The New York herald., 1920-12-28
KID MCCOY CAUGHT
TARTAR IN RUHLIN
Akron Giant Upset Plans for a
Comedy Boxing Contest
at His Expense.


(This is the seventh Of series OF
articles by Charles F. Mdthisoh i'1 iohtch
he toiH describe Interesting pitgiHStto
events of the past. The wrfter icHt con-
fne his observations to contests and lnct-
dents Of Uhich he cas an eyeUtfness
Norman Selby. who as Kid MCCOY
became one of the craftiest boxers In the
history OF the ring. was by no means
lacking IN courage, as was attested by
his battles with heavy hitters like
Sharkey and Maher. Yet the nimble
Kid dearly loved to get an unscientific
fighter into the ring and play with nm
like a cat plays with a mouse His
spectacular defeat of Herr Plaacke, Beach
Ruble and other nondescript performers
afforded Mccoy more genuine amuse-
ment than any other events in hls career
with the possible exception OF the time
he lured Tommy Ryan, in unframed con-
dition, to a bout at Maspeth ana
stripped Thomas of his welterweight
honors.
In anticipation Mccoy extracted much
enjoyment previous to his twenty round
bout at Syracuse with Gus Rubin. May
20, 1898. Rubin had developed such
great powers in tossing trunks and other
baggage about the depot at Akron, ONO.
that the late Billy Madden decided the
Akron giant was designed to be the
next heavyweight champion. So Mad
den induced Rubin to abandon the bag
gage smashing industry and take a
course of training preparatory to wrest-
ing the heavyweight title from Its pos
SCISSOR.
Rubin had defeated Steve O'Donnell
twice and boxed Jim Jeffries, then in his
novice stage, a twenty round draw.
Madden, who had not trained cham
Won since he seconded John l.. Sullivan in
his fight against Paddy Ryan, felt that
the fates were inclined to be kind There
fore. when a Syracuse promoter Offered
to match Rubin against Kid Mccoy
Madden. who thought Ruhlin's bulk and
strength would overwhelm the anaemic
looking Kid. eagerly accepted the pro-
posal.
Mccoy Was Merry.
When Mccoy signed the articles the
cold sneer that was meant by him for
merry smile passed over his features.
and he pictured to himself the rare sport
he would have in decorating the counte-
nance of Rubin in colors employed by
the old and new masters of the roped
square.
In order to thoroughly enjoy in ad-
vance the expected pleasure Mccoy went
to a secluded spot and devoted himself
diligently to fishing. swinging in a ham
mock and other congenial pursuits He
was in the utmost good humor, and re-
garded the approaching bout as merely
pleasing interruption to his outing.
Meantime Rubin worked like a black
smith in training quarters, ran for miles
on the road. boxed as best he knew and
when called to the ring was in superb
physical condition. Rubin stood feet
inches tall, weighed 1872 pounds in
good condition and was fine looking
athlete. albeit a bit slow in movement.
both muscularly and mentally. McCoy's
weight was 165 pounds.
The contest was scheduled for twenty
rounds. and Mccoy was prepared to irs1
struct the giant Westerner in the in
tricacies of hitting. stopping and getting
away without a return.
Tho Kid was so mrthful over the un-
dertaking that he decided to go about
the task lesurely. like a gourmand sit
ting down to a twenty course dinner.
In the first two or three rounds Nc
Coy ola little out felnt, SldeStep, duck
and block. laughing inwardly at the
awkward movements of his big oppo-
nent.
In the fourth round Mccoy decided to
see how Rubin would stand up under
stiff punching, and he shot several hard
ones to the Akron mans face The
blows left red spots where they landed,
and Mccoy fairly grinned as he saw
that Rubin was surprised.
The Akron giant had not previously
met n boxer vhc could stab him so
successfully and then escape the heavy
lunges OF the Akronite.
McCoy's Plans Go Awry.
1t was the purpose of Mccoy to give
Rubin an artistic beating and then
send over punch that would put him
to sleep. The Kid planned to give the
baggage smasher his final smash about
the seventh or eighth round. as he had
a fishing engagement for early the next
morning and he did not wish to be de-
tanned
Mccoy continued to shoot rapierlike
lefthanders to Ruhlin's face, punctuat-
ing them with an occasional right
smash to the jaw In order TO test the