The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-02-03

Kid Mccoy ran away from home as a youngster to become a prizsighter. The Kid had read a great deal about Bob Fitzsinmons and his peerless fighting style and he decided to enter the F1tzsinmons school of ringcraft. Mccoy enrolled under Fitz as a hum baest type of scho1ar-an assistant to the cook dn the Australians training camp in Louisiana. When Mccoy fin fshed his culinary chores he often en- gagged in friendly settoS with the great FitZ. Ultimately he became a fuIl-fe6ged sparring partner in the Coruishrnan's camp and picked up
 many fine points of the game while absorbing Bob's heavy punches. But Fitz was never easy on his help and the youthful Mccoy finally tired of thrashings from him. Feeling that he learned enough from Bob the young ster quit his job and sought new fields of endeavor.
 Mccoy drifted into the camp of Tommy Ryan, then the best middle weight in the world, barring only FitzsiInmons himself. Mccoy served as a sparring partner to Ryan, serving him faithfully and yet at the same 1 time deceftfully. Mccoy was faithful because he took mum erous thrash4ngs from Ryan without whinlper, one of the prime requisites of sparring partner. His deceit laid in the fact that he needn't have taken one beat l ing from Ryan had he cared not to. With Ryan, Mccoy never revealed his true boxing skill, the cunning and c1everness he had picked up with Fitz- l simmons. Ryan had no fault to find | with McCoys services-heN was an ex- | a f0 tTv 1 new punches on-and he "could take i a 1acing so gracefully that you didn't | mind letting yourself out" as Ryan l himself put it. But Mccoy had a few | grievances. Aside from Ryan's mer- 1 ciless poundings the Kid was further l humiliated by being made to put up' at a third rate boarding house while 1 his 'tboss'' enjoyed the comforts of a l first class hotel. Finally when Mo l Coy had thoroughly studied the Ryan 1 technique and knew every move in the Ryan repertoire he quit him as | he did Fitxsimnnons.
 Mccoy sought s< some influential
 friends and told them he could whip,
 Ryan easily. Then he penned the fol- , lowing note to Foxy Tommy:
 | Dear Tommy:
 l I've worked up this match for us so that we could both scrape in q little easy money. Of course you recall how we used to box together and you also know as
 well as I do what you can do to
 me if you care to. Tommy will
 you grant me a couple of favorS T just for old times sake? Don't
 make mess out of me in this
 little affair. And can't you ar-
 range it so that the losers end
 of the purse will be a little larger? I'm pretty hard up you
 know.
 |, "Your old sparring partner, ,i "tKID MCCOY" Ryan read the note. Then he laughed outright. Like a wise fight CT he had been training assfduously for the bout until the arrival o1 ) McCoy's intelligence. After that he l abandoned further ideas about train, ing and sent Mccoy the news that he ? had increased the losers end iron , 25 per cent. to S5 per cent. of the purse. Ryan probably didn't give 2 $ further thought to the fight unti
 the night of March 3, 1896 when ht
 crawled through the ropes at Mas peth. L. I.
 Tommy was "hog fat and wher he gazed toward Mccoy and noticed l the Kids superb condition 8 trace 7 of doubt wandered through his kee1 5 mind. When the bell rang McCo! : went at the unsuspecting Ryan like , Java panther at a horse with bl1nt l staggers. Ryan was amazed at th' marvellous display of skill ant | punching power of Mccoy who hae