strong
IA eyened things up. Neither boxer hau
~ advantage. 1t was good draw
Nsyer before In the history of boxing
IS bout like this put on the program:
The featherwelght champion OF tne moiIu l,u
"a finished an unsatisfactory PERFORM
~. and left the ring, cheered and hooted
the audience. He hastily dressed him
.s,ts rent TO the box office and received
ann for is minutes work. He was billed
- snnear in the wind-up, but 1t really
vas a semiwind-up. The star bout-an
added attraction put on to satlsfy a
much-abused and well-worked pubic
tolowed. and after the boys were through
shav ala not 60 to the box office and col
iscf mart Of the gate receipts. They re-
eelyed nothing for their services.
Silence Greets Boxers
II Is the custom at all boxing clubs to
ennlaud the boxers when they first enter
the ring and take their corners, Each
boy generally has a following and there
"a much noise on the part of the audience
before the bell clangs for the first round.
last night IL was different When
O'Keefe climbed through the ropes there
wasn't even q handicap. Tender received
the same cold reception. The 5000 persons
in the big amphitheatre sat In stole ST.
lence. They cheered and applauded
week ago and now they waited, crouched
down In their seats, to see whether or not
the boxers could put up an exhibition
worthy Of their commendation. 1t was
critical audience-an audience that had
been "stung' once-and no two pugilists
ever had harder time to make good.
In the first round Tender rushed across
the ring at the sound of the bell and met
O'Keefe before he left his corner. Then
the battle began. Lew hooked his left
and right to the body, then fought Eddie
all over the ring. forcing the fighting and
placing OKeefe on the defensive. 1t was
sensational work, but there was only a
faint murmur Of approval from the crowd.
1t was too early to become enthused. In
-the second round 1t was the same, with
Tender doing all OF the leading and Ed
die countering and blocking. The battle
was faster than any of the preceding
houts-incuding the one in which the
featherwelght champion participated
but the tomblike silence continued. The
audience still was waiting to be shown
Audience Becomes Enthused
In the middle of the third round O'Keefe
began to force matters, and landed sew
eral stiff blows which drew a hearty
cheer from the crowd. Then the ice was
broken. From then on the spectators
showed. that they appreciated the eff
forts of the boxers. and howled their APP
proval whenever the occasion demanded
which was every second until the final
bell changed.
II was different when O'Keefe and
Tender left the ring. They were cheered
as boxers never were cheered before,
and evrey one left the place satisfied.
They saw a real battle, a battle where
skill and brains constantly were being
brought into play and the weird exhi-
bltion OF a week ago was entirely for
gotten. The boys have wiped the slate
clean.
o'Keefe and Tender faced a hard |
proposition when they entered the ring. |
Iney stood TO lose no matter what kind |
OF battle they put up. If they staged |
a real fight. one pleasing to the spec
taiors, 1t would be said that the first |
bout was framed" and they should be |
barred in the future because they faxed"
on the other hand. If the boys spared !
araund for six rounds, tried their best to
please the audience, yet put up an un-
satisfactory performance, there would !
DC shouts of rotten" and take them
eH and they would be ruined forever.
lust think this over, and you will realize
what O'Keefe and Tender were up
against But they showed that they
were sincere when they insisted on get
ing one more chance to show what
they could do.
Aid to Boxing Game
The extra bout last night was the best
lnlns that possibly could have happened
70 the boxing game in Philadelphia. II
'pened the eyes of the public. as 1t showed
Nhat the boxers can do if they really
extend themselves. This is not a slam
4 The battle put on last week. 1t is
sam against the general run of wind-ups
mat nave been inflicted upon the public
n the last few years. 1t seems that a
alnd-up boxer imagines he can get away
win anything i'm the final bout, and that
me public Will stand for 1t.
seyenty-fiye per cent, of the wind-ups
pns on here are unsatisfactory, Take the
bout last night. That
was Very poor exhibition, and had the
SNOW ended there, thousands would have
sohe home dissatisfied. Then there is
FREDDY Welsh. Does he put up good