The Alaska daily empire., 1918-04-22

Orleans John L. Sullivan announced:
 q am through with the ring for all time"
 Unlike most other beaten cham pions, John L. kept his resolve. On ly twice after that did he appear in active ring harness and on both of those occasions it merely was in exhibition bouts. His first appear ance before an audience after tho New Orleans battle was when a big benefit was given for him in Madi son Square Garden, New York City When the testimonial was being arranged, those behind the project wired asking me if I would agree to engage in four round exhibition with the great warrior. A big crowd witnessed the sparring tire but the four rounds, were tame. Neither of us extended ourselves and the exhibition wasn't productive of thrills. But it seemed to satisfy the audience.
 Some of John LIS friends declared after our New Orleans contest that the great fighter left the city broke; that the last dollar of the huge for tune which he had earned on the stage and in the ring was gone. Whether this is true or not l cannot say, but l do know that Sullivan wasn't very flush in the latter days of 1892
 But the chance to rebuild his shat the insstent clamor of the public to see him on the stage. That de- mand influenced a theatrical tour which began in 1893 and carried in to 1894
 Other champions in pugilistic his tory have been dethroned and have suffered the common fate-loss of popularity. But not so with John L.. Sullivan. The public loved him as it never has any other athlete; it idol ized him and in every city that John L. visited on that 1S9394 tour he was greeted like conquering hero.
 And his share of the profits was about $50,000.
 After few months of taking it easy" John L.. decided on another swing around under the management of Parson Davies. Approximately $80,000 was Sullivan's share of the profits of that engagement. In 1896, under the management of Duncan Harrison, he made another jaunt through the country which netted him about $9O,OOO.
 No more striking evidence of the wonderful popualrity of John L. Sul livan can be presented than the statement made in the paragraphs above; the statement which shows that the great ring warrior made close to $225,O00 during a period af ter his retirement from the prize ring.
 John L,'s last. appearance as a boxer was on August 31, 1896 in Madison Square Garden, New York And, on that night, to the surprise of the sporting world, the old fellow, woefully out of condition gave the youthful aggressive Tom Sharkey something of boxing lesson. It was in 1896 that Sharkey, who had made a reputation for himself along the Pacific Coast, went East His handlers were anxious to bring him into the pugilistic spotlight. l They tried to match him with some of the prominent Eastern heavy weights, but failed. In this emer- gency someone suggested Sharkey's greatest introduction to the Eastern l fighters could be secured through the medium of an exhibition bout with Sullivan.
 John L., approached on the subject, agreed to the bout.
 Although the exhibition was sched- uled for only there rounds of one minute each, the Garden was filled. Bob Fitzsmmons, Peter Maher, Frank Slivan, Jim Hall and many other pugilistic satellites of that day were there. Sprinkled throughout the au- dience were some of the most promi- nent men in municipal, professional, and commercial life along the At lantic seaboard. It was a multitude that went to give a welcome and I final sendoff to the champion of champions"
 When John l.. walked into the arena a wild cheer for the great fighter broke forth A few seconds afterward Sharkey jumped through the ropes. The sailor threw aside his wrappings and revealed one of the most powerful physiques any man ever carried into the prize ring. Meanwhile, the crowd was speculat- | ing as to what was beneath the robe of John l.. It didn't have long to wait. The idol of American sport lovers shed his bathrObe-and chorus of "Ohs" swept through the ' crowd.
 John l.. had carried into the ring that night close to 300 pounds. Rolls of fat hung down from his belt. He z Snnmnd md