New Britain herald., 1918-03-13

ii mFEAkH
FORGOT
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i Fsfchburg, IL
far removed from
Both fighters sta11Gd ILL., 81! ~ ~
speed with the. first ca11Fo time. The
big champion, smartiIlg under the
sltaunts OF Kf1rain and his supporters,
Il twas a. rushing fury. Backed by the
ssnew found strength that had come
from training under Billy Muldoon's
orders, the big Bostonian went at
Kilrain like an avalanche, hoping to
crush Fighting Jake" by the sheer
force. 0f his attack. But kilrain made
it, a. give-and- take affair.
Realizing that this was perhaps
the only chance he would ever have
to win the cham pionship and all the
gold that comes to a prize ring war
rior. Kilrain fought never before
in his career. Rarely did he back
from the Sullivan onslaughts during
the early rounds and the battle re-
solved itself into merciless smuggling
match. Toe to toe those giants stood,
smashing away at each other with all
the power in their massive frames.
After time, Sullivan's superiority
as ringman began to show. And
then KiIEain, in desperation, resorted
Ivan whenever the chance came, he
hit low and it is said he attempted
yougang tactics in clinches. When
those tricks failed to stop the cham
pion, Kilrain went farther-to the
extreme limit of foul ring work in
that era. He used his spikes! 60.
Under London Prize Ring rules,
when battles were staged on the turf,
a fighter was permitted to wear
spikes under the ball of his foot. That
was merely to prevent him from slip
ping on the turf. To use them in
gashing an opponent was considered
the foulest Of ring tricks. Jake Kill
rain, unable to stem the furious at
tack of John L. Sullivan by any
other means, used those spikes to
rip the legs of the champion. And he
made a CHASTITY job of it.
In almost every c1inch Kilrain would
lift his foot, jam the spike into Sui
Iivan's legs and then rip Soon the
legs Of Sullivan were transformed
into a cut and bleeding mass, with
the flesh hanging down in slivers-
And the turf on which the ring was
stretched became a red and soggy
mass.
For a, time John L, submitted to
h1lEa1nS 8 IOul WOIh WlLlOuL ISLdllci-
ton But at last John L. protested
to the referee who paid no attention
to, him. Then John L. decided to do
a little rough work himself Three
times in succession, after he had
beaten ktlrain to the turf, John L.
jumped on his PROSTATE foe, going
down with his knees sinking into the
pit of Kilrain's stomach. Then John
Ia jumped upon the chest of Kilrain
"for good measure"
Ki1rain made protests against Sui
Iivan's tactics but the referee, who
had not paid any attention to Kill
rains fouling, evened up matters by
ignoring the claims of Fighting Jake. "
The, whirtwind pace at which the
men travelled in the early fighting
wearied them After the Goth round
they began to slow down. Along
about the 35th, nausea seized Sui
livan and the big champion was near
collapse from the heat But gamely
he answered the call of Time for
the next period of fighting and
f1oundered through but continued on
the defensive until the attack of NAL
de mer had gone.
Along about the 10th Kilrain, then
even wearier and more battered than
Sullivan, wanted to call off the fight
and have it declared a draw. But
Sullivan refused.
This fight was to be to finish
and it's going to be- beloved John L..
Along about the 50th round the
hands of both men were in fearful
condition. But they fought on. And
it became obvious that the superior
condition of Sullivan would be the
deciding factor. He was weary In
arms, in legs and in body but Kill
rain was more so.
Kilrain decided to play the stall
game through the tifties and sixties
So round after round he came from
his corner, got within striking dis
tance OF Sullivan and then went down
before John l.. could hit him sOlidiy
Undcr the rules, every knockdown
constituted a round. Immediately after
each feigned knockdown kilrain would
20 to his corBer and rest for thirty
seconds as the rules provided. Then
he would repeat the performance in
the next round.
Along about the list round kilrain 5
condition. due to the beating which
Sullivan had given him and made
worse by the fearful heat, became
pitiful. Even the "stalling' had no
helped him much. At the end of thE
18th round, KiIrain, almost ut poln
Of exhaustion, had to be carried to nj
corner and supported An his chaI
and THE end was in sight.
With the gang OF tine gong for tat