The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-04-27
WILLARD-FULTON
BOUT WILL BREAK
RING TRADITIONS

New York, April 27.-A most unus-
ual and interesting situation will arise
IN connection with the proposed VIII
Iard--Eulton bout, Ii Ii Is staged. Ac-
solalils 70 the tentative terms Of
agreement, the title holder and his
lowering challenger are t. meet in q
| Lem-round contest for the heavywelght
championship Of the world, the pre-
i nlisE tltuiar honors OF pugilism to 90
with the decision OF the referee, In
case both boxers are on their feet at
the end or the 80 minutes of battling.
!. , Wnether willard holds lightly the
By JefIries, Sullivan, FltEsinmons AMI
oIher heroes OF the ring, or has su-
preme confidence in his ability to sue
eessLuIiy deIend the same under any
that never in the history of heavy
weight puEiltsm has a tituIar bout
Deen fought under such an agreement,
y IN y 2rder that there might be no mis-
uhnefstandlng upon this point Will
lard was asked Ii he agreed to stake
MS championship upon a referees de-
cision In ten-round bout and In re-
ply said that he would like a longer
Us DouL lnan ten rounds to decide the
however he continued. "the short
route with a referees decision may
satlsky the public. ! would prefer 20,
although am confident / can retain
the title In any circumstances"
Seventeen Title Bouts.
willard having agreed to stake his
TUE on the outcome Of short bout,
the contest VIII differ from any titu-
lar glove battle between big men OF
the ring 50 far as puRilistfc history
shows. Since the night that Jim Cor
petit knocked out John L. Sullivan in
II rounds at New Orleans on Sept. Z,
1889, there have been 16 battles for
the heavyweight championship.
These contests have ranged from 20
70 80 ROUNDS with decision in case a
KNOCKOUT Iva -
before the final bell. In but FIVE or
these did the victor drive home the
winning blow in less than ten rounds,
was 13 1917 rounds. Willard. him
self, holds the duration record, for IL
took him rs rounds to stop Jack John
son, with the Jeffries-Sharkey Is
round battle close second.
Breaks Ring Tradition.
1t would appear under the circum-
stances that Willard has set himself a
considerable task in breaking away
from ring tradition. He Is a notori-
ously slow starter in his ring cam
paigns and has to date showed a
marked lack of aggressiveness. /
Whether at the age OF 40 he can de-
velop new set or ring tactics TO Mt
the peculiar conditions surrounding
the proposed bout. is a question which |
only time can answer.
Opinions among close followers of |
pugilism based upon the work OF the |
two heavyWeights in the ring lean
toward the belief that I'm such a short /
bout Fulton's superior boxing ability /
would give him a decided advantage I
and possibly the championship by de-
cision, should he be wise enough to /
battle scientifically for the points nee
essary TO earn such a decision
Despite the difference I'm the ages /
Of the two boxers. very few conceive |
that Fulton could knock out Willard /
in ten rounds. Such an effort would /
arouse the champion to a 4
full use of his super-strenEth and end i
FOR Fulton. willard, on 4
the other hand, unless stung to fury.
is hardly likely to develop the BeT- j
serk rage necessary to carry him 4
ten rounds Of aggressive
rushing, and crushing action which Il
would give him victory either BY d
knockout or decision with the proba-
oilfty favoring the former.