The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-13
Firpo Launches Typical WhirIWind Attacks To Bat- tier Willard To Canvass In Eighth Round

-(By Associated Press .)-Knoclting out Jess Willard the 242-pound Kan sas giant and former titleholder. in the eighth round of a gruellilg, slashing battle of rins n1astodons to- night In Royle's Thirty. Acres, Luis Angel Firpo, silent, grim fighting man from the Argentine, cleared the last obstacle from his path to a match for the championship with Jack Firpo's victory came with sensa- tional suddenness, and at a moment when it seemed that Willard's great bulk and defensive tactics might en- able him to stave off his opponents bull like attack, but 1t left no doubt of the decisiveness of the South Americans superiority.
 More than 100000 fight fans, the largest and most picturesque throng that ever witnessed ring battle, saw the mauing Firpo ascend to the greatest heights of his career. That was the unofficial estimate of Tex Rickard, who announced that it ex- ceeded by approximately 10000 the previous record of some 90,000 who saw the Dempsey -Carpentier spec tacle two years ago in the same arena
 Except for few sporadic flashes of form, Willard fought a losing bat tie. Ringside critics gave him a wide margin in but one round, the fifth, of the other six before the final round. three were accorded to Firpo and three classed as even.
 .5.O00 Turned Away.
 Beside the vast crowd that packed the arena, hung on the rim and blocked the aisles, it was estimated that nearly 25,000 others were turned away after the last available inch of space had been filled and the gates closed. Thousands of those unable to gain admittance scaled surround ing bluffs. buildings and other points of vantage to view the ring battle from afaF.
 There was no question of the su- periority of tho brilliant Argentine battler tonight. Willard's superior weight height and reach enabled the big Kansan to check Firpo''s s rushing attacks in most of the early rounds. but despite the Americans gameness under fire the tide of bat tie swung inevitably in favor of the younger, more rugged fighter. End Comes Quickly.
 The final round opened slowly, They spared at long range and was near. But, suddenly Firpo uu- leashed a savage drive to Willard S head and body. The fury of that attack had never before failed to quarry, and big Jess despite his towering size and stamina, wilted Step Ey step, Willard gave ground, trying almost blindly to ward off the volley of jolts to his head and body Backed up against the ropes, his head sank, then a right shot to the head sent him to his knees. He kneeled as Referee Harry. Lewis, started counting, shaking his head and trying to lift himself up. But the waning strength in that great bulk was unequal to the task and he sank into the arms Of his handlers at the final count.
 ~Gameness stm There.
 Four years ago, Willard came ur after being knocked down sever times in the first round of the fight in which he lost his title to Jack Dempsey. But while the same cour- age remained today he could not muster the strength to arise after that devastating attack of Firpo's.
 Firpo's greater speed and his abil- ity to attack his target at more angles gave him an early adVan- tage. But the South American often displayed bad judgment of distance abiItty ahd yhis to '0fP6eR bIoeR nH hs opponents rushes, resulted in little effective battling. Willard, except for an occasional jab with his left, stayed on the de shoot in an uppercut. But Firpo, a shifty object. gave him few oppor- tunities.
 In the first Firpo cut Willard s ear and in the fourth he pummelled the big Kansan abcse~.le ring with a drive to the head. Jess absorbed heavy punishment, but came back in the next round with his only real offensive.
 Firpo backed to the ropes under a barage of blows to the head, but Willard failed to follow up his ad- vantage, brief as 1t was He seemed lethargic and hesltant to carry the fight to his opponent F,rpo open. At3AcR.
 After that one flicker of fistic fire of Willard subsided, Firpo paved the way for the end with a slashing at tack in the seventh, weakening the big Kansan with rights to the body The end came in the eighth after one minute and 55 seconds of fighting Thus ended fight that has nc parallel in ring history for bout in which no championship was at stake But the fact that two foremost pie turesque figures the game has ever kncwn-one veteran trying to scale the heights again and the other a rugged, brilliant youngster-were to fight for chance at the throne now occupied by Dempsey proved the greatest magnet of any match in his tory.
 Q o O
 PreIiminaries.
 Al Bright, English heavyweight, a member of Firpos training camp, and Tom Roper of Chicago struggled to a draw, in the opinion of most critics, in an eight-round bout. the first pre- llminary. Bright opened a cut over Roper's eye in the third round but he was wild and an easy target for Roper's jabs. Bright weighed 2O6 and Roper 1S0.
 Cliff Kramer of San Francisco out boxed and outslugged Tiny Jim Her. man of Omaha in a slashing eight rounder, the second preliminary. He earned the victory. critics agreed, as the result of a sensational rally in the closing rounds, having Herman close to a knockout in the sixth.
 Herman looked like an early winner in the first two rounds. drawing blood from Kramers right eye and slugging the coast boy about the ring. Kramer despite his disadvantage of weight came back and carried a whirlwind attack to Herman. He floored the Nebraskan twice for short counts ir the sixth round. the bell saving Her man as he reeled to the ropes. Kramer also had an edge in the last two rounds though both appeared some what groggy at the final bell. Her.
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