The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1936-01-10
Montana
Ring Tales:
BATTLING oRTEGO VS.. MICKEY. KING
By JOE L. MARKHAM
Chairman Montana State Athletic Commission

BATTLING
Pull up a chair. Relax, If you can,
that was dazzling. scintillating and
least to a crowd of Montana fans, .
event had everything under a blue n
year 1918, in a natural bowl at Conle
home of Frank Conley, then warder
!, Conley lake was just a short walk
from the ringSide; surrounding three
sides of the arena was a stately 1oreSt
of spruce, intermingled with multi
colored foliage of other tree species;
mountains in the distance, high above
the tall pines, with ~snow-capped Mount
Haggln. on the spur of the Rocky
mountain range, and Mount Powell OF
the Flint Greek range, towering above
their sister peaks; such was the setting
for the battle between Battling Or
tego. Mexican rifler n Mickey KING
Australian phantom. Oretgo o Inc
bout went the full distance, 20 rounds.
The men were middleweights.
Tearing hell out of each other, they
= ~collaborated in enacting the greatest
free-hitting, toughest fiStic panorama
ever staged in the commonwealth. One
could feel the sting of punches; burn
with the heat of battle and smell the
blood that dripped or gushed from the
faces and browS of the gladiatorS.
| Both men made the blow lombard
ment continuous. Every round was not
only interesting, but exciting. 1t was
a punching as well as a pungent scrap.
The first tempo was tuned to double
time. A pair of bulldogs could not have
been more savage; a Simon Legree
would have thrilled watching this car
nival of punch punishment; yea, it
was a fight, and what a fight.
Frank Conley was the host; Tom
Walker, the matchmaker. Host and
matchmaker, may or may not have
realized that their efforts would result
in staging the fight of fights" Only
the Mellody-OKeefe match in 1904,
rivaled it for action and thrills.
, slenderest of margins. The valiant eff
forts of Ortego in the last two rounds,
when he called upon all Of his reserve
strength, and crashed rights and lefts
to Kings head and body, provided the
margin of victory. Up to that time, the
score board of Referee John Mcintosh
"a even.
Imagine, a sprinter going at 100
yard-dash speed for 80 minutes, and
you have a general idea of the cadence
set and maintained all through the
grueling fight. The boxers were trained
to the minute; were Steeled for this
engagement; both were determined to
win.
King, an Australian, was a clever
boxer, and q good hitter to boot. He
was a fine exponent of the old one
two. When he used his right, there was
speed and sting released. His oppon-
ent'S face was so cut up, puffed and
jellied, that n had to admit that
King was an effective marksman.
infighting, getting inside of King as
often as possible, concentrating on
body blows, which he piled up like
compound interest. When the match
was over, Kings sides were raw. How
any human could stand up under such
body pounding was puzzling to the on
lockers. Yet, fast as was the pace, ter
knockdowns were scored, King going
to the floor on both occasions.
One ~knockdown occurred in the
eighth round-the other in the 18th.
It was the Last knockdown that sent
Ortego ahead, plus his aggressiveness
in the final round. The knockdown
weakened King i~mmeasurably. It was
his feet, the pent up fury Of Ortego
was ~unleashed, and his attack from
then on until the end of the fight
never ceased. He sensed victory was in
his grasp, and with renewed zeal, be-
wildered his opponent with hard
punches from every Angelic every
point.
It wouldn't have surprised the crowd
If the bout ended any time after the
halfway mark. 1t didn't seem to be
in the cards that either could keep up
the pace, without one or the other
taking the count or giving up from ex-
haustion.
An through the fight, there was no
stalling, and not much clinching. At
the first bell, Ortego tore across the
ring and started a b~ombardment OF
blows. King had to fight and did. It
was the fastest first round in the
memory of fans present. The succeed
ing rounds showed no speed retard-
ment. The final round matched any Of
the previous ones for speed and blows
with Ortego assuming an entirely ag-
gressive role, while King was kept busy
parrying the wholesale barrage, occas-
lonaly letting loose with q Singing
right. It was a wild round, with the
fans on their feet, cheering the mer
to the echo. Excitement was intense
during the brief period when the fight
ended, until Referee Mcintosh walked
over to Ortego and extended the bat
tiers right arm above his mangleo
head.
Seats were placed on four sides Of
the ring; there were some bleachers
u most OF the crowd was parked on
the hillside, where an excellent view OF
the proceedings was available from any
point.
Nineteen-eighteen was a wal year
The major league curtailed their play
ing season, pulling the plug early In
September; college football was out Of
the picture that fall, and, strange as
it seems daily sports pages in Butte
papers were conspicuous by their alb
sence. Very little space was given tt
the fight. War news had the right
of-way, especially in the closing months
of the world conflict.
Dope in detail is not available, but
by botton-holing ye-witneSses, they
poured out a general idea of the event
waxing enthusiastic in reciting wha1
a classic it turned out to be. Readily
they recalled that they never witnessed
anything like it before or since, som
even gong to far as saying that the,
never wanted to witness another sucl
match. Yes, those who viewed tn