Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-09-21

NOOK NOOK and use his feet. which are the prin.
cipal requisites of boxing.
'intny broke up camp that fall and moved
cleveland. Business was very dun and
1ohhny took job with the railroad as
s,.'. smiseninsn. lie kept up his boxing. how
Tar,, anu on December 25, 1907, boxed Kid
campbell In Cleveland. Campbell was
Nd An0cked out In the fifth round Kilbane
ooneSted we as his share OF the s25 purse
anu @ ne ana Dunn had an Xmas dinner That
Mes Johnnys first battle, and he demon
9ua'eo from the start that he had the goods
he Kept up his boxing and for two years
n,e h,e' al OF the bantams and llghtweights in
nlS MS section or the country. At this time
kilbane did not weigh more than 100
pounds but made up for his lack OF weight
with cleverness and hard hitting lie out.
pointed Tommy Kilbane-no relation--in
twenty-five rounds in a barn near Cleve-
u lanu IN 1908, and received S40s. the largest
purse up TO that time
Johnny received his first start I'm the
Fast IN 1870 and Billy Evans, the Ameri-
can League umpire, was responsible for
~ Evans wrote TO n friend in Boston
boosting Johnny TO the skies, and XII
pane was asked to meet Bobby Tickle i'm
Boston, for 500. Johnny accepted. but on
tne night OF the fight Tickle was delayed
ana Young Dyson substituted Tyson was
ABOUT TO be knocked out in the second round
when Tickle appeared The bout was
stopped and Tickle taken on. Kilbane out
pointed him in ten rounds.
Then came O number of other bouts until
the Atten fight out on the coast. when
tommy won the championship. He has
detended Il ever since, and despite the howl
lnss OF the critics, wiped out every con-
tender for the featherweight title. He
stands alone. and II he does any boxing in
the tuture 1t must be among lightweights
Johnny now is too good for his class.
Object Lesson
rms Is the story of how Kilbane pre-
pared himself for the chnmpionship. He
ouilt himself from the ground up-started
out as green kid, overcame all obstacles
ana hnally mounted TO the top. IL is an oh.
Ject lesson for others to follow, whether IL
be boxing or any other line OF endeayor.
with all of the honors thrust upon him
Johnny Kibane is the same now as he was
when he first met Jimmy Dunn Modest
and retiring, no acts like anything but a
champion of the world. He doesn't know
the meaning OF the words 'swelled head -
He treats every one alike, whether he be the
worst preliminary boy in the world or the
mayor OF city. Courteous at all times
kilbane has made a host of friends all over
the country, and he will keep them to the
end.
We were in Cleveland when Johnny was
training for his fight with Clancy. II was
an important battle. and one would conclud,
that the champion would think of nothing
but his coming battle against the challenger
Such was not the case. He trained hard
got himself into the best possible shane. bu
every night before he retired he would at
tend to some of the charity work with which
he is connected.
Helps Many Families
This is not generally known, but Kilban,
has a long list containing the names of pool
people In Cleveland, and every week h,
sends something to their homes. Man,
families are dependent upon him for sup
port.
On the night we visited Kilbane at hi
home an old lady was waiting to see him
Her son had enlisted in the navy, and as n
was her only support, she wanted john,
to use his influence to get him out. Xii
bane knew he could do nothing, but h.
pacified her and gave her $50 to pay he
expenses. Then he made an entry in hi
little notebook. put down the woman's nam
and from now on she gets $25 month
This is how the featherweight champion
Of the world spends some of his money. A
Christmas time he loads his automobil
with baskets of food and visits the home
| of all of his friends" as he calls them. |
takes a week TO make the rounds. and tn
| champion works from early morning to lat
| at night.
Kilbane takes the boxing profession Sc
| riously, but he does not believe he is per
| feet. When he goes into a boxing match h
| has confidence in himself, but realizes tina
he. like every one else, is likely to feel tn
effects of knockout. Before the Chane,
battle he said he was physically perfect
never felt better in his life, but said Chane,
had a chance to win.