Young Griffo vs. Kid Lavigne

George (Kid) Lavigne 128 lbs drew with Young Griffo 133 lbs by PTS in round 8 of 8

• Date: 1894-02-10
• Location: 2nd Regiment Armory, Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Referee: George Siler

• Referee: George Siler
• Attendance: 3,000

Chicago Tribune, February 11, 1894:

"'Young' Griffo had a close call from defeat at the Lake Front armory last night in his eight round go with George Lavigne."

"Lavigne's showing was a revelation even to his friends, and while George Siler, the referee, properly decided the affair a draw, as there was not enough advantage on either side to merit a decision if one had been given, Lavigne must have won. Griffo's admirers may take exceptions to this statement, but if they closely sum up the result of the fight they can hardly do so with justice."

"In the first two rounds he [Griffo] kept Lavigne in his own corner, but in the sharp rallies that followed in rapid succession the Michigan lad secured almost an even break. When Griffo closed with him he would stand and punch and landed quite as often as the Australian. The third round was just as fast and the fourth found both men tired. That caused no surprise, as the work had been remarkably fast. If Griffo had a chance to win it was in this round. Lavigne was dead tired, but Griffo was no better, and the round was uneventful. From that time on Lavigne was much the stronger of the two. Griffo began to break ground, and Lavigne, following him, fought wildly at times, his left hand particularly going high over the alien's head, but he landed at times, and several stiff punches over the heart did the tiring Australian no good.

"Last night's set-to was not conclusive of course, as Lavigne was trained to the hour, while Griffo was big and fat, but on last night's showing Griffo would have his hands full winning from Lavigne in a finish fight."

George (Kid) Lavigne, as told to E. P. Rucker (Los Angeles Times, December 18, 1927):

“In February, 1894, came my first chance to get into a ring with Young Griffo. We were matched for eight rounds at Chicago. George Siler was the referee.

“Griffo’s science was a revelation. I had never seen such speed with hands, feet and head.

“For the first two rounds I thought all of Griffo’s seconds were in the ring helping him.

“’For the love of Mike,’ I said to my brother Billy between rounds, ‘how many hands has this fellow got?’

“In the fourth I decided to cut loose biff-bang with everything I had, shooting in all directions, hoping some haymaker might connect. “A wild wallop caught Griffo in the kitchen. Ha had drunk a lot of beer just before entering the ring. That wallop made him sick. I started chasing him around the ring. But as sick as he was, do you think I could catch him?

“And just as soon as I eased off a bit to blow, there he was right back at me with his left stuck in my face.

“That bout was called a draw.”