The Washington herald., 1921-09-06
by DAMON RUNYoN.

battle for the middleweight
championship of the world at
Boyle's Thirty Acres. over here in
Jersey City this afternoon. would
be entitled perhaps to twelve lines.
one line per round. as follows:
Round one-Bad
Round drtwo-worss-
MISUNDERSTANDING, and so on.
1t went the limit and it was the
limit.
The winner?
This is the question that the
$4,000 men and women who were
on Jersey City's Iuxuriant soil to
see the Affair are still debating.
withhold Wilson's Purse share.
Ats the, finish. with the crowd
still groaning, Joe Humphreys gave
out the news that the New Jersey
Boxing Commission had instructed
Tex Rickard. the promoter, to
withnvfd- Champion Johnny WI
sons share of the purse. presum-
ably pending an investigation.
Euilhb Is hOl NACaA
to the writer.
Wilson was Pretty bad, but there
is no reason to believe that he was
not doing his best, and Downey
was certainly nothing to brag
about.
Downey did most of the leading
and Wilson did most of the land
inS. Downey was so wild that he
l-Annfnur nj
his DrUws inside of Boyle's Thirty
Acres. He staggered the champion
with his riGht-hand swing in the
opening round, but after that did
little damage.
A poor draw would be giving
both men the best of II.
1t is said Downey got ss7,500 and
Wilson was to have received $751;
500, 1t is a sad commentary that
many men have to work for a liv-
inRSu this country
1Hf1atch was the outcome Of a
bout in cleveland not long ago when
Dospasss claimed he knocked out
wHSgeRSoply to be robbed by a
refsff8 Nho was imported by the
1t was easy to see Downey might
have floored Wilson with one OF
those loose-as-ashes swings of his.
He starts them down around his
shoes AID mails them without any
particullr address. His chief merit
seems to-be that he is willing and
even anxious.
Crowd Kisses Both Fighters.
The crowd could not repress its
feelings about the fight. 1t booed
some, hissed some. and cat-caHed a
lot. out of one of the silences a
voice roared: ~
Cheese it. men. here comes Mike
GibbonsE-
Yes, it was quite sad. 1t was a
travesty upon the battle of a few
weeks previous. fought on the same
ground between Jack Dempsey and
Georges Carpenter.
Mike McTigue, who says he is
champion of Canada, and Panama"
Joe Cans, the colored middlewei ght
champion. went on after Wilson and
Downey. which was fair enough be-
cause they really provided the main
event.
There was a tedious delay while
the men wrapped their hands in the
ring, and adjusted the gloves. Will
z
They got going at 4:3O. They fiddled
for a moment and Downey was the
first to lead. He missed. Downey
fought from a bent-over position.
His left hand was far extended.
Wilson nailed him a couple of jolts
in the body. and DCwney suddenly
let go a round-house swing with
his right that clipped Johnny on
he ID TfoTion ufo
back bewildered. He got another
big round swing in the same place
before the round ended, but finished
strong.
Good WrestIing-POor Fighting.
Downey showed he could hit in
that round, but he is certainly
awkward in his hitting. When he
missed, he missed a block. In the
second, Wilson went for the body
He let Downey land then closed in
and pummeled at the chunky torso
of the Columbus man. He occasion
ally got home a right hand poke
to Downey's plaster beezer.
They did more wrestling than
lighting in the third. In the fourth,
Downey landed one on Wilson's
chin. and the champion held on
from force of habit more than the
blow. Downey wiped the plaster
off his nose in this round, and did
not look quite as tough. Wilson
smacked Downey on the chin with
a right Downey wrestled Wilson
through the ropes in the fifth when
he came out with less plaster on his
nose 1t was a sad round. but
Wilson did the punching
You could take a good barroom
fighter and he'd lick 'em BOTH" said
the cop behind the writer.
In the sixth. Wilson knocked the
plaster OF Downey's nose. broke
open his right eye, and otherwise
made the Ohioan look worse than
ever. Wilson did most of what
little boxing was being done, which
was not much.
In . Hurryf Quit Here
Put the next bout on" was a
reasonable demand from several
voices, as the boys tugged through
the seventh.
The crowd cheered the fighters
through the eighth. Wilson did
most of the leading. spearing Dow
ney's mussed-up countensnce with
right-handers. Downey was eau
ting low.
Downey popped Wilson on the
chin with that circular right handler
of his in the last second of the
ninth. but Wilson had mauled
Downey merrily in his rough, un-
eouth. not to say uncultured, man.
ner the rest of the round.
Downey bumped Wilson with one
aolfd rf0hf handar IN ka ~.
John Slammed Bryan with many a