Imperial Valley press., 1923-09-15
Firpo Loses H0I07I
Widest Fight

Continued fromS page 1Ss
the ring frcnzied instruction We're
being hurled at Firpo in Spanish
But if Firpo heard he f;tiled tT re
spond q EAiuEt
Jimmy DeForest who trained
Dempsey. into the title" and u
started Firpo, said tina; 81 the a.
South American could have won
with one short punch while o
Dempsey was on he ropes : bilt
Firpo, as experts had predicted, ii
lost his heed in the heat sofir
battle and did not know how, to .
get over the one punch. tToQ9q
Dempsey was so obviously fight
ing out of his head that he ilift
Firpo twice on the jaw with short
right hooks after the bell rang. He
seemed to know that the round had
ended only when the referee grabb4
ed him and pushed him lfeadlong
across the ring into his corner.
The champion has always shown
great powers of recuperation and he
revived under the treatment of his
seconds. He came out cool head
ed and savage in the second round
and in the 81 seconds of fighting
he battered Firpo twice to the floor
with Il left hook and a right to the
jaw that landed almost simultaneous
ly on the target.
The second time Firpo went down
he stayed. He was counted out not
because his heart failed him but
because he was physically unable to
follow his desire to get up and re.
sumo fighting.
Firpo was dragged back to his
corner and it was almost a minute
before he seemed TO realize that the
fight was over.
No more sensational fight was
ever staged. No two heavywcights
crowded into less than Il round and
u third more real fighting than
Dempsey and Firpo displayed.
Dempsey was thrown clear off the
fight that he had planned when he
was cracked on the jaw and drop
ped to his knee by the very first
punch of the fight.
Will Fight Again
His fight left him; his ideas of
science were forgotten and he be-
came wild fighting man just like
Firpo.
The champion beat Ffrpo at his
own game and he retained his title
because he punched shorter, more
frequently and with more accuracy
than the South American
Firpo's dream of becoming
the heavyweight champion was
only for the time shattered.
The huge South American show
ed that he was almost an even
match for the champion and
they are sure to meet again.
Tex Ricksrd said he would like
to match them again next sum-
mer.
Given one more year and
some better instructions and
Firpo will take the title from
Dempsey just as surely as he
failed last night.
Firpo showed beyond all doubt
that he was game. He has great
fighting heart and it was only the
lack of experience that caused him
to lose. No doubt Dempsey chills
Il little when he thinks of what
might have happened if Firpo had
lasted through the second round.
Because he had never called upon
to show it before, Dempsey also
manifested for the first time the
ability to "take it, and he took
it as no other champion ever did.
No other fighter in the world could
have stood up under the punishment
delivered by Firpo.
Critics said that Dempsey has
gone back, that he fought crudely
and that he would have made II
monkey of Firpo if he had fought
as he should have. But there was
no other way for Dempsey to fight.
The attendance Was estimated by
Tex Rickard at about 10000 and he
said the receipts would probably ex-
ceed Il million and a quarter dollars
Dempsey is said to have received
$46S,750 while Firpo S end was un-
derstood to have been $156,25O.