The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-02-21

Editors ,Sote: This is the fourth
chapter of a series of articles which
Mr. Corbett Is writing on John l..
AS 7 Knew Him 1t relates many
heretofore unpublished incidents in
the life of the great warrior The
next installment win appear tomor-
row.
The historic John l.. Sullivan
Paddy Ryan battle was staged Feb
ruary z. 1889, in a picturesque spot on
the Mississippi shore of the Gulf of
Mexico. The original plan to put it
on in the vicinity of New Orleans had
to be abandoned because of fear of
interference by Louisiana state au-
thorlties. So the 1000 sportsmen who
had gathered In the Crescent city
were put on board IA special train
which made a run of several hours
before II reached It's rural destina-
ton, Mississippi city, or SCOTS land
ing. as 1t then was called.
Just as the fight was about to start
a wrangle came about over the referee
question. Sullivan insisted upon one
man; Ryan upon another. The argu-
ntent was finally settled by permitting
both Alexander Brewster and Jack
Hardy to off1ciate. II was one of the
rare instances in ring history where
two men were permitted to officiate
In a single battle.
Although Ryan was champion, Sui
Ivan was p slight favorita In the
betting. This was due to the fact that
he was in superb condition and his
record was such that the gambling
fraternity felt that he had more than
an even chance to triumph, Never
theleas. Ryan had many supporters
IN the crowd, and thousands of dol
lars were wagered at the ringstde.
The battle was fought In a. sixteen
foot ring with London prize ring rules
governing. This permitted wrestling
q we'll "a hitting. and every knock
down constituted a round. No round
sas over until one or another Of the
fighters had been noored After be
ing sent down, the seconds Of the fall
ion man were permitted 10 drag him
10 his corn@r-and revive him, II pos
xihic within the thirty second limit.
Ryan rushed sullivan with the call
81 time for the 8rst round and shot
left - John l. = face Instead OF
attempting to block the punch. tho
Eostonian sent his loft into fEya s
guard and then swung his mighty
rfz1lt 'cr the head But the blow
wished its target by fraction RYAN
.~kot away and sullivan rushed
him. Another rush by sullivan ended
va guuid. fer John l. sent a hard
right handler to Ryan'S neck. floor
}aE Ire champion. The round Aad
lasted less than enc minute.
After minute OF lighting in the
second round John l. landed hts
famous right on Ryans Jaw, To The
sunrise of The crowd. the only eject
q had upon Paddy was to anger hun,
He rusael at sullivan Ike 81 WILD
ct rs
center Of the ring. SCoruins 10
sres'3e the pair stood there, toe 10
zoe smuggling with terrible power
pfaa}lv came a cfsnch. The men tug
etng around. lost their balance and
fell TO the ground. That ended the
round sullivan happened to he on
top when they landed 20 lie was &C
corded thk honors in that round
Ryan rushed from his corner IN tho
third and swung q, left for the head.
Put John beat him TO IT. A fraction
or = second earlier he had started a
right for Ryrn's Jaw. PaddNs blow
never landed. John l. did. ~
STRUCK IFS target and Paddy dropped
as though struck by an axe handle
And the round which had lasted oniy
twenty seconds. YEAS over IL was the
shortest of the whole contest vet the
rnrst important That one punch
which John L. had landed paved the
way 10 his triumph few ROUNDS
lster.
RYAN was weary as the fourth be
gan and it was evident to every ing
,ae spectator that he had been badly
hurt by that crashing right hander
tho third Paddy fought almost
s!l,. 81 the defensive In the fourth
-ruoa followed another
Paddy seemed 10 be growing weaker.
John l., depending almost alone upon
t-nt hand punch, was
t,e.y.ng down Ryan 10 a point OF eX
lsu8tion Time and again the Bos-
;on'an might have clinched and then
thrown his opponent 10 the ground
With stunning force. But always.
when John l.. had the chance, he
used. his fists and rot his arms.
R,an was game and that, together
with his splendid caution. enabled
him to stsve OIL es~ly defeat He
fought as best he could, but his best
was not enough TO stop the furiously
avrressiye sullivan. The Boston
Highland strong Roy" rarely gave
Ryan chance to clipch. He forced
open hghting and with merciless pre-
cision sent his right handler TO the
bloody and battered head OF his foe.
Rvan's face took on CHASTITY ap'
pearance-
few left stahs by sullivan, fol-
lowed BY a right-hander to the jaw
of the staggering Ryan. ended the
eighth round in less than q minute.
When Ryan Crumpled to the turf il
seemed impossible for him TO resume.
But BY an almost super human ef-
fort. he answered the call for time
In the ninth round. tottertrg rather
- -. sy.aa evt