Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-07-05
BY DENMAN THOMPSON.

BY DENMAN THOMPSON.
TOLEDO. Ohio. July 5-One little
woman in Toledo today is happy be-
caus, less " ii,ar': no longer is heavy
weight champion of the world. She is
the wife of the vanquished titleholder
and mother of his five children.
Unannounced Mrs. Willard left her
home in Lawrence, Kan, come to this
city. and. with Wizards attorney. &C.
cupied a seat close to the ringside in
Tex Richards arena while her giant
husband was being hammered to defeat.
None in tine huge crowd except the
champion himself knew she was there.
Mrs. Willard Applies Ice.
When the bruised and battered wreck
OF the former monarch of the ring was
taken to the home he has occupied since
his arrival in Toledo, Mrs. Willard was
there. and after the fallen idol had been
stretched upon a davenport in the iiv-
ing room applied soothing iced cloths to
his damaged features.
Leaving the Sun-baked amphitheater
ring from her husbands corner al the
start of the fourth round. Mrs. Will
lard mo.ored to the temporary resi-
dence, where she waited for his re-
turn for more than an hour, while
firSt-aid treatment .or his bruises were
given him at the Casino which for a
month has been his training quarters.
Sorry, But Happy.
81 am sorry Jess was beaten. but 1
can truthfully say | am happy that
he is no longer the champion" said
Mrs Willard. 1T means now that we
shall be able to live in peace. Jess
wi ar ri in
This contest was the second boxing
match l ever had witnessed and l do
rot want to witness any more.
Il shall be supremely happy when
] can take Jess back to our home and
our children"
Glad It Is Over.
Deep down in his heart the van
quished gladiator shares the satisfac
tion of his wife that Eek has been
written before his title. Absorbing
an amount of punishment that prob
ably would have proved fatal to any
one lacking his giant proportions. he
knows his career as pugiliSt is done.
He now is compelled to give up a pur-
suit he really abhorred and adopted
only for the great financial returns
involved.
He did not recover from the eff
fects of the left hook Dempsey land
ed on his midrih for nearly an hour.
First Time Knocked OFF Feet.
THAT was the blow that started me
on the road to defeat" said the de-
throned champion ''It was the first
time / had ever been knocked off my
feet l have sent many birds home in
the same bruised condition 1 am now
in and 1 know how they must have
felt. I sincerely wish Dempsey all
the good luck possible and hope he
profits fully from possession of the
title. have had my fling at the
championship. held it for four
years. and / want to assure you that
they'll never have to give a benefit for
me-"
Pa.hos in Dethroning.
There was a strong element of the
pathos in the dethroning Of the cham
pion. The contrast between his de-
meanor and that of the youthful chal-
lenger was marked when they entered
the ring. Dempsey. with a sullen ex-
preston and eyes cast down. immedi-
ately seated himself in his corner.
nervously crossing and increasing his
legs, while Willard climbed through
the ropes and trotted to the center
of the canvas. holding his robe open
and smiling in a patronizing manner
as he slowly turned that all might
have view of the champion.
Never was knight entering the
list more confident. The fact that he
had his wife present will indicate
how sanguine of victory he was. He
Just lolled against the ropes and wait
ed for the gong with an easy nom.
chalance that spoke supreme self-sat-
isfaction. His manner when he
strobe across the ring to shake hands
with the challenger seemed to indi-
cate he wished to reassure the youth
who aspired to his high honors.
First Flooring Failed to Waken.
Not even when, after less than one
minute of that stride. he found him.
self fioored for the first time in his
career could he realize the truth
that he had met his master. 1t was
he who had said while training-alI
too inadequately, it would seem. for
the bout:
Dempsey won't lay a glove on me.
Don't think 1 am boasting / am not.
j mean just that Dempsey won't
touch me- There is not a man living
who can hurt me. no matter how often
he hits me. no matter how often he
lands. I am better today than when
j restored the championship title to
the white race They call me old
~YN ~~rYAY