The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1919-08-22
WILLIE MEEHAN
FREAK Of THE
PRIZE RING
OF JACK DEMPSEY
BEGAN AS A BANTAM
WEISHT.
In O Sawed-Off Person OF Roly Poly
Appearance and Weird
style Of Boxing.

Willie Mechan- the conQucror OF JACK
Dempsey. is the freak of the prize rms
/ The Frisco Fat Boy" as he is called
is q sawed-off person Of roly-poly ap-
! pearance with o weird and unusual style
iof "boxing"-if 1t may be called that
and Q very good ring record in every
class, from the bantamwciGht TO the
heavyweight during the last ten years
in upward Of 400 contests. writes Ripley.
one Of the New York Globe critics.
There seems to be some doubt in the
minds Of many fans and writer's as 10
whether this animated Humpty-Dumpty
really whipped the present champion or
the world. We have the word Of prac-
tically every boxing expert in San Fran
cisco that Meehan not only whipped
Dempsey once but twice. receiving the
referees decision In each instance, and
On the occasion Of his last victory over
Jack. which was less than year ago.
the rotund one had Dempsey hanging
on and longing for the final bell. AS It
vas the sixth time the boys had met
1t would seem that Dempsey had little
excuse to offer. The results Of these
six four-round battles were as follows:
Mcehan won two. Dempsey won one,
and three were draws-all referees de-
cisions.
The writer remembers Meehan very
we'll as bantamweight and saw him
box little Eddie Campi. Jimmy Fox and
| the other leaders Of the bantamweiGht
class in San Francisco some eight or
ten years ago. He was rough, tough
kid in those days, careless and care
free, ready to fight anybody any time
| for anything. he knew nothing OF gym
nasiums and rarely ever enters ono now,
As he grew older he grew in breadth
but very little in height as he graduated
| from one class TO another. until he now
scales 1876 pounds, although he IS but
feet. 8 inches tall.
Willie the Fat Boy doesn't box &C
cordinG to the prescribed methods nor
docs he train hardly at all--in fact. no
doesn't do anything as other boxers DO
| It, yet he manages TO get over the wat
| lops without suffering much damage in
return even when pitted against the best
in the business. Quite few top-notch-
ers took q look at Willie, laughed and
! went into the ring. expecting to stop him
with a punch or two only to see Nee
/ hans hand raised at the end of the bout.
| Where Meehan has fooled many poor
| fish is the facI that while he may look
the part Of fat boy, the avoirdupois
IS largely BOoO SOllu llcSn WHICH ooeS
not affect his wind or slow up his
punch. Willie's actions, which arc the
strangest ever seen in a ring, puzzle
his opponents and make them look bad.
The corpulent one jumps about. waves
his arms and waliops from every angle.
Meehan. for all his fairness. has excel
| lent wind and is all action from start
to finish. He crowds his man so much
| that the usual losers excuse is, Il
| couldn't get started"
And. Furthermore. this rollicking roly
poly is not afraid OF anybody and has
| fought such tough ones as Fred Fulton.
who was almost a foot taller, and that
dangerous colored gent, Harry wills.
Both Of these men beat him, but he IS
yet to suffer the humiliation Of a
! knockout
| Meehan contends that he has Demp-
| seys number and that he can beat Jack
! again If the new champion will consent
| to another match
But that is another story