Fight:96466

Philadelphia Jack O'Brien beat John Willie by NWS in round 6 of 6

• Date: 1904-11-09
• Location: National A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

"Jack O'Brien had another narrow escape from defeat last night in a six-round contest with John Wille of Chicago, at the National Athletic Club. O'Brien was in distress in the third and sixth rounds, having been knocked down by body blows. (...) by a rare exhibition of ring generalship, he recuperated sufficiently to return the compliment and put Wille down with right hand jolts on the jaw in the same rounds. He finished the stronger, and, had a decision been rendered, he deserved it. (Wille) said he weighed 162 pounds, but it was the heaviest bunch of muscles for 162 pounds ever seen in a Philadelphia ring. He evidently had been told that O'Brien's body was his weak spot, and he began to lead in his awkward way for the Quaker City middleweight's solar plexus. By sidestepping and as ring vernacular would have it, O'Brien avoided these wild rushes until the third round when he ran into one. He went down, took a count of seven and his face was a picture of distress. With a glimpse of victory before him Wille became careless. With his guard low, he made another rush and O'Brien put him down with a right-hand lead on the jaw. Bulldog-like he declined to take any count, and was giving as good as he received as the round ended. Light work characterized the fourth round, but Wille got careless again in the fifth and was dropped with a right on the jaw in the waning thirty seconds of the round. The sixth round was sensational. Wille had evidently been instructed to make a dying effort and he did. O'Brien was dropped with a left-hand body blow, and while taking the count looked up appealingly at the referee. He arose at the count of nine and jumped about the ring like a mannequin. Wille followed him and in one of the exchanges the Chicago middleweight went down. This time he took the count, and it required all the efforts of the referee to keep O'Brien from finishing him while he was on his knees. The tide had now turned and brains and generalship began to triumph over brute strength. When the bell rang ending the contest, Wille was hugging to avoid punishment, while O'Brien, though aggressive, showed the effects of the body blows."

Trenton Times