The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-12
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 fair, but Sullivan refused to heed them, pointing out that they had agreed to fight in the clinches as long as one hand was free.
 This agreement, as the light progress cd toward an apparently inevitable end, became of increasing advantage to Wills. Faster and shiftier, the big negro dug rights and lefts into Firpo's body at close quarters, and occasionally stung the Argentine with rapier-like shots to the head and rased red side with powerful overland punches.
 Firpo, on the other hand, was too slow, too ungainly in his maneuvering, to profit from the ruling that govern ed their close range mixing
 Firpo's knockdown in the second round, the only one of the fight, came as the fighters. were separating from a clinch and aroused an outburst of dis approval from the crowd. Firpo at the break, unsuspectingly dropped his arms, and as he did so, Wills whipped over a smashing right to the jaw that sent the Argentine topping backward. Firpo Climbed to one knee as the referee started to count and rushed back to the fray after the count of four. Q,
 Firpo gamely withsteod shower of blows. Until the bell rang and he walk ed unsteadily to his corner. That was the closest he came to knockout at any stage of the fight. He was stag gered in at least three other rounds, he third, seventh and ninth from simi- lar blows to the head but he refused to go down.
 Takes Few Chances.
 Wills although he kept up steady fire fought cautiously and seldom took chances at long range. Throughout the early part of thes battle he was wary of Firpo's right, but when he finally became convinced he had this blocked he became more aggressive. The negro tried hard at times in the closing rounds to score knockout. Opening up his drive as Firpo weak ened and was slowed up, under a re- lentless onslaught. Wills bent Firpo almost double at times with his sweep ing right handlers to the body, mixed with short jabs to the head but his heaviest blows were not strong enough to bring the. Argentine down. Firpo's gameness was his only asset in the last analysis, for he was beaten, out-gen- eralled, out-boxed and 3lout-punched at every turn. The Argentine's remark able powers enabled him to weather the storm but that is all he could do.
 Jack Dempsey was in the crowd of notables that witnessed the battle and saw Wills stamp himself as the out standing contender for the match he has been seeking for three years while at the same time he eliminated the big Argntine.
 McKenna Wins
 Charley McKena, of Greenwich yil- lage, out boxed Miguel Ferrera, Aet genuine .sparring partner of Firpe. in the first preliminary to the Wills-Firpo program. The crowd of 60,000 saw considerable action but little science in the four rounds which newspapermen credited to the New Yorker by de- cisive margin.
 Carl Johnson and Joe Silvani, two light heavyweights, battled to a draw, in the opinion of most critics in the second fOur-round preliminary. Both took considerable pnnishment but were going strong at the finish. They are from New York.
 Bill Tate, negro sparring mate of Firpo, who rivals Jess Willard in mountainous proportions, made short work of John Casanova, another negro, in the third preliminary. N.Ttate's 234 pounds which gave himsa 50-pound ad- vantage in weight, seemed to discourage Casanova, who went down for the count of 10 from short right upper. cut, after two minutes of the first round had elapsed.
 Despite disadvantages in weight and reach, Jim Maloney, of Boston, out punched Joe Stoessel, of New York former amateur heavyweight star in the fourth and last preliminary before the main event. Maloney floored his opponent for count of six in the last round and had the New Yorker badly beaten. Maloney weighed 197 and Stoessel 213 1-2.
 Newspaper men gave Charlie Nash+ ert of Jersey City the decision over Mike Burke of Greenwich Village in the eight round bout that followed the main fight. Burke weighed I'll IA 1; Nashert 161 IA.
 (By Associated Press.)
 FIRST ROUND
 They met in a clinch in the center of the ring and wrestled to Wills cor ner. They clinched again in the center of the ring. The referee prying them apart. Wills staggered Firpo with a right to the jaw. They exchanged blows at close quarters. Wills got in three heavy blows without return. There was much wrestling. Firpo staggered Wills with his heavy right. First to the body and then to the jaw, but he was unhurt. Firpo landed a right uppercut, but the negro only smiled. Firpo missed a right and Wills rushed him across to the ropes with a