The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-03-01
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After that Able was one of the reg
ulars on the Greggains program. The
little bIack-haired Jew showed that he
was as swift in the ring as he had been
as a messenger, game to the core, and
the possessor Of a punch that was a.
beauty from the viewpoint of the
spectator but might unpleasant to the
lad on the receiving end.
Able won most of his early bouts by
knockouts He was never called upon
to fight the same kid twice, because
one experience with Able was quite
enough. One of Abie's early victims
was Eddie Hanlon, who afterward
made quite name for himself in the
ring. Abe was sixteen when he stop
ped Hanlon, and the. latter was only
fifteen.
Able dutifully took most of his ring
earnings home, and his numerous
brothers and sisters found the coin a
welcome addition to the family purse,
and ceased to mourn Abie's fondness
for fighting.
When he was seventeen the little Jew
got the notion in his head that he was
ripe to go after bigger game, and
challenged George Dixon, the veteran
ex-king of the featherweights. He
fought ten rounds to a draw with the
clever coon in Denver, and a couple
of months later met Dixon for twenty
rounds in Cripple Creek, the result
again being draw. A third meeting
was arranged in St Louis a week later
and that time Abe got the decision.
Attell was then a bantamweight, and
he decided that he would like to wear
the crown of that division, thinking
that it would be becoming to his style
of beauty. Harry Forbes was then
bantam champ, and he consented to a
session with the Jew. They fought in
st. Louis only a short time after Abe's
victory over Dixon It was a fifteen
round affair, and went the limit, but
Forbes got the decision.
After Young Corbett and Terry Nc
Govern left the featherweight division,
Abe claimed the title in 1904. He had
defeated Kid Broad and other good
men and. looked to be about the best
boy of his weight In 1904 Abe was
knocked out by Brooklyn Tommy Sulli-
laurels, and in 1905 defeated Harry
Forbes. 1t was not until 1908, how
ever, that Atte1 became the recognized
champion of the featherweights by
defeating Tommy Sullivan. Able stop
ped Brooklyn Tommy in four rounds
in his home city. In the same year
he fought twenty-five round draw
with Owen Moran, and lost a fifteen
round battle with Freddie Welsh. The
latter bout was not for the title, how
ever, as the We1shrnan was a light
weight.
For four years Atte1I reigned su-
preme in the featherweight class,
travelling all over the United States
and Canada and meeting all corners
from New York to the Pacific Coast
and from Calgary to New Orleans.
When he couldn't get featherweight
matches he fought 1ightweights He
made Battling Nelson step his fastest
to earn a draw, and showed up several
1ightweights with championship
aspirations. Able held his title until
1912, when he was defeated by Johnny
KiIbane in a twenty-round bout in
Vernon.
AttelI made probably a quarter of
million dollars in his heyday, but it is
unlikely that he has very much of it
left. After providing for his family
Abe hit the high places as a spender,
although not much given to dissipa.-
ton.