The Alaska citizen., 1916-06-05
BAT NELSON SAYS

wlll 5r news 10 fight followers ~hs know tLc udny hard battles tit" Dane has been through; but as Ba; himself says he wasn't sane. tn" statement will hay.' 10 be si-"H credit In 8 talk with Ed Smith in Chicago Nelson acl,nc" '"dgec that on many occasions he oniy managed to keep from a1ing = the mat for a nice little rPst hy pulling himself and his opponent. lu part Bat ~ayes this way:
 They used 10 say ic'ed to fight They said | sloriei in b. ing punched and that was i'm. pervious to pain. They ofte~ wrctc big stories of how eager I was for the battle.
 Now, 'or the first time. !'m so- iu, to tell yoI the truth ! na'ea 10 tight So does every fighter. neycr got into the ring without d feeling of dread. I knew tha' | N NS Np4ilS u S'l itt4N4i'N+ N+r ''s@ going To get hurt l was going to get black eyes and banged ID ears and bloody noses galore. knew that for a few days after the fight ! was going to be sore in eNery muscle and c-eaking in every jC!nt.
 T knew some felloV clevere! than was going to stic% his left abs into my right eye and ;SeE smash his right hand agenSt my jaw And they tell you that's a pleasant prospect and tkat man 'glories in it. It's rot on the face o! it-thats what ] say, 6nd n0- body that ever got into ! ~i1 2 can CGN 1t
 T have come out oi batuoS al battered up. Folks have 5v"E wait .7g for me to take lunch wi,f N,5m af.er Il fight, A gay thro nNu. lily r;ited in the hotel cafe Some aIes joined them-but uN' ott n. Do you know what l had to do' \ "u. had to go to my roam and rarc a rubber pound the -or'ness cut tf ny flesh and a boy hold 'Ca several hours. while downs,airS the throngS would eulogizc N,ta5n fer his gameness ard spend he mo: ev he had won for them,
 Now here, the real lIside; Re member my fight with HaNlor? Also the one with Canole? l received my most severe punishment T those fights In both battles I was tire'! at times-fearfully tired Tine and again felt like sinking 10 tie floor That canvas lookel ,o nice and soft and inviting. And by standing up got more punches iH the jaw and en the body, ,."c, bu' l wanted the fight to end-at times didn't care how just ae long as it ended Canole hit he in the body in the fourth round aul ac- tually howled with pair .ol ilIe minutes Poor Martin thought l was cursing him Had he known nt" baUy vas hurt he might have finished nae
 Throughout both fight, was kept oH my feet by just one thing
 tap knowledge that no alter how tired was the other fe''ow was jus, as ured-and in all probability just little bit more tired Every round I figured that if could stand on my feet fer two more rounds the other fellow might quit in one. That's all that saved me.
 And back of all that socalled gameness there stands out the fact that, like Leach Cross, was q business man. l knew tlat repu tnuon for gameness and durability were the two capitals of Battling Nelson
 It's purely business proposI- tion. Gameness is the atiity 'H stand up and take the saft-not because you ike the gaft, becauN" nobody dots-but because yoh knoW you'll be a dead one in business sense unless you do.
 T never loved to fight But loved the money it brought me. With that money I could enjoy lFe and make life enjoyable 'or nj! family.
 "I never knew man who loved to fight Neither did you nor any. body else. never knew g man who loved punishment. No su:h man ever existed never knew a man who loved to punish h's O. ponent, unless the reputation or his loving to so treat the other man comprised in part his rir% cap- tai and made him a card"
 Always original. the Durable Dane" seems to have pu, new idea into the annals of the ring There is no questioning ,ro fact that Nelson was the ganllIt and most courageous of all fighte-s. It is ring history that in n o.e thun 25O fights he never backed one inch away rom an opporont
 When a man of this cslltrc says that there is no such thing a' q man loving to fight. DO such pes