The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-02-14
HOW JOHN |. SULLIVAN
WON GREATEST FIGHT
TELLS HOW HE GAVE BLACK
BOTTLE A FINAL KNOCK
OUT BLOW.

holder of the title of champion heavy
weight of America. And, although he
never Officially was champion of the
world-popular belief to the contrary
there was little or no doubt In the
minds of the largest part of the sport
ing world that the only John L. In his
prime was the lustiest fighter that
ewes swung bare knuckles, skin tight
gloves or the padded leather pillow
mitts Of our own day, says the New
York Sun.
The title Of champion of the world
unofficially was accorded early to the
Boston lad even by the then young
John L. himself, thus making the title
next door to unanimous. But he never
fought a foreign scrapper except
Charlie Mitchell, who was not cham
pion of England when Sullivan and
Mitchell met and never held the Eng
fish championship. And no decision
was reached in either of the Sullivan
Mitchell fights. The first, held In
Madison Square garden in 1888, was
stopped in the third round by the late
police inspector, then Capt. Aleck
Williams. Sullivan's second go with
Mitchell London rules fight with
bare knuckles, fought at Chantilly
France, 80 years ago this spring, was
declared draw after the men had
fought 80 rounds lasting three hours
and eleven minutes.
But in the eyes of his hundreds of
thousands, perhaps millions, of admir-
ers, there was no doubt that John l..
was accorded the popular title Of
world champion with a heartiness and
gusto never rendered to another man.
Let the gossippers say, and they said
again and again back in the days
when John l.. was paying as much or
more attention to booze fighting as to
ring battles that he drove his fist
through the side of an old cab horse
in front of a Chicago restaurant the
other night" that he kicked and
punched inoffensive citizens out of his
way as he burned a trail of glory
across the continent
Cab Story Not True.
The cab story wasn't true. Few If
any Of the other yarns of the kind
were true. But even the fight fans
who believed them true always turned
out and turned their pockets inside
out when John l.. came to town; and
they roared him a welcome from the
time his mountain form lurched off
the train, and ran and cheered behind
his carriage to his hotel, and cheered
him through the night, and so on to
the next town again.
Schoolboy victor in many a Boston
fight when a little chap hater of books
and frequent truant, plumbers ap-
prentice, tinsmiths helper plumber
always deaf to the pleadings of an
Irish father and mother, who wanted
him to study for the priesthood-ama
teur baseball player of snap and abil-
ity, patron of the local boxing bouts
in his downy days-thus went the
boyhood and youth of John L., who
was a mountain of man strength
when still in his teens.
He lost his first fight when Princi-
pal Jimmy Page, back in 1868, called
1O-year-o Johnny Sullivan up before
his class in the Dwight Commercial
school in Boston and gave Johnny a
lacing with the rattan that went down
in school history. And Johnny Sulli-
van took his unmerciful beating from
teacher with a stoicism that was
part of the history of that great event
Had No Regular Training.
With no regular training as a boxer
he never had any-he fought his
way through his teens, formally and
informally, until he made his first in
formal entrance into the prize ring, |
with the then old Joe Goss-heavy- !
weight champion from 1876 to 1880
as his opponetn. That was at bene-
1T for Joe held in Boston's old Music |
hall. Sullivan hit the veteran with |
a right swing that sent Joe SPRAYING
FCIoSs tIe Stage. w men 1OSS ndu re-
covered his footing the gallant John
L. did one of those things that then
and thereafter endeared him to the
fight fans; he finished the bout with
Goss one-handed. refusing to use his
right hand again until the bell had
sounded the finish.
All the American title holders in the
early days were foreign born, of either
British or Irish stock, with the excep-
ton of the first American title holder
In the heavyweight class, Tom Hyer,
and the famous Heenan. John L. Sui
Ivan was the first native born Ameri-
can to hold the heavyweight title I'M
der the Marquis of Queensberry rules,
1t was in 1882 that he won his cham
by defeating the then star
heavyweight of the country, Paddy I
Ryan, down in Mississippi in nine
rounds. Thereafter for 10 years he
net them all-and he had had hard
lights Of semi professional kind even
before he fought old Joe Goss-Tug |
wilson, Charley Mitchell, Herbert !
slade, Johnny Laflin, ALI Greenfield,
lack Burke, Dominick Mccartney,
Patsy Cardiff, Jake Kilrain, Tom
sharkey and-Jim Corbett K