The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1926-10-12

1t has been thought that my frs
appearance in fighting trunks was
in France. This is not the case.
had engaged in five preliminary
bouts in New York and the Last be
fore enlisting with the MarIres.
had had no little schooling of the
fist during my boyhood days il
Greenwich Village. Certainly, I wa:
not a brawler. but 1 had my quota
of knuckle-tilts near West Twelfth
Street. / was fairly adept with my
hands and l lost few decisions
among the youngsters of the Village
/ was rather tall and skinny. l had
a long left arm and learned to 5at
by instinct and perfected a snaky
left against the Village opposition
That was between the ages Of Il
and IA.
I had no idea. of course, of enter.
adolescent days of preparation.
When L was about Is. 1 had
my first serious bout. It was
against Willie Green. Willie had
been a good lightweight boxer, but
had retired from competition. He
had job in the Village.
One night a neighbOring church
arranged a benefit. i was rather
well known i'm the local athletic
lists as a willing mixer. / was
asked to box Green as an added
attraction. / consented.
What a night, my countrymen!
Never before nor since have 1 seen
so many boxing gloves as were
hurled at my face and form. Green
hit me with everything but the
Metropolitan Museum. | felt like
a volume of Burton's Anatomy Of
Melancholy with the cover ripped
off. Willie would feint me into
knots, and while 1 was trying to
unite my arms, he would plop me
on the chin with lefts and cross
my novice's jaw with singing rights
When / got through l must have
had a liver like a blacksmith S
apron, SO flat did it feel.
But he FAILED TO KNOCK Me
DOWN!
From that moment, I determined
that no one would send me to my
knees EVER. How, then, would
proceed? Well, I determined to
TRAIN for my next bout. And !
made up my mind the next one
would be with that same flashy.
sharp-shooting Willie Green. | be
gan to study my own faults, and
there were enough Of them to fill
a five-foot book shelf.
] went to a gymnasium and boxei
with other kids TWO nights a wee&.
! began to step around, instead Of
standing flat-footed or retreating, as
/ had done against Green
l studied for several weeks how
to lead; how to duck and side
step-how to protect myself wnile
aiming al the other fellow. Then
came another big night. A second
benefit was arranged, for, although
I had been properly plastered.
had shown that I could tax: them.
even from a veteran. ] was on
edge. 1 was confident, But
That blooming Willie Green
again gave me boxing lesson.
This time it was not so bad The
victory was not quite as over
wheIming. landed few on
him and he scored less effectively
and less often on me.
Nothing daunted. I went into an
other siege OF training. / met
Green twice more and in the fourth
bout l held him to a draw My
adherents were wild with ecstasy.
! was overjoyed, Nothing could
do but | meet Green for a f.f;h
time. And then. having concen-
tratcd and worked, ] beat Green
decisiveIy. Instead Of being ndG
over il. Green himself predicted a
future in the ring for me and
started to help me correct some Of
my fundamental faults.
Now that / have become fairly
well grounded in the fundamentals
of boxing, my fame spread even
beyond the Village. In 1916. when
boxing was being conducted under
the FraWiey law, there were many