Jake Kilrain - 1989
Facts Regarding the Man who Proposes
to Fight Sullivan
The coming fight is likely to be the last that will take place in the United States under the rules of the London Prize Ring.
The fight for the pugilistic championship of the world between John L. Sullivan and Jake Kilrain is probably the last that will ever take place in the United States under London prize ring rules. The spirit of the age is against old fashioned fights, and if boxing is ever, winked at by the authorities, as it is now in many places, it will be when the men's hands are incased in padded boxing gloves. Even now many athletic clubs only permit boxing under their auspices when the referee has the power to instantly scrap a contest, when it is seen that one of the boxers is so inferior to the other that to prolong it would only be to subject the inferior man to useless punishment.
There is no such consideration for the fighters in London rule fights. When a man who fights under them enters a ring he knows that In it he must remain until he beats his antagonist or is beaten by him. As part of my journalistic work I have reported in my time twenty-nine executions and dozens of prize fights, and I never in my life saw a twenty-four foot ring built that it did not in some way remind me of a scaffold.
The stakes of a ring are turned round and are about eight feet long and are sharpened to a point at the bottom. The rules require that the ring be pitched on "a level piece of turf," and when this is found one of the posts is driven about eighteen inches into the ground by repeated blows of a heavy sledge hammer. This forms the corner post, and when all are properly driven, the four corner posts are usually stiffened by guys. Then a rope is passed through holes bored In the stakes about two feet above the level of the ground, until all are encircled by it. When it is drawn as taut as possible, it is securely fastened and the operation is repeated near the top of the stakes, and when the top rope is fastened the ring is complete The work is all done by volunteers who act under the direction of some experienced man who is usually on old, retired veteran of the ring.
FINAL PREPARATIONS
While the ring is being built the pugilist. who are to figure in it usually receive their final preparations in some neighboring house They are stripped to the buff and well rubbed down with tonic mixtures of which alcohol always forms the basis. Most trainers require their men to wear a strengthening plaster while fighting. This plaster is made of equal parts of Burgundy pitch and beeswax, and is spread on a wide strip of soft sheepskin by the blade of a hot knife. The plaster generally passes over the regions of the kidneys behind and laps over the bowels and stomach in front. It is put on as tightly as possible and not only keeps the parts of the body It covers in a glow, but is supposed to corset them as well.
The men wear tight fitting knee breeches, stockings and laced shoes, which have each three spikes on their bottoms, which spikes must not be above three-eighths of an inch long, and are for the purpose of preventing the feet from slipping. A silk handkerchief, called the "colors," is tied around each man's waist as a belt.
THE FIGHT BEGUN.
When the referee has been chosen he takes his stand at one of the center stakes of the ring, with the time keepers at his side. Then he orders the men and their seconds to shake hands as a token that there is no enmity between them.
What a farce this will be in the present case, for each man hates the other with all his might . The men and their seconds obey the mandate, advance to the "scratch" in the center of the ring and shake "six hands across." Each trio then returns to its corner. In a moment the referee asks, "Are you ready?" As soon as an affirmative response has been received from each principal, he calls "Time!" Instantly the men rise from then- chairs, advance to the center of the ring and put up their "guards." They stand with their left feet extended, the balls only
of their right feet touching the ground. Each man has his left arm about half extended, with its fist about on a level with his shoulder blade. The right arm is held nearer and across the body, the thumb of the fist barely touching the left breast, the forearm guarding the pit of the stomach. Each rnan works his arms back and forward with piston like motion as he endeavors to find an opening in his opponent's guard which will enable him to strike a blow. Sometimes this "fiddling," as it is technically called, is kept up for several minutes, the men circling around each other like panthers eager to make a spring.
Suddenly they come together like a pair of game cocks and with lightning like rapidity each showers blows on the other. If the "rally" is a sharp one the "thump," "thump," "thump" of their clenched fists can be heard for fifty feet. Sometimes the men temporarily separate . or "break away," after a sharp exchange' of blows of this kind, and sometimes they clinch and struggle for a fall.
In either event the spectators soon have an Opportunity to take stock of the injury done by each. Sometimes a man will come out of a rally with a bleeding nose, a puffed eye, or a lump on his face or ribs as big as a goose egg, and then the partisans of the other man cheer with delight.
Should either man be knocked down or thrown to the ground, or should both fall in a struggle, the round is at an end. The seconds rush to their men, get them to their corners as speedily as possible, and there
sponge them off, stanch the flow of blood, should any be flowing, and in every way in their power that is possible in thirty seconds repair all damages inflicted by their principal's opponent and reinvigorate their
man.
At the end of thirty seconds "time" is called again and another round begins, and the fight continues until one or the other is either stretched senseless on the floor or is beaten so badly that even his backer and seconds take pity on him and give up the fight in his behalf. In rare cases the men fight so evenly that at the end it is found that neither can defeat the other. Oddly enough this was the case with both Sullivan and Kilrain in then- last battles. Kilrain fought over three hours with Jem Smith, the champion of England, and Sullivan fought fully as long with Charley Mitchell In both cases, by mutual consent, the results were drawn battles.
PRIZE FIGHTERS ARE TOUGH.
Though prize fighters pound and hammer each other terribly it is but seldom that a man is killed in the ring. This is due, first, to the fact that pugilists are commonly young, strong men, in the very zenith of health, hence they are able to recover speedily from punishment which if inflicted on ordinary men would entail serious and lasting effects. Then those who back fighters have no desire to be apprehended by the law
as aiders and abettors o£ manslaughter, and they usually stop a fight before it becomes dangerous to life.
The fight between Sullivan and Kilrain is not likely to be a long one. As a rule fights between big men rarely last over an hour, in the present case neither man, through insufficient training, is likely to be in condition to stand a protracted straggle, especially as they are to fight within 200 miles of New Orleans in the very midst of a southern summer, with all that that implies. When Sulivan won the championship from Paddy Ryan at Mississippi City the thermometer indicated 90 degrees in the shade, though the date was the 9th of February. The torridity which will prevail within 200 miles of New Orleans on the 8th of July is likely to enervate both men and to induce them to reach a conclusion as speedily as possible. The great amount of the stakes - the largest ever fought for - will be forgotten in the heat of battle, and, after all, a man can only do his best, no matter what the prize for victory may be.
JOHN JOSEPH KILLION.
Jake Kilrain's real name is John Joseph Killion. He was born in the United States, of Irish parentage, about thirty-five years ago, though his friends claim that he is not over thirty. He began his sporting career as an amateur oarsman on the waters around Boston, and gained considerable celebrity as a very clever sculler. His first fistic encounter of note was with George Godfrey, a celebrated colored boxer who recently met with defeat in San Francisco at the hands of that other colored athlete, the Australian, Peter Jackson. Kilrain defeated Godfrey, and his next opponent was old Jim Goode, a famous English boxer, who made a draw with him. Many thought that he had the best of Charley Mitchell when they boxed in Boston, but Mitchell's friends say that he had a sprained ankle at the time. This was also a draw. Jake fought a draw with Mike Cleary, in New York, and the police stopped an encounter he had with Jack Burke.
Subsequently he defeated William Sheriff, an English fighter, who is called "the Prussian," on account of his German appearance. He beat Frank Herald near Baltimore in one round and then defeated Denny Kellegber. Then come his famous struggle with Jack Ashton at Ridgewood park, on the outskirts of Brooklyn. Though he was awarded the victory by the referee many of the spectators believe that the decision should have been a "draw." He defeated Joe Lannon after a very hard fight. In addition to these encounters he has had a number of others with lesser lights of the ring, while meeting "all comers" in sparring tours. He once met Sullivan in a four round contest and the friends of the latter and also the referee of the occasion say that, he was defeated by John L., but this Kilrain strenuously denies, saying that the bout was merely an exhibition one
Be this as It may, certain it Is that Kilrain never held himself in Sullivan's class until after Sullivan had broken his arm on Patsy Cardiff's hard head and had while crippled bantered him and badgered him beyond endurance. Then the worm turned, and finding responsible backing he accepted Kilrain's challenge. The big fellow was unable at the time to make it good, and then Kilrain went to England, where he was matched to
fight its champion, Jim Smith. They met in Franco, and there is no doubt that Kilrain had the best of that encounter. The men fought until it was dark, and then by solicitation Kilrain consented to a draw.
As a pugilist Kilrain has matured slowly but surely. At the outstart of his career he was thought to lack that element of savagery which made Sullivan so terrible to his opponents. He has improved with age.However,
until now there is no doubt of his ability to cope, with a reasonable hope of success, with any pugilist living. Kilrain is a married man with a wife and one child and resides in Baltimore, where he is as greatly respected as any man of his calling can be. He is the most popular American pugilist of any who ever visited England, and many of Sullivan's friends claim that he is more English In his way than the cockneys themselves. Should he win this fight it is not improbable that he will take up his permanent residence in England.