The Washington herald., 1918-10-07
IRISH BOXERS
EARLY CHAMPS
Ruled Prize Ring Many
Greatest Fighters
in Pugilistic World.

From the early days Of the prize
ring the Irish were considered
among the best, II not the greatest
| fighters in the world. Nearly all
visitors to Ireland make a trip to
| the Curragh of Kildare, and the
man who drives his jaunting car
always points to Donnelly's Hollow,
where the famous Donnelly- Cooper
| fight took place in 1915.
! Although that was over 100
years ago, the Irish tell you that
never before or since has there
been a champion to compare with
their Dan Donnelly.
Even today where the ring was
pitched in the hollow there are mon
uments of marble which bear on
their face tales of Dams great bat
ties and of his arrival ana de-
parture.
These stones. in poetry and prose
| told by the great historians and
poets OF that faraway time, tell of
the splendid deeds of both winner
and loser. In some places the
| stones are Clipped and broken by
Vandals of the long ago, who want
ed souvenir of the first great
prize-fght ever fought in Ireland.
In recent years John L. Sullivan
has held place in the Irish breast
just as did Donnelly, and in their
+eyes no warrior save their own Dan
did compare with the Boston boy.
On this side, too, the first great
prize-fghters we ever had were
| Irishmen.
| John Morrisey. of New York, who
at one time represented that State
in Congress, was one of the first
great pugilists on this side. He
was an Irishman.
Later, John Dwyer, of BROOKLYN;
Joe Coburn. of New York; Ned
OBaldwin. John c. Heenan. Mike
McCoole and other Irishmen became
famous fighters in turn.
At one time three Irishmen held
the heavy, the middle and the light
weight championships in this coun-
! try. The three were John L. Sulli-
van. Jack Dempsey and Jack Nc
Auliffe. a trio of as great fighters
as ever lived.
Perhaps the greatest prize-fght in
| this country in which the combat
ants were both Irish, was that be-
! tween John C. Heenan and John
MOrrisey.
There was great rivalry between
Morrisey and Heenan, and to settle
the leading question a fight between
them was arranged.
1t was fought on the turf and be-
fore as tough a crowd as ever gath
cred at the side of prize ring.
| 1t was a fearful battle, fought
with the bare fists. and Heenan. who
at first appeared certain of victory,
| eventually lost out by swinging his
good right hand against one of the
stakes in the ring and injuring it so
| badly that he had to fight on with
one hand. Only when nature gave
/ out, however. did he give up the
| battle.
! Later Heenen challenged Morri-
sey to another fight. but the latter
declared that he had quit the prize
ring for good. A little later he ran
| for Congress and was elected.
1t was not long after Heenan had
fought Morrisey that the former
| crossed to England to meet Tom
! Sayers in a fight for the champion
/ ship OF the world-the first ever
fought in which representatives
| from both sides of the water were
principals.
There were two great fighters in
! England at this time-two who had
| held the same place over there that
Heenan and Morrisey held in this
country These were Jem Mace and
| Tom Sayers.
Mace was considered by many Say
ers' superior in speed bl ring gen.
! eralship. But somehow the Gypsy
/ nffA To-
seized the English championship and
all that went with it without oppo-
sition from the only Englshman who
might have thrashed him.
The fight between Sayers and Hee-
nan is an old story. 1t saw an Irish
man pitted against England's bEav-
est and best man.
| 1t was a fight. too, in which each
man proved himself so brave and
willing that English gameness and
| Irish bravery has never since been
| questioned; a fight. too. which was
declared draw and from which each
man withdrew with equal honors
Some Of these old pictures are
most distressful affairs. In the fight
on the Curragh of Kildare, Jack
Cooper is nearly always shown at
a disadvantage and Dan Donnelly al
ways stands out as the hero
In the fight at Farnborough, Hee-
nan and Sayers are always shown
on an equal footing. surrounded by
English and Irish noblemen and
queer-looking old fellows of all sorts
who followed the fighting game in
that faraway time.
! There was a sort of brotherly love
! between the Irish and English when
| these old pictures were taken They
alone prove this.
The English then had a sort of
liking for their rough, plain-spoken
Irish cousins, and the Irish had a
soft spot in their hearts for English
valor and sturdiness.
And today some of the best men
fighting side by side in all the al
lied fronts are Irish and English.
| Their interests today are identical
and both belong to the one side.
That is why 1 said at the beginning
of this story that it is too bad the
brave lads left in Ireland cannot
quit fighting among themselves and
all join hands with us in fighting the
coed fight lover there
We need all the good fighters on
our side these days. and where are
there any better than the Irish?
>~,