Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-23

LEONARD FAILS TO STOP WAGOND,
BUT DEALS OUT TERRIFIC LACING.
DELIVERING TEN BLOWS TO ONE
Champion Victor in One-Sided Bout Over Wild
Swinger-Benny Lands 3O7 Punches to OPP
ponent's 31-Italian Outclassed
BY LOUIS II. JAFFE


THREE hundred and seven punches
landed by Benny Leonard, who is NOT
lieutenant in the United states army tn
..-,n-one by Eddie wagond, who tried
.,,ocesded in emulating the once iron
s - iron men, Joe Grim, is the entire
n'D ,riof of last nights one-sided bout
Al the olympia.
r,s fact that wagond did not bleed pro-
.,aa,y and that the toughness. OF his hide
.,fused TO give way TO the cutting pun. .'S
Ieiu.. .so chan1pion saved the bout from taking
: OF wy obaetiv spectacle as WIS expected.
on, on q uyagond is "A tough proposition. game,
ln ma nuncher, although wild, and pos
.sor of a good defense was evident All
- boueyer. did not save Wagond from
s.ing completely outclassed,
,,,.,o the brilliant champion easily out
WI NynRond-Eddie having as much
.ssnce of winning as dray horse would
san, TTourIess-and punched the Philadel-
utnn liy almost at will when the latter wasn't
pn.,actsd by his arm-entangled guard. at
p .,r,e was he on the verge Of a knockout.
nny.rnrd ~ assimilated some terrific punches,
ne not only proved himself modern
". Grim. but out-Grimmed the original
~, Man Joe used to take nlne'Secohd
counts time and again, something that
fought back hard soihe'"''s VI "''0'
never was guilty. ,,e,
previous TO the headline contest sub
-. Iac,'' Fitzgerald scored the best hit or
~ evenings entertainment by appointing
SSrseIf official scorer of the bout, re diu
hIs lob nicely by not missing n puncn' II
~ dId no one could prove 1t. Jack turned
~ ths following card for the six innings,
.sovring that Leonard had outpunched
vu,gond almost ten to one:
,.orord ..54 SO ~ 81 ~ 52-3O7
v.,ord ...7 Sc A. 81
Not Speaking Pugilistically
To forget the run OF the one-sided bout
,or brief period and dote on something
wore interesting TO the fan, 1t became known
isst night that Leonard was about TO be
rore a civilian in the employ or the L. >
army instead of commissioned oihcer as
first reported
The khaki uniform worn by the cham
n,on is that of a correspondent in camp
sYM c. A. worker or any other civilian
within the ranks of the United states army
Billy Gibson. manager Of Leonard was
greatly peeved because of an article printed
IN a New York paper denouncing Leonard
tor claiming the capacity OF a commits
stoned man. Glib said he never told news
, nanernan that LeOnard's connection with
the service as boxing instructor meant
commission for him; nor did Benny him
self make any such statement Billy said
the same newspaper that denounced Leonard
was the first to print story referring to
Leonard as a lieutenant.
Last Friday night when Leonard boxed
Jack Britton in New York Leonard was IN
troduced by Joe Humphries at GibSonS Har-
lem S c. as Lieutenant Benny Leonard
United States Army" Gibson says he didn't
instruct Humphries to introduce Leonard In
that manner, nor did any other person
Getting Back to the Fight
Forgetting Gibson's little peevishness, 1t
can be stated that Wagond should be given
q lot Of credit for his showing against
Leonard last night. He won the admiration
OF the large audience by getting right into
the fray as If Leonard was an ordinary op-
ponent Wagond started out bent on a
knockout and the fact that he was facing
the greatest lightweight in the world dldn
appear to worry the Italian in the least
Wagond ambled to the center of the ring,
and as Leonard came within reach Eddie
started to swing his well-known and un-
tanned punches Leonard evidently was sur
prised at Wagond's nerve and got his jaw
out of the way of a wild wallop i'm time to get
Il on the forehead. WagOnd came back with
another roundhouse wallop high up on the
head and Leonard ClinChed. Benny held
tight too. II was only few seconds then
that the great champion set sail, and before
the round was over Wagond was sad
looking spectacle.
Leonard popped Wagond on the nose and
eye with continual left jabs, It was case
of one jab after another and WnGond didn't
allow a single one to get by. All the while
Wagond having a fine time missing
haymaker after haymaiier, raising the
rosn dust from the floor with the breeze
from his misses. Wagond was shaken up
by right uppercut just as the whistle
blew ten seconds before the bell. Fifty
four to seven" was Fitz's punch count. If
any one was to have recorded Wagond' s
misses it is probable the toll would have
reached the like number of Leonard's con-
nected blows.