Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-06-21
bat THING NELSON TELLS
]. OF HIS TOUGHEST FIGHT
Christie Williams, Southern Negro,
Gave Former Lightweight Cham
pion His Worst Drubbing.
DEFEATED IN EIGHTEENTH
bat" Is Now in Toledo to Report
~ ,Dcmpsey-Willard Bout, and Has
Erected Tent on Maumcc River in
Which He Is Living.
ny JAMES J. COHue1rr.

=, Battling Nelson lapsed into re
m4niscent mood the other day an,
discoursed on the toughest fight o
his career:
i've fought a lot of tough ones il
my time but none tougher thar
Christie Williams. a Southern negro.
declared the one time king of light.
{. weights. Back in 1892. when / was
moving along rather rapidly on tn.
hehtweiSht road | fought anybody
that would tackle me. and | never
was 10 get. The rep. that is VIVA;
aimed for. And ] had it figured on:
that the more men whipped. the
greater would become my prestige
An offer came TO me 10 box Christ lie
Williams. one OF those percentage af-
fairs where ! had 10 gamble on the
size OF the house. In, to,that time
l:ams and decided he would be easy.
so | wired that Id take the fight. and
went down into the Southland fiEur-
eng that Il would take only 4 punch
or TWO to put the skids under that
i bird
Air Filled With Iron Fists.
But on. boy. what shock / got.
That dark boy came out of his corner
in the first round and started right
off by biting me i'll the stomach. l
thought he had caved in the whole
structure with that left handler. and
down | went. | beat the count. only
10 be dropped again by right TO the
jaw. And then the air became filled
with iron fists.
81 don't know. nor do think that
anyone at the r!nEsidc that night can
remember. the exact number OF times
i went down. But I'll tell the world
that I spent the largest part OF the
hrst six rounds going down and get
ting W. That boy broke about every
thing that | owned except my tights.
Fut I got him in the end because he
sort Of thought ] was bewitched.
Each new time that climbed from
the floor that kid would look at mo
in. an odd way. He couldn't quite
figure me out; At last an expression
came on his face that seemed to tell
me that he feared | had some super
natural powers And he became lccry
+. OF hitting me.
Was Paid sum OF Sa1.ao.
80 After that i, was easy. The kid
4, didn't paste me as often as he had and
j sort of rested up for six or seven
p rounds. Then went out and finished
him III the seventeenth.
And for tina, fight. which brought
to me the worst passing | ever got IL
my life, my pay was s37,5o."
Bat. who is in Toledo just now per
forming reportorial chores for syn
- dicate Of newspapers , which wante,
fight. has sprung Il little something
new on the newspaper crowd. instead
OF lingering AZ a hOtcl, lSat nlrcu :
tent and pitched il on the shore OF tn,
Maumec River. alongside the fgh
arena now in course of construction
That is his home.
tt, Denies That He TX "Brokc."
Ba, rei,erates vigorous denial OF the
report that he is broke"
say, I'm not a boob altogether" In
insists II earned about $350,0OO during
my ring days. y lot OF that is gone
mostly in loans 10 so-called friends
But I've got fairly sizablc hank
roll left. And I've got real estate. too
Some people kidded me ten OF
twelve years ago when ] bought lane
just outside o: Chicago. They told m,
II never would increase in value. Ru
every lot ! bought has sold for from
81, Is to So per cent beyond the oririnn
cost. I've got quite a few OF then
left that would net me double the pric,
, paid II ! wanted 20 sell. But | won't
not just now. They'll be worth a Who'll,
lot more later on.
I'm conclus tSsi, 1di.like to say tina
Eat Nelson "sill.nrver need any bcnc
nts. haven't got an immense fortune
put I've got enough in my Kick /,
Keep me comfortable the rest OF m,
DAYS. --t' DOWNRIGHT