The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-12-25
2 DOZEN YEARS
AGO MAHER PUT
'0'DONNELL OUT
Battler Brought Dat BY jim O..
bott Stopped BY Irish Hesys.
Old.Tiners win Recall

New York. Dec. 25.-Oid -.
followers will recall Christina. a,
lust "a years ago when Peter ~.
her. the great Irish heavyve,,ht
Knocked Steve O'Donnell, the hama.
some Australian, kicking in ex,ct,v
10 seconds.
1t seems but yesterday. vet al,
most a quarter of a century ~.
elapsed since that memorable A,t
tie on that bleak winter afternoon :
The tight was held in the dinrv
wooden structure Of the Grestss.
New York Athletic club at Gore
Island and more than a thousand
Of the faithful made their vav Ia,
the old spot close to the ocean.
Found BY C0rbett,
Steve ODonnell was a queer tvre
Of boxer. much on the style OF BON.
barber Wells, the tall English boz.
or of the present day. ODonpell 4
could hit and was as fast a. -
streak, but when he got one on the
chin the show was usually over
Jim Corbett labored with him for
years trying to produce a real fixht.
or, but finally had to give it up.
On the day Of the quarrel IN
the chattering thousand !,
Of regulars stood about in the cola
club house while the two principal
kept them waiting for hours n
was exactly $3.50 when O,Donnell
breezed into the ring and the spec.
tators. to keep from freezing to
death, cheered him for several min.
utes. The Australian was smilins
but at the same time appeared das.s
ed. Steve was licked right there
without Maher showing on the
scene.
DfScornS Trouble,
Maher climbed into the ring 4
later and after taking the,
cheers the Irishman hurried over
to O'Donnell's corner, where hss
the latter by the arm for
a handshake and proceeded to a..
most yank Steve's arm from its
socket. Poor Steve was shaking
like a leaf.
In O'Donnell's corner was Sam
Fitzpatrick, once manager Of the
great Kid Lavigne. Along with.
Sam, there was Gus Rubin, the
Akron giant, who fought Jeafies
and Sharkey and all the big men
Of his time. Billy Madden was the
chief adviser, while Mike Butler
also was in attendance on the Aus
tralian. =
Maher had as handler old Peter
Burns, the Harlem boy who served
SO many years with the hard club
bling Celt. Benny Murphy. another
old time fighter, also was there
with Pete Lowery to help Maher
along. O'Donnelrs weight was an
nOunced AS ISL pounds, while Ma
her registered 1T but looked more
Wary Of Wallop. /
The men were called to the cen
ter of the ring for the usual line
of instructions from the referee.
This over with, the bell changed
and the fight was on. O'DOnnell.,
towering over the Irishman, really
looked dangerous for a moment
Maher advanced toward Steve, bat,
the latter retreated without hesi-s
fancy. Maher advanced again 10
the direction of Steve and the lat-
ter again backed away. Steve bad
a wholesome respect for Makers
wallop, having sampled it on pre-
vious occasion.
Peter finally managed to work
O'DOnnell to the ropes and as be
was digging his toes in ready 70
send over the right sho. O'D0nDell
sffuirmed out of the danger zone
A moment later Steve led and land
ed light left to Makers stomach
while the crowd cheered wildly.
The cheers for the Australian
stung the Irishman to the quick
Peter tore in and cracked the an.
tralian with left on the chin, ~
when he missed a right ODoneeg
rushed into a clinch. 1t va
sure enough clinch. How that ~ !
low did hug Maher. The latter snc.
ceeded lin shaking himself free 49,
then smashed Steve on the cah.t
knocking him on his back. OD0-f
nell got up and rushed into anotae
clinch.
TOek a Dive.
After the break Maher let ono -
from the floor which landed %
Steve's jaw. The Handsome ~
from across the sea fell WIN :
terrific thump and made one %
while he was being counted 81
Poor Steve, he was splendid tn,ns
to watch in a gym, but in Inc ''As
he was awful.
| By way Of concluding it oughl q
be mentioned that there was ~
liminary bout to the big ~
Jerry Sullivan from Yonkers ioss
Fred Wright Of Peabody. MASS -
10 rounds, when Wright won =
verdict.
We wonder if Santa Claus ~
members that old gang any mo's.