The Washington herald., 1918-02-24
TERRY'S DEATH
GRIEVES FANS
He Was Real Fighter, and
as Such viii Always Be
Remembered.
Terry McGovern is dead.


The grim, old reaper continues 20
exact a heavy toll of those prominent
ly identified with the boxing game
whom the present generation Of fans
characterize as ''oId-timers." Within
the last six months no less than six
veterans Of the ring have journeyed
10 that bourne from whence no trsv-
eler returns"
First there was Bob Vernon, the
genial ''Pommcry Bob." stakeholder
Of worldwide fame and fan-extraor-
dinary. II was Bob who was largely
responsible for elevating his bosom
pal, Freddie Welsh. 70 the worlds
lightweight championship. Then Bob
fttzstmmons passed aWay-knocl-
kneed. freckled-skinned Bob. Charlie
White, old Eagle Eye" one Of the
greatest referees the game has known,
was the third in line. Next came
John L. Sullivan. the Boston Strong
Boy" the last OF the bare-knuckle
fighters. Followed Billy Madden,
boxer. manager. trainer. and later
physical culturist.
And within day Of Madden. Terry
McGovern. the once Terrible Terry"
passes away.
What a flood Of recollections wei!s
Up on reading Terry's obituary notice,
With all the respect 10 the memory
Of those mighty glsdiators who went
before him and with true appreciation
Of their greatness. the passing Of
Terry grieves boxing fans the most
keenly. The reason may be, perhaps.
that the present generation remem-
bers his deeds more vividly than those
Of RUBY Bob" and Yours Truly,
John L. but Il Is a fact that few
boxers ever attained the popularity
Terry commanded when he was
Terrible Terry" His popularity lived
10 the day Of his death and his fame
will ever live.
1t was only a few days ago that
he wrote the following note. Like
all veterans OF the ring he even
then would not admit that he was
through" II he realized IL:
Il have become a most ardent phys
ical culturist and am goin1
through q very complete and careful
course Of training preparatory 10 do
ing some boxing later on for the
benefit OF the boys in the nearby
army camps.
i would like 10 go on for few
'limited-round bouts this coming
spring with some OF the boys OF my
time who are still there.
Il noticed some months ago that
Jimmy Britt was thinking n doing
Comeback" II he is willing 7
would like TO try conclusions with him
for. say. three rounds later on.
have heard that he Is in good cond1-
ton, and as he always takes good
care Of himself, he should be. ] don't
see why We could not give a Eeod
account of ourselves.
MY weight today is I5 pounds. and
am in excellent shape 10 try con-
clusions with someone Sincerely
yours. TERRY McGOVERN,"
Within ten days Of writing the
above Terry died. He went TO his
Maker "Wednesday morning On Tues
day last he entered the Kings Coun-
ty Hospital suffering from a compli-
cation 81 diseases. Pneumonia was
the aff"' n that brought the end.
He Is survived by his wife and son.
! Young Terry. who lately has been
employed as messenger hoy for q
I brokerage house in Wall Street
It is far easier 10 relate what Nc
Govern accomplished during his ca
reer within the hempen square thaH
IL is TO express the sentiment that his
death arouses
During late years Terry had been
held up as the horrible example"
for aspiring young ringsters His
record both in the ring and outside
{ OF il is too well known to repeat.
( II was success that brought about
, his downfall. His life and death
teach lesson that all might we'll
! heed. He reached the crest OF his
wonderful popularity before he was
I Of voting age and he was Through"
while still a youngster. Loose liv-
ing paved the downward path for
I him. but for all his shortcomings
he was appreciated and beloved for
what he had done. His virtues were
not clouded by his backslidincs.
Terry probably will always he re-
membered for his indomitable fight
ing spirit He was unconquera bic
until his success began to initiate
against him. He came from fight
ing Irish stock. The adjective. or
course. is superfluous In the hey
dey OF his career his mother was
the only one who could boast with
/ impurity that he would be licked ''
] McGovern was born on May ..
1880. and died in his s0th
year. He began boxing along about
1896. At least IL was in that year
that he began to attain fame. With
in a period Of about three years he
had come and gone as a champion