Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-12-19
FREAK W0P CRACKS HIS LEFT
NIT IN THIRD SESSION But
BATTLES ON TO CAIN SHADE
Islander Lad Shows Moro Power
and Speed Than Ever Before
to Local Fans.

Fighting with a broken left hand
from the third round on, Tony
Caponi gained hairline advantage
over Saph McKenna Of st. Paul at
the Empire rink last night. 1t was
Tony's decisive showing in the
ninth round that earned him more
than a draw with the hard-hitting,
rugged youngster coached by Nike
Gibbons.
Early in the third round Tony
crashed across a powerful left TO
Saph's ribbed section. Fans at the
ringside could see the Rock Island
lad vince as II he had been the re-
cipient Of the blow. But it was not
until the fight was over that any
one knew he had hurt himself. A
physician looked the injured mem
Der over and pronounced 1t broken
across the midle Of the back. By
that time it had become SO swollen
that It was with difficulty the
glove was pulled of. 1t is likely
Tony will be on the rack for some
time to come.
Despite the handicap OF having
to hit with hand that was caus-
ing him no end Of pain every time
he shot it out, Tony never slowed
up during the entire 10 rounds Of
milling and was always in under
meath Saph's we'll intended punch
o.. Tony worked strongly on Nc
Kenna's solar region and had him
in difficulty several times. Saph
made many attempts to put across
bis well-known haymaker, but he
landed not more than half-dozen
solid raps during the entire bout.
At times he had Tony backed
against the ropes and worked his
punches rapidly for the jaw but
the freak was always protected and
could not be phazed.
In the third session Tony leaped
to the attack with the sound Of the
bell and 1t was evident that he In
tended to win by wide margin. He
slammed McKenna to all parts OF
the ring and had the crowd in an
uproar. Tony's wallop with either
band seemed to have more power
than he had ever exhibited before.
All Of them were mighty swings,
but one caused the bone to snap.
This fact slowed the Islander lad
up in the following rounds, but for
all that Saph was only able to
hold him to even terms. In the
sixth the st. Paul boy broke loose
and won the round hancily. evening
matters. But in the ninth Tony
bored in again and took the round.
It was this that entities him to
decision. In the final frame both
boys fought hard but evenly.
Without doubt. it was one of the
best bouts ever put on at the EN-
pire or any place in the tri-cities.
The fighters hit a fast clip from
the start and kept It up practically
the entire time. Tony pranced
about the ring in wonderful style,
stepping in with the mighty wal
lop and out again. Following ad-
vice given by Mike Gibbons in his
corner, McKenna tried in vain to
catch Caponi with vicious upper
cut but most of the times the blow
either passed harmlessly over his
head or glanced of glove. TOny's
knack Of slipping in under enabled
him to come to close quarters at
will. ..-5.-...
Summers Gets Kayo.
Eddie Summers passed into OBJ
livior for a wallop dished out to
him by Eddie Gilmore in the sec
ond of what was to have been a SIX
round affair. 1t was really the only
blow landed. In the first round
Summers exhibited signs Of nerv-
BUSINESS and kept his distance from
the powerful looking arms Of his
opponent. Gilmore made repeated
attempts to land hard in the open
Ing round but his judgment Of dis
lance seemed to be poor. In the
second, however, he led with a left
and crossed with a hard right.
Summers fell heavily, rolled over
once or twice and took the count
without an effort to rise. His left
eye was discolored as q result Of
the wallop. Whether or not he was
really out from the punch or just
lost ambition is an unsettled Ques-
ton. At any rate 1t Is rare for a
man to take the count from a
punch in the eye.
Kid Cutie and Young Powell ar
rived too late to 60 on in the Sec
ond preliminary, 1t was announced,
and Battling Murphy and Emmett
Shear substituted. The boys put
up a clever exhibition that pleased
everyone. Shean displayed more
form than on previous occasions
and won in four rounds. In the
second he started the claret from
Murphy's nose and continued to
play for the face throughout.
The first prelim was between two
big fellows that knew little about
the art Of boxing.