Fight:821931

The New York Times for September 3, 1913, pg. covered the story of both the fights with Ortega under the heading "Boxer Abe the Newsboy Here", noting he had arrived from Panama on September 2, and would be staying in New York around two months. He had come directly from Panama, and planned to return to Panama for a feature fight around Thanksgiving day. He would fight the great boxer Kid Norfolk not long after his return in January of 1914 and probably did not actually return to Panama until December of 1912.

This first fight with Ortega was covered best by the article, "Abe the Newsboy a Champion", New York Times, via Special Cable, pg. 8, 30 May 1913. Special Cables to the New York Times are covered by ProQuest Historical Newspapers Service, but not included in all newspaper services that include New York Times archived stories.

The article spelled Jack Ortega's name as "Artega", and noted "the fight was witnessed by two thousand people, including most of the members of the Congressional party now here." The congressional party, according to Hollandersky, was there partly to inspect the progress of the Panama Canal. The Times noted importantly that Abe "had all the better of it" when he was fouled in the ninth round and this collaborates Hollandersky's account of the fight in his autobiography. The Times article fails to note that the foul was a blow below the belt, though a local Panamanian paper printed in Hollandersky's autobiography noted that Ortega struck Hollandersky below the belt as a result of Abe being tangled in the ropes and Ortega, as a result, being unable to gage where his blow would land. The local Panamanian paper also noted that the fight was called immediately after the blow below the belt, and that "it was evident to all." The local article noted that the foul left a significant bruise on Hollandersky, which was observed by his seconds after the fight and that Hollandersky laid down in his corner for fifteen minutes to recover. Hollandersky's claim that the blow may have been intentional does not seem inconsistent with the circumstances, particularly considering his August bout with Ortega also ended in a blow below the belt. Hollandersky's account from his autobiography claimed the blow was a knee to the groin not an accidental punch below the belt which it seems would have been evident to the crowd, unless it was shielded by Abe's body, and they were in very close to each other. Ortega had been arrested in 1900 in San Jose, California for assaulting a young girl and had served 12 years of a life sentence before coming to Panama, where he could use Spanish, his native language. He had once been reported as having brutally kicked an opponent during a fight before his 1900 arrest in California.