Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-21

r.. 1 was TedIly interested IN the ngnt
I itself as much as in the promotion.
. wanted to see every blow.
Just as Cans was about to pull on
his gloves we passed up a telegram to
Mcdonald, his manager, who in turn
gave it to Joe. 1t was from Joe,s old
. mother in Baltimore and the wording
became historic. One phrase of it is
today by-word in sport. It read:
Joe: The eyes of the world are on
you Everybody says you ought to win.
. Young Peter Jackson will tell me. the
: news, and you bring home the bacon"
Another telegram that caused a big
laugh was from John L. Sullivan:
: 7. Sorry I can't be at the fight. 1t ought
! to be a corker. My regards to all,
= especially the Sullivans.
Larry Sullivan was Cans financial
: hacker, and took an active part in the
darky's corner. He was also master of
ceremonies.
: Armed Deputies for Order.
In presenting the fighters to the
crowd the announcer warned against
4 disorder, declaring that there were 800
:. armed deputies in the crowd; if called
:. on they would mean business. He was
! right, too.
Il That crowd was picturesque as
= Semblage. There were miners, cowboys.
bootblacks, distinguished men from all
I cities and fully 800 women.
= From the start these women appeared
10 be in sympathy with Cans. In fact,
3 he was the favorite of almost everybody
before the fight had gone 10 rounds.
q Cans started it by jabbing Nelson
with his left twice in rapid succession.
For sheer grit and endurance have
never seen anything like that fight
/, never expect to. It did not give me
q thrill like the Dempsey irpo fight, for
example, but for real fighting the Cans
: Nelson affair stands out
Il For just a minute Nelson attempted
to box with Cans. His efforts were
ridiculous. He might as well have at
tempted to box a shadow. Cans fairly
peppered his face with jabs and hooks.
Seeing he had no chance at boxing,
: Nelson, following instructions, began
boring in and hauling Cans about the
ring, trying to punish him with body
z blows. He wrestIed as much as he
boxed. 'fFsS74 Av ~ t..sss,s4
In addition to that ugly style OF
{ fighting, Nelson used all kinds of foul
tactics. After 10 or IL rounds he was
! intensely unpopular. t. ~
Nelson Roughs Cans.
Time and time again Cans boxed Nell
son OF and then tried to fight him at
long distance. Instantly, though, Nelson
would fall back into the clinch and the
mauling would start over again.
From Nelson's corner Billy Nolan
kept yelling to him to keep boring In.
He didn't want Nelson to attempt box
!. ing. In that respect Nolan was wise,
6 though very unpopular.
Cans was forced to meet Nelson at
his own game. Round after round
passed without decisive incident. In
1.-The eighteenth, twenty fourth and thir-
ty-Second rounds Nelson hit Cans be-
low the belt Some said that he had
been instructed to do this from his
corner. ] don't know the truth about
that. do know that Referee Siler fire.
.Quently warned him.
Foul! FoulY' frequently came from
Cans corner and also from the crowd
2 Then Nelson began butting. Several
times he bored in and drove his hard
head against Cans chin. Joe protest.
ed, but as no harm was done, Siler let
it pass.
The crowd was getting disguised with
/ Nelson. On top Of his other foul tactics
he struck Cans In the stomach when
!, the Negro was lifting him to his feet.
There was big hiss at this
In the thirty-fifth round, think it
!. was, Nelson slipped and was almost
driven through the ropes. Cans caught
him and lifted him to his feet. In re-
Spouse to this Nelson socked his fist
squarely in the darky's midsection.
The crowd, seeing Nelson outclassed
in the boxing, began offering bets on
!. Cans at 2 to. l and 3 to /, with no
takers.
In the thirty third round Cans landed
hard punch on Nelson's jaw and broke
a. bone in his hand. His sign of distress
was a limp. &
No one knew of his broken hand until
afterward.
And so the fight dragged and mauled
on the two hammering at each other.
Nelson's face was beaten to pulp. The
Negro was also bleeding from the nose
and ears. 1t sure was a fierce scrap.
In the last round Cans led of with a
straight left to Nelson's face. Bat i'm
mediately fell into clinch. AS they
broke Nelson struck Cans hard upper
cut blow in the groin. Cans slowly
sank to the floor in great pain.
Calls Foul Against Nelson.
, Without hesitation or waiting for a
protest Referee Siler walked over and
disqualified Nelson, declaring Cans the
winner.
i There is no question in, nay mind that
the foul was deliberate. Anyway, itwas
"a foul blow that everybody in the great
crowd could see There has been much
Sargument about this. On that after
noon, though, the whole crowd agreed
with Siler The only holler came from
: Nelson's seconds.
Cans hackers and seconds insist to
this day that Nolan instructed Nelson
to foul Cans.
#. Here is what Referee Siler said tc
me and to tohse near him:
II repeatedly warned Nelson against
his unfair fighting, and while ! dom
believe he was deliberately intent upor
fouling Cans in many instances. HI
was unquestionably guilty of one Of thu
most apparent and uncalled for fouls
that have marked the end of any bat
tie. There is no question in my n1inC
that he deliberately struck low, as n
was making no Roadway against Cans.
That tells the whole story in dig
nified, unprecedented way,
Then to top of his unpopulArity, i'm
agine the final remark made by Nolan
1T was all a matter Of the betting
The referee was paid to give 1t t
Cans"
SiI"r WAS loudly cheered. Nolan wa
hLSocu.
Yes, that was a great fight.
That one taste had started me Il
the game, as / will show.
(Copyright, 1929. by the North America
Newspaper Alliance
(NeXt-Jack Johnson sees some $l,0O
A. billS,1 &