BoxRec

robert.snell1 wrote:

silkov wrote:Great stuff Rob, you're a diamond for writing these out!.... 8)

hi mate hope all is going well with you.they take a while to do as my typing speed is crap.he did a fair bit of writing for the press and currently have about 20 odd articles but think there are a lot more to find.he was a bit of an ego nut but they do give a good insight into the times and how the sport has changed regards the amount of material published in the local and national press.

several other fighters did the same sort of thing for the press and I have a pile of them which are very good.can you see the likes of Tyson trying this !!!

possible title "friends Romans countrymen lend me your ears"

I'm kind of thankful that Tyson hasnt tried writing anything!... wouldnt mind reading something by Leon Spinks though... I'm reading Paul Briggs AUTObiog now and have Johnny Tapias to read after that!... should keep me cheerful!....

part 16

17-12-1911

RYAN LEARNS HARD LESSON

Sent down to defeat for the first and only time in my ring career by a man who learned practically all his boxing In my own camp, I returned to Syracuse, a. sadder and a wiser man. I had learned that It is Impossible to win fights on a mere reputation. No longer would I hold any opponent cheap but for each and every one of my bouts I determined that I would be In the finest of physical condition The lesson was a hard one. yet it proved a valuable one. Had I won that bout from McCoy, I probably would have been content to take things easy and my next opponent might have done what fell to the lot of my former pupil.

Previous to the McCoy bout. I had never given thought to defeat and the days when I would no longer be a champion. I had saved a little money but It was but a small percentage of what I had earned and spent without giving thought of the "rainy" days In after life. McCoy taught me that, out of condition and ever confident I was not Invincible. I determined that I would lay aside some of my earning against the days when I would not be able to don the gloves and earn my living in the ring..

That determination has been with me ever since. 1 started in to save my money and I am glad to say that I no longer look ahead with forebodings of the future. Saving little by little, I have now sufficient of the worldly goods to insure me against want. I have seen many, boxers try to drown their sorrows In drink after having met with a defeat, but my pride was hurt too badly. My sole thought was of another match with McCoy. I felt In my heart that, with proper training. I could defeat him decisively.

Instead of going to the saloon, I sought the gymnasium and did some of the hardest training of my life. A fighter Is like a race horse; out of condition they can go the short distance but In the long run condition will tell. My condition was soon satisfactory' and I was ready for another
bout.

When "Kid" Lavigne fought Walcott in New York In March, 1890, I was In Lavlgne's corner and while In New York I made every possible effort to get In touch with McCoy and negotiate for a return match, but he evaded a meeting. Letters brought no response so I decided to take other matches and await my chance for another battle with McCoy. "Kid" Lavigne was about that time Just In his prime and one of the greatest fighters of his weight. I seconded him In several fights and was one of the few to bet heavily upon him when he fought Myers and won In twenty rounds. I won $800 on his victory that day.

Returning from the Lavigne bout to my home In Syracuse, I was asked If I would meet Joe Dunfee. Like all cities of Its size, Syracuse was not large enough for two champions. Dunfee had disposed of practically all the men In the 160 pound class, while I had been fighting around 146 pounds. Each of us had our supporters and the fight fans of the city were divided into two factions, each claiming that Its leader could defeat the leader of the other faction.

The negotiations for this bout went on for a long time. At one of our conferences at a Syracuse hotel the conversation grew rather heated Dunfee declared that he would defeat me decisively, no matter what the conditions. This riled me enough to dare him to fight on a wlnner-take-all basis. He accepted and the articles were quickly signed.

A Buffalo promoter made the- best offer for the fight and It was staged at the Fort Eric race track I had at that time but little money and what I did have I put up In bets on the fight. Had I lost I would not have had enough to get back to Syracuse. Since then I have amassed a pretty fair little fortune. With all due respect to Dunfee and his his ability I can say that I won from him easily, knocking him out In the sixth round. My winnings were $3,000, the greater portion of which I immediately Invested In real estate. The attendance at the Dunfee bout was close to 6.000, and of these about 500 were from Syracuse. Both sides were out to "make a killing" and there was heavy betting. Dunfee's backers lost heavily.

Buffalo gave me a cordial welcome after my victory over Dunfee and my next fight also took place near the Bison city. The Promoters secured “Shadow" Maber. an Australian. We were matched for twenty rounds.

I found the Australian to be clever and to have a peculiar style .of defense. It bothered mo to get under his guard and for the first few rounds I landed but few effective blows. Maber, in the meantime, reached me a few times However, I finally solved his style of fighting and reached him with the knockout punch in the ninth round I fought Maber June 22d, 1896, and then rested for a couple of months during the warm weather. Buffalo came forward In the fall with the offer of another match. The bouts were being well patronized there and the promotors were able to offer very good purses

This time tho Buftalonians wanted me to meet Dick Moore, a middleweight who ranked as being one of the best We were finally matched for twenty rounds for August 20th, 1896. Moore outweighed me by from twelve to fifteeen pounds and proved to he fully as good as his reputation Indicated. He was a hard hitter, fairly clever and had the advantage of weight, which he never overlooked using when we clinched. I took a lot of punishment from Moore, but my speed gave me a big advantage and I was awarded the referee's decision when twenty hard rounds had been fought

In the next article Mr. Ryan will describe
his tough bout at Buffalo with
Billy McCarthy and other fights In Western
and Central New York.


Part 17

24-12-1911

RYAN FIGHTS AROUND HIS HOME

MY STANDING WITH THK FAN'S of Central and Western New York waS now fully assured and daily I had offers of bouts. I gave the promoters around my home, for I was then making my headquarters again in Syracuse, the preference in ALL my battles . The Empire Athletic club , which had staged my memorable battle with "Kid" McCoy, made me such a good offer to .meet "Mysterious" Billy Smith again that I could not refuse. The articles called for a 20-round bout for a purse of $2,200 of which $2,000 was to go to the winner and $300 to the loser.

I established my training quarters on the old Plank road, near Syracuse, and soon had a big staff of trainers and sparring partners. Among the boys who showed up at the camp to work with me was a. featherweight known as Billy Moore. And he certainly was a dandy. Moore was the first young- boxer I took hold of, taught the game and brought Into prominence. I believe that he was the finest scrapper of his weight that was ever turned out of Central New York, and that Is saying a great deal.

He looked so good that I matched him in a preliminary at Buffalo in October 1896 and he disposed of a young fellow named Kerwin and won popularity with the Buffalo fans. Moore remained with me and fought the semi- final to my battle with Smith at Maspeth on the night of November 25th, 1896, and again he won.

I was in grand physical condition myself. The lesson taught me In the McCoy fight went home and the fans knowing; this, made me a slight favorite over Smith. Billy Smith was one of the foulest fighters I ever met. He was an adept at using: the elbows. Hitting on the breakaway and continually kept up a a string of abuse of his opponent. To reinstate myself with the New York fans. I determined to stop him as quickly as, possible. The agreement called for clean breaks In the clinches, -but Smith would work a right uppercut around that official every time he went between us. He was warned frequently. but It seemed to have no effect upon him.

I soon had Smith in trouble and he was continually clinching. About the hardest worked man In that ring was the referee. He finally tired of Smith's clinching: and foul tactics and finally warned him that a repetition would mean a disqualification. Despite this, the referee gave Smith another- warning In the fourth and when he refused to take any notice the referee stopped the fight and gave me the decision. I walked over to Smith's corner to shake hands and. show that there no ill feelings but he Jumped up and tried to strike me. but was held back by his seconds. He then made an attack on the referee.

Jem Mace, the noted English boxer and one of the finest boxers ever turned out of the little Island, was at.the ringside. I made his acquaintance after the bout and we became great friends We took In the Dlxon-Erne bout in New York two nights later and Mace then accompanied me back to Syracuse as my guest. A few years later, when I was In England. I returned his visit and the Englishman gave me one of the finest times I ever had In my life.

"While in Syracuse Mace boxed me In a four round exhibition and greatly assisted me in my training for other bouts. .The Empire A. C. of Buffalo, established new quarters on east Utica street about half a block from Main street In the Bison City, next made me an offer to meet Billy McCarthy, at one time the middleweight champion of Australia.

The bout took place on December 21st 1896 and there was a big attendance. The ring was located In the center of a big ring and tiers of seats rose to the celling on all sides. A bit of over-confidence came near to costing me my fight with McCarthy. He failed to "show much" In theopening round and I figured that I was going to have a very easy victory. Wanting to give the fans a run for their money. I grew a bit careless in the second round and McCarthy swung a wild right that landed on tip point of my chin. I dropped In a daze. I was able to get on my feet at the count of nine, but It took all my ring generalship to enable me to finish out the round and get the much needed rest In the Intermission.

Every fighter has-a narrow escape from a knockout In a fight which he eventually won and the McCarthy bout proved .to be my instance. I was very careful In the third round fought more carefully in the defense than offense as I wanted my senses to clear. In the fourth I. had fully recovered and went after McCarthy again. I put him out in the seventh round.

The Olympic club of San Francisco then wired me an offer to fight George Green, known to the fight, fans as 'Young Corbett" for a purse of $2.500. I accepted, but other matters intervened to prevent the bout. A Syracuse club then arranged for me to meet Billy Paine and I had no difficulty In stopping him In four rounds. This bout took place early in January. 1897. Paine was a welterweight, but had no business meeting the top notchers.

I devoted considerable time to training Billy Moore and a .number of other young fellows that I had taken up and seconded them In many small bouts in Central and Western New York. While I was in Chicago a few years previous I had taught a young fellow named Billy Stift a few points of the came. He had kept on learning and turned out to be a pretty fair middleweight. I had lost track of him for a year or so, when I was surprised one day to get a telegram asking if I would meet him-before-a Chicago club. I accepted the offer and found that Stift was.no longer, an easy mark for me. He gave me a stiff battle for four rounds, but after that I wore him down .and a couple of rounds more ended the bout.

this is less than half of the material so lots more yet guys.

The newspaper was really great that year. Almost every day (from what I fugured, maybe less than 10 days out of 365 didn't have boxing-related materials) something interesting.

Part 18

1911-12-31

THK WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD was at stake in my next bout, which took place :it Syracuse, February 24th I897. Tommy Tracy was my opponent und the Australian was confident that, he could defeat me. I had gained a decision over him two years previous In Chicago, but at that time he had made a very creditable showing and his friends declared that his added experience gave him an excellent chance with the champion.

Ed Dunkhorst . who afterwards won fame as "The Human Freight Car" because of his huge bulk, was one of my trainers for the Tracy bout. Dunkhorst weighed about 210 lb! at that time and seemed to be growing bigger every day. He afterward fought Bob fitzsimmons but that is another story which I will tell later on.

Part of my training consisted of skipping the rope about 2,000 times a day to improve my footwork, boxing with two or there sparring partners, punching the bug and a little road work. The bout took place In the Alhambru at Syracuse and over 3,000 fans jammed themselves into the big building. They literally "hung by their eyelashes.". Betting was brisk. It was even money that Tracy would not last twelve of the scheduled twenty rounds and two to one that I would win.

For three rounds I gave the Australian an awful lacing, but he was game to the core and always came in for more. I soon saw that I would have no difficulty in winning. Tracy was frequently warned by The referee for hitting In the clinches and he clinched frequently. in the fifth round, Tracy floored me with a right swing, but as soon as I was on my feet again I put a left to his jaw that made him very groggy from that time, Tracy was in bad shape.

It was the gong that saved Tracy in the next round for he was on the floor and all but out when the round ended. Just before the bell sounded Dan Creedon, the Australian middleweight, who was in his corner, sprinkled water over Tracy In an effort to bring him to. I protested to Referee Sullivan and Creedon seemed to think hat he had to have a fight with me to. We almost had it before the fight was over.

Again in the eighth, Creedon violated the rules. I had floored Tracy when Creedon vaulted over the ropes and into the ring to go to the aid of his principal. Referee Sullivan's back was turned and he didn't see it for the other seconds pulled Creedon back before a foul could be awarded me.

When I had administered the knockout punch in the ninth round, Creedon again vaulted into the ring and made for me. "We squared off and a second fight seemed imminent when others there interfered and took the raging Australian to the dressing rooms. This bout was my sixty-third with but one defeat—that by a man who greatly outweighed me and whom I ad gone out of my class to meet. “Kid" McCoy.

Following this bout I made every effort to close a match with George Green ("Young Corbett") for which the Olympic club of San Francisco was still negotiating.

Green had challenged me and the Club made an offer for the match. When I accepted Green Insisted on making many conditions,, all of which accepted. When everything looked bright for the match Green made an exorbitant demand upon the club for expense allowance, and they refused to deal further with him.

Patsy Raedy,a light heavyweight,as then quite a favorite in Rochester, club there asked me to meet him,and as they met my financial demands the match was made.

The bout was interesting, but Raedy was slow and I gradually wore him down. In the seventh round Raedy was all in and the referee stopped the bout, giving me credit for a knockout,. Raedy and his friends set up an arwful noise. They alleged that they had been robbed of the match and that the Rochester man would surely have won had the bout not been stopped.

In the meantime the club made me an offer to fight Paddy Gorman there and I did so winning in three rounds by a knockout. The agitation of Raedy and his friends for another match still continued. Finally officers of the club and the referee visited me in Syracuse and Asked me to meet him again and settle the question once and for all.

"Knock him out properly so that he will have no more kicks' to make," was their request.

I met Raedy for the second time on July 10th, 1897. I felt a bit sore at the remarks of Raedy and was determined that there would be no question over the result of our second encounter. I gave Raedy as severe a beating as I ever handed out to any opponent, and then knocked him out In the sixth round. Thus ended my bouts with the Rochester light heavyweight and there was no more complaint from him or his friends that he had been robbed in our first battle.

"Kid" McCoy had been getting a number of bouts on the strength of a victory over me and was paying little or no attention to the efforts that were made to bring about a second encounter between us. The newspapers were demanding that we meet for a second time and that was just what I wanted. But McCoy was coy and It was a long time before I could again get him into the ring

part 19 1912-01-07

please note that the parts of the text of the original article are unclear so possible errors may be exist.

POLICE STOP SECOND McCOY – RYAN BOUT

ALWAYS ALERT FOR ANOTHER CHANCE AT “Kid” McCoy I was Very well pleased when during the summer of 1897, the newspapers Throughout the country began to demand that McCoy again meet me or admit that he had won by a fluke at Maspeth a little more than a year previous.

Many clubs wanted the bout. San Francisco, New Orleans, Buffalo, New York and Syracuse promoters were among those I remember who
wanted to stage a contest between McCoy and myself. Finally McCoy agreed to consider proposals for a bout. He saw that he could get no recognized standing with the sporting authorities of the country unless he paid some attention to my challenges, I was anxious to wipe out the stain of my only defeat In my ring career.

McCoy finally agreed -that we should meet in a twenty-round battle before the club offering the best inducements, the weight to be 158 pounds, When the proposals were opened, It was found that the Empire A. C. of Syracuse had made the beet offer— a purse o£ 55,000 — and we agreed to fight before that club on the night of September 8th, 1907. So great was the interest in this bout that the club had to rearrange the seating arrangements of the big Alhambra in Syracuse and among the improvements they erected a big balcony to accommodate several hundred fans who could not secure reservations on the main floor.

I had some trouble with my legs and went to Michigan for my early training returning to Syracuse In August, I then established my training
quarters at Frenchman's island, but soon found It too damp and transferred my headquarters to Mesina where I remained until a couple
of days before the fight.

Bob Armstrong:, the old-time Negro heavy weight , was my chief trainer and he gave particular attention to building up my weight and yet keeping me in the best of physical condition, When I returned to Syracuse for the bout I was In fine condition and quite confident of a victory.

McCoy was the favorite In the betting. Two weeks before the bouts he was a favorite at 4 to 3 with heavy amounts being-wagered. On the day
of the bout, the odds had drifted to 10 to 7 with McCoy still the favorite. The big building was jammed when we entered the ring: about 10 o'clock that evening. Around the ring were gathered many of the most noted sporting men in the country.George Siler, the noted ring authority, was referee.

I had only to think of the punishment handed me by McCoy eighteen months previous to spur me on. I was about as heavy us McCoy provided he weighed only the 153 he claimed, but which I greatly doubt and from the very first gong I set a fast pace and was continually rushing my opponent. A few days before the bout he declared that he would land his “corkscrew” punch on my nose three times in the first round.I saw to it that he didn’t land it once and had him on the defense from the start. For four rounds I kept up the fast pace and rushing tactics and slowly wore my opponent down.

In the fifth I had him in trouble and hanging over the ropes when the police inspector took of his hat And tried to throw it into the ring. The officers aim was bad and the hat rolled to the press table. He then got up and crawled between the ropes calling upon referee Siler to end the bout. Siler immediately ordered us to stop fighting, and as the articles called for intervention in the event of interference from the police, he called the bout a draw, declaring afterwards that the battle had not gone far enough to warrant a decision being given the either man.

Afterwards the inspector declared that he had received orders from the chief of police to stop the bout any time it got to be a slugging match or anything other than a scientific boxing. He thought that McCoy was being slugged and accordingly put an end to the bout.

There was little sleep for me that night. The whole city seemed to be In a ferment of excitement and early next morning a friend of mine and a
representative of McCoy posted $250 each with a prominent Syracuse hotel keeper to bind a third match provided satisfactory weight could be arranged.

Negotiations for a third battle proceeded for some time. A New Orleans promoter made every effort to get the match. When the negotiations for this match fell through I accepted terms to meet Billy Stift in Chicago in November for a purse of $3.000 and for another bout five days later in Elmira, N.Y. with Jack Ryan for a purse of $1000. I won both bouts rather easily defeating: Stift in six rounds and Ryan in five by a knockout.

In the next article Mr. Ryan will describe his bout with Billy Heffernan in Buffalo and George Green in San Francisco.

Part 20

Ryan Defeats George Green in West

M Y NEXT BOUT took place in San Francisco and was with George Green but before I made the lone trip to California there was a lot of talk of matching me with "Kid" Lavigine. He talked a lot to the sporting writers and told them that he could defeat me and I finally offered to meet him at 145 pounds, ringside. I had. been growing heavier and that was the best weight I could safely promise to make. But Lavigne did not take up the offer.

"Kid" McCoy, too, was doing a lot of talking to the newspapermen. He declared that he could defeat me again, but when I reached San Francisco and had a club there offer a. $7,600 purse, McCoy failed to say anything more. George Green was a big favorite in the West and while I ruled a 10 to 6 favorite, the great majority of the "Western fans had an Idea that he could defeat me. Green was a bit young, had an advantage of nearly ten pounds In weight and had a longer reach.

The fight was to be for a purse of $4,000 and was staged by the National Sporting club of San Francisco. Despite the fact that there were, over 2,000 fans at the fight, the receipts did not reach the sum expected by the promoters and they failed to pay us the purse agreed. Instead, we were forced to accept about $1,000 each for the fight.

I did my training; at Oakland. Cal., under the supervision of Billy Delaney. the well known Western trainer. It was while I was In Oakland that I met Jim Jeffries, afterwards heavyweight champion of the world. I later took charge of Jeffries's training,. But of that I will have more to say In another article. The fight with Green took place February 25th. 1898. During the final week of my training I had considerable ill fortune, but was in good condition when I went Into the ring; except for some stomach trouble.

I had planned my battle with Green before I entered the ring. Knowing him to be the heavier, for he was up to the limit of 158 pounds, while I weighed 148, I decided to let him make the early pace and save my strength until he had worn himself out. For the first thirteen rounds I stood my ground and Green gradually wore himself out by tearing Into me continually. Between the rounds his chest would heave and his lower lip drooped, while I could see in his eyes that he was tiring- fast.

From the thirteenth round I took the aggressive and In the eighteenth I dropped Green. Referee Jim McDonald counted him out and he struggled back to his feet, declaring that he had been down only six or seven seconds, but the crowd was with me and declared that the count had been fair. Next day all the newspapers agreed with the referee and declared that even had Green been allowed to continue he could not have lasted another round.

In addition to the trouble I had over the purse, I later discovered that a scheme had been on foot to rob me of the decision had the fight gone the twenty-round limit. The big trouble with the fights in San Francisco about that time was that the gamblers had the upper hand. Everybody seemed to be- crazy to bet and thousands upon thousands of dollars were wagered on every bout. Even the women of San Francisco had the gambling fever and they would pawn their jewelry to get money to bet on a fight. In all my ring experience I never found a similar situation. Gambling hurts boxing just as it does any other sport and it was the gambling that finally got the game in bad in the west.It was a long time It was a long time before it was again established firmly.

I remained in the west for several weeks waiting to see what “Kid” McCoy planned to do in regard to a third battle A club there stood ready to offer a purse of $7,600 and I was willing to make a side bet of $5.000 if McCoy would meet me. The club drew up the articles ;and I signed them, but when they sent them to McCoy he failed to.answer, I knew then that it had all been bluff; and bluster and that he was not anxious
to meet me again.

I then returned to Syracuse and took charge of a number of promising young pupils. In the meantime various, clubs throughout the country were anxious to match me for bouts, but the great difficulty was to secure opponents who would make a hard bout for me and draw a good crowd. The fans like to see a champion all right, but they want to see that champion in a bout where he Is forced to extend himself and no champion will draw a good "house" when he is to be opposed by a third-rate opponent.

Dan Creed on was mentioned as a Probable opponent and the Greater New York Athletic club offered a purse of $2,500 for a bout. I accepted, providing the purse was made $3,000 and Creedon would agree to make 158 pounds at the ringside There were several hitches And the match was not made.

Billy Madden was then boosting Gus Ruhlin for the world's heavyweight championship. He secured a match for Ruhlin with "Kid" McCoy, to take place In Syracuse. He then brought Ruhlin to me and asked me to take Charge of his work. I won't forget the first tryout I gave The his fellow. It took place in a room of a hotel at Elmwood, a Syracuse .suburb . The room was not over fourteen feet square and was cleared of furniture as a temporary ring.

Madden held the watch and Ruhlin and I went four fast and furious rounds. I wanted to make sure he was game and found that he was.We were both as Much marked by that bout as we would have been in a regular bout. 'My next bout took place in New York on June 13th, 1898, and was with Tommy West. It was a hard battle, But I was at no time In doubt as to the ultimate result, and after about two minutes of the fourteenth round Referee Charley White stopped the bout at my request and the demands of the fans for West was "all In” and I saw no necessity .for a game man taking any further punishment. West however, was not satisfied and I met him later in the year, but of that more later.

Thanks again for posting these.

no problem mate its been very interesting for me to write them up and also to find such an interest in the number of people who have read them.several more to go yet.If anyone wishes to have the documents or the word file please ask as i would be happy to send it.

This is some great information about Ryan. Thanks for taking the time to post it!

Any plans to post additional articles?

some more this weekend mate

WooHoo!!!

Thanks

as a matter of interest to you mate the articles i have, they were published weekly, go to 35 articles so far.i am not sure if any more are available but will be checking that out.

some more later today folks

Part 21
Ryan Wins The Middleweight Championship

HOW DID, TOMMY RYAN win the middleweight championship of the World is a Question I often see in the query columns of the sporting pages of the newspapers. In this article I am going to explain how I won that title, and became the recognized holder of two world's championships, the welterweight and middleweight.

To get at the root of things, I must go back a bit and tell something about the history of the middleweight championship. Jack Dempsey was one recognized world's middleweight champion, so I will take up the history of the title from his time. Bob Fitzsimmons fought Dempsey for the title, the articles calling for 154 pounds, Fitz won and became the champion. After his contest with Dan Creedon, whom he knocked out In September, 1894, at supposedly 158 pounds, which had come to be the recognized middleweight limit, Fitz went Into the heavyweight ranks and everybody- claimed the middleweight title. Among these were Jack Bonner, “Kid" McCoy, Dan Creedon, 'Kid" Carter and Frank Craig, but like many of .the present day claimants .for that same titles, many of them were nearer the heavyweight than the middleweight division.

Craig had defeated all the best middleweights In England and came to this country with an open challenge to any middleweight for a battle.

In the meantime, Bonner and Creedon, the two leading claimants on this Side of the water, got together and Bonner won by a knockout In the first round. He then claimed the middleweight championship of America, Bonner made a statement that he was prepared to defend the title against all comers and I. challenged him. I had been fighting as a welterweight, but there were few left in my own division who could give me a battle and I believed, that I could defeat any middleweight in the country.

Bonner and I were matched to fight twenty rounds at Coney Island on October 24th, 1898, for the title. The articles called for us to make 158
pounds. I weighed about 151 pounds, while the Philadelphian was just able to save his forfeit.

I found Jack Bonner to be one of The gamest men who ever opposed me and while I won the battle rather handily, the first ten rounds saw some very hard fighting. Bonner was strong and his favorite method of fighting was to rush his opponent at every opportunity and gradually wear him down until he could land a finishing punch. He tried, that with me, but found that something was wrong with his figuring.

There was little doing In the first round, but In the second Bonner .caught my left glove with his own left and held it while he swung a hard right my jaw. I went down and took the count of nine. On getting up I tore into Bonner and he was glad when the bell signaled the end of the round. I believe that my best blow in the early part of that fight was a short hook to the body that seemed to take the strength out of my opponent. Instead of tiring me he himself became tired from the rushing, for every time he rushed I met him with a hook.

Along about the eighth round the short left jabs that I had been landing on Bonner's face broke nose and his left eye was also badly cut I kept up this jabbing and in two more rounds his eye was badly cut and bleeding profusely. The tide of battle was going against the Philadelphian and he realized It, , We had been warned to break clean at the order of the referee, but Bonner had to be warned several times to desist from hitting as we broke. Finally he was told that he would be disqualified if he persisted, and this unfair method stopped.

From the twelfth round to the end I never had the slightest doubt of the result. In the sixteenth round I had my heavier opponent in serious difficulties and again in the seventeenth he was in trouble. I tried my best to get in a finishing punch, but was unable to land it.

In and after the eighteenth round it was simply a case of Bonner's staying powers. He was tired out and was practically helpless, but he continued to cover up and clinch at every opportunity and I was unable to land the knockout punch; In this way Bonner managed to go the twenty rounds with me. I was given the decision and was hailed in the newspapers as the middleweight champion of America.

Frank Craig had in the meantime been taking a few minor fights and Matchmaker Brady of the Coney Island club determined to match us for the world's championship. I will have to get a bit ahead of my story here, but will content myself now with stating that I fought the English
champion at Coney Island on September 16th, 1890, and knocked him out in the tenth round. In another article I will tell more about this fight.

Johnny Gorman was the next to oppose me. He had made a very favorable showing against other middleweights and though not a wonderful boxer he was what is known as a "tough" fighter. In his bouts he had taken a lot of punishment to win by one of his hard knockout punches.

The bout was to be for twenty rounds and Gorman asked that the weight be set at 157 pounds, though I could easily have made ten pounds less. The bout, took place In Syracuse on Thanksgiving eve, November 23d, 1898. I had turned promoter myself and the bout was staged under the auspices of my club, the Monarch A. C in Turn Verein ( not sure of the correct spelling ) hall, which was jammed to the doors.

Gorman lived up to his reputation of being able to take punishment. He was slow and I found little difficulty in landing almost at will. He lasted eight rounds, quitting- then and stating that he had been, badly hurt around the ribs and could no longer continue. I was given credit for a knockout. Tommy West had not been satisfied with the result of our first battle and he again challenged me.

Part 22

West Gives Ryan a Tough Battle

TOMMY WEST had not been satisfied with our first battle and we were matched by a Louisville club for December 2nd 1898. Perhaps it would be well for me to go back a bit and explain something about how West and I became enemies, for there is no question about the ill feeling which existed between us and which was referred to in the press of that time as "The Tom-Tom feud."

When I was making my headquarters in Chicago, West was also a resident of that city and we used to work out In the same gymnasium. Pretty nearly every day we had the gloves on together and had some lively workouts. I never liked to be a loser, even when working out with my sparring partners. West probably had the same feeling and one day each of us got trying for a slight advantage over the other and the first thing we know we were fighting: In real earnest. What the result would have been had not attendants separated us I would not care to say.

Bad blood was stirred up over that little incident in the gymnasium. We never worked out together after that and West soon changed his training quarters to another gymnasium. We both advanced in the fistic world and like myself west went east and was soon was soon making a reputation for himself among the welterweights and the climax of his career was a victory over Joe Walcott.

West then challenged me and we fought In New York. I won in the fourteenth round, as I have already described In a previous article. I expected no more difficulty in my second bout than I had in my first contest with him, but I got the surprise of my life when I met him In
that Louisville ring.

West went at me like a bearcat In the very first round and before I realized that the fight had fairly started I was on the floor. I got up
groggy and he was at me again. For eight rounds, West gave me a terrible pummeling and I took as much punishment as I ever did in any battle I had in my career. My face was badly cut up by his gloves, for he had become an adept at all the little tricks that got to mark up an opponent.

West went out for revenge for the beating I gave him in New York and for a time many thought that he would get his revenge. He
taunted me throughout the fight and I suppose that I answered him. However, I was too busy fighting to pay much attention to anything else,
I caught West a terrible right on the mouth in the ninth round. It jarred loose some of his teeth and from that time I had an advantage, getting
greater all the time. We were both bleeding profusely and spitting blood, making the canvas very slippery. Perhaps this had something: to do with the many times each of us went to the floor.

After the tenth round, It was my turn to hand out the punishment, and I will say for West that he was game. From the fifteenth round he was practically Helpless and with both of us staggering about the slippery ring, West's seconds tossed In a towel as a token of defeat In the seventeenth round.

We shook hands and staggered from this ring; victor and vanquished alike punished terribly. While I put up a number of good fights after that
memorable battle with Tommy West, I do not believe that I was ever afterwards as good a fighter as I was before that contest.

A punishment such as I took in the early rounds of that battle must eventually tell upon the physical condition of any man no matter how good he may have been when he went into the ring. I am wondering to this day how it was that West had not knocked me out in the early part of that battle. I was groggy more than once. Perhaps it was because he could not land a finishing blow “just right”. It certainly wasn’t because he couldn’t hit for he had the necessary wallop in either hand.

Tommy West was very deceiving In physique. When he was graduated from the welter to the middleweight ranks, many people thought that he did not weigh more than 145 to 148 pounds. He was well built, and the night he fought me for the second time he must have weighed close to I6O pounds, though there was no means of knowing the correct weights as the match had been made at catchweights. My weight that night; was 148 pounds at the ringside.

Some months after this fight West and I met at the ringside of a Philadelphia club. Possibly we glared a bit at each other for awhile, but everything ended In our shaking hands, discussing our terrible battle and becoming as good friends as we had been before each tried to gain, a little advantage over the other in the Chicago gymnasium.

Bob Fitzsimmons, then fighting in the heavyweight ranks, declared that he would do 154 pounds and beat me for the middleweight championship.I posted $2,500 in New York and agreed that Fitz should be allowed to weigh In at 154 pounds at 3 o'clock. The heavyweight then backed down a bit. He declared That he had posted $2000 for a match with me at 158 pounds at 3 o’clock, but who held the money never became generally known. It’s doubtful if Fitz could have made the weight.

I never fought a regular battle with the famous Australian, but we worked together In a stage stunt for quite a while. Part of our act was to box
four rounds. Sometimes those little four-round exhibitions came pretty close to a real battle, I know at least one of them where we overlooked the bell at the end of the fourth round and the curtain had to be rung down on us to make us stop. And I don't think that Fitz himself has quite forgotten the bouts we used to have, for I recently heard that Fitz had told a friend the story of the very bout I have just described.

Dan Creedon, who had lost to Jack Bonner, who. In turn, was defeated by me, decided that he would do a "come back” stunt and issued a challenge to me but while I accepted, we never got together. "Mysterious Billy Smith” , whom I had previously defeated, also challenged me and I agreed to do 145 pounds at 3 o'clock for him. My money was never claimed, though It was up for a month.

In the next article Mr. Ryan will describe his battle with Dick O'Brien*

part 23 1912-02-04

Ryan Defends Middlewieght Title

Dick O’Brien was the next middleweight to face me in a fight for the championship.O’Brien was well rated by the pugilistic critics and had won quite a reputation on a tour of Great Britain . Returning to the United States he defeated Bonner and lost a decision in ten rounds to "Kid" McCoy, though he gave away considerable weight. The McCoy-O'Brien fight took place in New York and newspapermen there began to boost O'Brien for a fight for the middleweight championship, as his showing against McCoy had been very creditable.

O'Brien made it a point to watch all of my fights that be could, and he had a firm belief that he could defeat me. His challenge was supplemented by an offer from a Hartford, Conn., club to stage a twenty-round battle between us for the middleweight championship to go twenty rounds for a purse of $2,500, of which $2,000 would go to the winner. The date set was December 2Sd, 1908.

Can you imagine two of the present day fighters battling for a championship for $2,600? In those days it was a big sum of money, but at the present time many a second-rater gets that amount for his end in a single fight which has not the slightest bearing on any championship.
O'Brien showed that he had confidence in his own ability when he agreed that the loser's end should be $500, I greatly doubt if you could
get any boxer or fighter considered to have a chance with any of the present champions to engage in n, light for the title where the loser's end would be less than four times what the defeated man got In our Hartford battle.

I had seen O’Brien fight and knew something of his style. He was rugged, strong and liked to rush his opponents from bell to bell. Wearing him down so that he could land a knockout punch. I laid my own plans accordingly. I did not believe that O'Brien was remarkably clever and knew that I would be able to outbox him, so when the battle started I depended more upon my science than upon a punch. O'Brien fought just as I would have wanted him to. He kept up his rushing as long as he could, but every time he rushed I met him with a straight left and this soon took a great deal of his aggressiveness out of him. Instead of wearing me down, his own rushing tactics had tired O'Brien and after the first nine rounds I went after him.

From the twelfth to the fourteenth round, in which the end came, it was just a case of how long his gameness would keep him on his feet. I asked him to give up for he was helpless and did not have a chance, but he replied that I was there to fight and not to tell him what to do.

I admired his gameness and felt rather sorry for handing him so much punishment, but when a man is in the ring his primary object is to win. As I have said In previous articles, the public wants a winner and a champion must depend upon public favor to a great extent. Therefore I put away my sympathy for my opponent and went out to secure a decisive victory.

I will quote from a Hartford paper's description of the fourteenth round: "Ryan began jabbing at will. O'Brien was greatly weakened and could hardly hold his gloves up. Ryan's left swing struck O'Brien jaw and he went down like a log but he was up in six seconds and tried to clinch.
Ryan, however, knew that he had his man and backed away to rush in and give force to his blow. This sent O'Brien down again. He tried to get
up, but could not, and was counted out. Ryan outgeneraled his opponent throughout the contest."

Another Hartford paper described the battle this way "Tommy Ryan of Syracuse, the cleverest fighter In the world, met Dick O'Brien of Lewiston, for a twenty round contest for the middle-weight championship and a purse of $2,500 in the fourteenth round after taking an amount of punishment that to say the least was remarkable.

Billy Roche refereed the bout to the satisfaction of both fighters and the big crowd of fans. Ryan's physique was greatly admired, he is well formed and his well trained muscles are concealed under a pink skin. O'Brien, on the other hand, looked muscular and strong. O'Brien's only chance was to land a terrific blow, for which he seemed to have the muscle, but he was very awkward when opposed to the clever Syracuse boy . O'Brien was loud in his praise of Ryan's fighting ability, and conceded him to be much the better fighter." Of Dick O'Brien, I will say that he was one of the gamest men I ever faced in the ring. Moreover, he was a true sportsman.

Following this bout, I remained around Hartford for a couple of weeks, visiting friends; and now, over thirteen years later I still retain many of the friendships made on that visit.

From Hartford. I went to New York and seconded Tom Sharkey in his fight with "Kid" McCoy', the sailor winning by a knockout in the tenth. He was afterwards kind enough to give me a lot of the credit for this victory, for I was able to give him many valuable pointers on McCoy's style of fighting. Sharkey then went on a Vaudeville tour and when the party reached Syracuse, it was arranged that I should box a six-round exhibition with the sailor. This bout drew a large crowd and the newspapers called It a good exhibition. It took place February 1st, 1899, two days after Sharkey had knocked out Jack McCormick In two rounds in Philadelphia.

Following this bout, I went to Hot Springs, Ark., where I spent several weeks and had three fights. My legs had been giving me considerable,
trouble, but the baths proved of great benefit and when I left Hot Springs I felt as good as ever.

In the next article Mr. Ryan will describe his fights at Hot Springs and Cincinnati.

Great stuff, thanks again.

no problem mate its been a great project doing this work.I hope to be able to establish the exact number of articles in this series later this week.Its the largest piece of work i have ever done aside from that concering my dad - he was a pro boxer in the 1920''s, and its a pity that more of this type of material is not available in such quantity. Corbett did a lot of writing and i do have many of them which i will do when this one is complete.

when completed i will make available the complet word file for people to have, should they wish, rather than having to copy the sections from this post.

more this weekend all being well

nearly done the next part

robert.snell1 wrote:a small error on my part when i said there were 7 articles..there are 19 of them on his career. so this will be a bit of a long thread !!!

only for the dedicated reader me thinks.

however..as I will have all of this on a word document and clearly have the original reports should you wish to have copies please conact me and i will send them to you.

when i finish them !!!

Robert,

Please post all 19.

WHAT A TREAT.

Some consider Tommy Ryan the greatest middleweight champion.

Later he was the trainer and instructor of Jim Jeffries, among others.

For a while it was thought there was a film of Ryan, but it turned out to be of someone else.

Anyone know anything about that?

Take a look at Ryan's legs in photos of him.

"Right here I want to tell my readers that the boxing glove of those days and the glove of to-day are entirely different things, though known, by the same name. The boxing glove of I885 was a skin-tight leather glove that was devised more for the protection of the hand of the boxer wearing it than for the protection of the man upon whom it was to be used."

You mean they didn't use ten ounce gloves like the ones Leonard insisted on in the Hagler-Leonard fight ?

I bet they didn't fight 12 rounds in 'championship' fights then either.

robert.snell1 wrote:to be honest i do not think he is the writer of this.it states he is but that means nothing as we are all aware. he did loads of these for the same paper and at first i thought ther were just the 19 as this is the title of the articles. however it looks like there are more and will clarify this later on.

several boxers did this and i think it is reasonable to asume they talked to a guy and he wrote up the story.

John F Kennedy did not write his "Profiles in Courage."

From Here to Eternity was extensively rewritten and rearranged by editors.

The same is true of the Godfather, originally written in chronological order.

granberry wrote:

robert.snell1 wrote:a small error on my part when i said there were 7 articles..there are 19 of them on his career. so this will be a bit of a long thread !!!

only for the dedicated reader me thinks.

however..as I will have all of this on a word document and clearly have the original reports should you wish to have copies please conact me and i will send them to you.

when i finish them !!!

Robert,

Please post all 19.

WHAT A TREAT.

Some consider Tommy Ryan the greatest middleweight champion.

Later he was the trainer and instructor of Jim Jeffries, among others.

For a while it was thought there was a film of Ryan, but it turned out to be of someone else.

Anyone know anything about that?

Take a look at Ryan's legs in photos of him.

well past 19 so far and several to go yet.One of them has him mention the trainer part i think.aside from this series he was supposed to have written - I think it was ghost written myself - i have numerous other articles concerning him which i may well post as it gives people an opportunty to compare what he and what others said about the same events etc.He was not well pleased with McCoy which is no surprise.

robert.snell1 wrote:the one thing this "Ghost Writer" did not omit is the sense of arrogance of the ability which comes over in the articles which i find Ok myself. when you get the full set you will see what i mean on this

I have to disagree with your word arrogance,

He may have been the best middleweight who ever lived.

He certainly was one of the very best in that weight class.

silkov wrote:

robert.snell1 wrote:no problem mate will send one next week to you with all the downloads. got around 40 or so on this guy at the moment and as usual they have articles by other people on the page etc. will include the other things i did recently also.

will email you later mate

will be interested to get your take on whether he wrote them..

Cheers mate!... he may not have wrote them, probably they were done like interviews... but he certainly sounds like an intelligent and eloquent man... reminds me a bit of the Corbett autobiog I have and he was said to have penned it by himself...
The Nelson book is very well written...

"he may not have wrote them"

I'm glad YOU didn't "wrote" them.

LOL