The New York herald., 1922-09-24
DIXON FOUGHT IN SOUTH
Cans and Walcott Had Numer-
GUS Battles With White Men
Without Ensuing Disorder.
BY CHARLES F. MATHIsoN.


doubtless entirely disappear from the
Empire State
During the regime OF the Horton
and Frawley law boxing contests be-
tween blacks and whites were per-
mitted. and 1t was in the Frawley law
period that the stupid rule against de-
cisions on points at the end of sched-
uled bouts was put into effect. 1t is
true that many erroneous decisions are
given by judges at the present time,
but in the main the rulings are fair.
The advantage Of decisions on points is
that they tend to encourage the boxers
to greater efforts to win. This is par
ticularly true Of championship matches.
which In this State can be decided on
decisions by the judges.
At the time mixed bouts were allowed
by the Frawley law. the argument was
advanced that ring contests between
whites and blacks might tend to stir
up racial feeling. and even precipitate
riots. To the astonishment OF those
who insisted that mixed bouts were
fought wit. great danger to the sport Of
boxi ig. less disorder attended the mixed
contests than was the case in bouts
between white boxers. Benny Leonard.
shortly after he became champion. met
Leo Johnson. the best negro lightweight
in the country and stopped him In the
first round. The bout took place Sept.
81, 1917. and while there was In at
tendance large crowd of blacks and
whites. no disorder followed the knock
out.
On the other hand. when Leonard met
frankie Conifrey. the Pride of the
Fire Department" and knocked him out
in six rounds September IA. 1916. Conf
frey's friends started riot that
wrecked the Star A. c., Lenox avenue
and 10th street.
Dixon Fought IN New Orleans.
AS a mater of fact, there never has
been a race riot due to boxing matches.
between blacks and whites. George
Dixon went to New Orleans In 1892, and
knocked out Jack Skelly in eight rounds.
There was no disturbance and Dixon
lived to return North and win many
more bouts from white boxers, losing
at last to Terry McGovern.
Dixon lost another notable bout In
the Lenox A. c., the victor being Ben
Jordan, English featherweight cham
pion. The Briton. who had come here
especially to get bout fer the worlds
title, drubbed Little Chocolate most
thoroughly In twenty-five round con-
test. after which Jordan discovered that
Dixon did not hold the American title.
Dixon had lost the honors to Solly Smith
In q bout on the Coast. and while Smith
insisted that he was entitled to a match
with Jordan. the Californian was ell
bowed out of the affair.
Dixon was one of the first boxers to
lose title and then regain II. Smith.
after his rebuff I'm the matter OF a con-
test with Jordan. made a match with
Dave Sullivan. and lost his champion
shin. Smith suffered a broken arm early
= the battle and was compelled to with
draw.
Dixon then got match with Sullivan
and stopped him in eleven rounds.
Dixon held the title till he was knocked
out by McGovern in eight rounds.
All OF these mixed bouts were con-
Quoted without disorder, and they fur
nished thrilling entertainment for the
ticket buyers.
Joe Cans and Joe Walcott also boxed
numerous contests with white opponents
during the Horton law. One OF his most
notable battles was that with George
("Elbows'') McFadden In the Broadway
A. c. in 1899. This was previous to the
time that Cans won the title. McFadden
was not nicknamed Elbows" because OF
foul use of his elbows but because of
his blocking skill No matter where an
opponent aimed Ms blows 1t was almost
certain that his fists would collide with
one OF McFadden's elbows. McFadden
was In prime condition the night of the
bout with Cans and he gradually wore
down the negro add knocked him out
in the twenty-third round. This caused
a sensation at the time. for Cans was
regarded as invincible.
Cans Won with One Punch.
Cans proved his skill on May IL, 1902.
when he went TO Fort Erie. Ont, and
knocked out lightweight champion Frank
Erne with the first punch he let ny In
the first round. This feat still stands
as a record in quick knockouts In light
weight championship bouts.
McFadden was unfortunate In one re-
spect, and that was in scoring knock
outs over Cans before the negro became
champion, and over George Lavigne
after the Saginaw Kid had lost the title.
joe walcott was also prolific per-
former In the ring with white boxers.
Although the Black Demon was but a
40 FOUNDER he made a speciality OF
knocking out middiewefghts and heavy
weights. He stopped Dan Creedon In 9
rounds. and knocked out Joe Choynski In
rounds. Both of these affairs took
place In this city and were not followed
by any disorder. But for the studied
dIsincination OF other white heavy
weights to meet walcott In the ring he
would have scored more victories. He
is alleged to have stopped Tom Sharkey
in training quarters. Walcotts greatest
error was in attempting TO whip Kid
Lavigne at 133 pounds ringslde, a
weakening weight for the negro. At his
normal weight Of 40 pounds waicott
wauld have made short work of Lavigne
fPugIlstic history Is replete with the
achievements OF negro boxers. and IL any
serious trouble has followed bout with
q white I an the incident has escaped
attention.
1ne one blot on the sport charged 10
negroes was put there by Jack Johnson.
II does not follow that boxing should be
abolished because OF Johnson's actions
any more than that baseball should be
prohibited because OF the worlds series
scandal OF 1919. Boxers black or white
, are engaged In quito az legitimate a
form Of sport NJ the athletes In any
other rough vigorous pastime.