The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 21

PORTS HISTORY of BROOKLYN Rich in cultural, economic and civic lore, the flowering borough of Brooklyn hat over the decadet been aho famed for it tparlt tradition: At one time at the (urn of the century Coney ltland tea the capital of boxing, in thi; the third of a weekly terie of article on the hinlory of Brooklyn athletic, the itory of boxing it Next Sunday Turf. I'T" 'I victory over Elliott would cement his claim to the championship. The pair met at Long Point, Canada, on May 9, 1879. An account of the battle in Alexander Johnston's "Ten And Out!" gives an illuminating picture of the manly art of self defense under the rules of the London prize ring. "At the beginning of the ninth round Elliott was going fast, and he came up with his hands dripping wet.

He forced Dwyer against the ropes and then tried to gouge out his eyes with his thumbs. Dwyer screamed in agony and the referee separated the men. Dwyer's seconds claimed that Elliott had used turpentine on his hands to blind their man. The referee had clean water brought and had Dwyer's men wash out his eyes. Finally, they were nearly normal again and he ordered the men to 'fight Dwyer continued to have all the better of the milling.

"In the 12th round, Elliott, who was wilting fast, tried to bite Dwyer in the side. Johnny pushed him off and at the same time crashed a terrific right to the face. As Elliott reeled away from him Dwyer caught him around the wast, swung him up, and then threw him heavily to the ground, adding his own weight to the fall. This was perfectly allowable under prize ring rules, and after Mr. Elliott's tactics one can scarcely blame Dwyer for being slightly exasperated.

Elliott was carried to his corner in an insensible condition." Dwyer claimed the title, but he never defended his claim. He retired and became chief clerk in Kings County Court until his death in 1882 at the age of 35. Elliott again figured in the history of Brooklyn boxing. 'By TOMMY HOLMES Brooklyn Eagle Staff Writer No community in the land has had a more colorful back- ground in the business of prize-fighting than Brooklyn. Now most of the glamour has rubbed off.

For better or for worse, this Is no longer the scene of big-time fistic operations although it remains the stronghold of some of the busiest neighborhood fight clubs in operation anywhere. There was a time when that section of our town known as Coney Island was the fistic capital of the world. But that was half-a-century ago. There was another time when a Brooklyn politician claimed the heavyweight championship of the world under the London prize-ring rules. That was 70 years ago.

In almost the first celebrated fight ever to occur in this country, Brooklyn had a definite rooting interest through marriage, so to speak. And that battle occurred exactly 100 years ago. To go back to the beginning of pugilism in this country, one Jacob a farmer who was born on the West Side of Manhattan, is, according to Nat Fleischer the standout ring historian "the first white American to test his ability in turf battles." Fleischer also calls the battle between Hyer and one Tom Beasley in 1816 "the first authentic ring fight or contest in America in which rules were partially, if not wholly, observed." Hyer beat Beasley, claimed the championship of America and never fought again. Nobody paid much attention to the title after that until Jacob's son, Tom Hyer, claimed it. Appar- OLD FAVORITE James J.

Corbett, more familiarly known as Gentleman Jim, os he appeared at his height. Corbett, attempting to regain his title, was knocked out by Jim Jeffries at Coney llsand in the 23d round on May 11, 1900. and McFarland, an overgrown lightweight. Finally they were brought together at 117 pounds for a guaranteed purse that was then a record for a New York fight. McFarland was paid $17,500.

The bout itself resolved into a skillful fencing duel characterized by such a marked lack of ferocity that Tad Dorgan, the celebrated sports cartoonist, called it the "Motordrome hipprodrome." Again we can do no more than list the names of many outstanding tooxers who appeared in our town over this period. The roll call includes Battling Levinsky, Billy Miske, Jim Savage, Jim Flynn, Gunboat Smfth, Charley Weinert, Jimmy Clabby, Ted Kid Lewis, Jack Britton, Battling Nelson, Tommy Murphy, Knockout Brown, Jack Goodman, Abe Attell, Johnny Kilbane, Johnny Dundee, Johnny Coulon, Kid Williams and you could go on indefinitely. Al Mc Coy, Soldier Bartfield, Italian Joe Gans, Mel Coogan, Phil Bloom, Charley Goldman, Dutch Brandt and Young Zulu Kid were only a few of the Brooklyn ring stars developed during the no-decision period. And finally right after World War I came the State law sponsored by Jimmy Walker and the modern period of boxing. The Broadway Arena reopened.

A new club called the Ridgewood Grove became the only regular Saturday night fight club in the country. Like the Broadway, the Grove is still going. It is now operated by Moe Fleischer. The mont Rink operated for a while, then faded. The Eastern Parkway Arena is a Johnny-jump-up proposition.

But in the past 30 years the most notable Brooklyn fights have been staged at Ebbets Field, particularly in that period when the colorful Humbert J. Fugazy was a competitor of Tex Rickard, operator of the pugilistic proceedings at Madison Square Garden. man Jim employed the same lightning footwork and boxing skill he had used to lift the title from Sullivan eight years previously. Jeffries couldn't find him. As the fight whizzed past the 20-round mark, Corbett, was far ahead on points; But this time there was no rum-soaked hulk in there with Corbett, but a well-conditioned athlete in his fighting prime.

Jeff began to wear Corbett down, knocked him out in the 23d with a left to the jaw as he held Corbett pinned against the ropes. On June 26, it was Sharkey and Ruhlin again at Coney Island. Ruhlin claimed that he had been tagged by a lucky punch two years before, made that claim look good by stopping Sharkey in the 15th round this time. And finally, on Aug. 24, Fitzsimmons came back to Coney Island for the last time and knocked Sharkey cold in the second round.

Two weeks after that fight, the Horton Law was repealed and boxing once again became illegal in New York State. Fitzsimmons. incidentally, had been born in England and raised in New Zealand, but he died a resident of Sheepshead Bay. And Corbett, a native of San Francisco, was a well-known figure in our town before his death at his home in Bayside, L. I.

Jeffries and Sharkey are still alive. Boxing's Golden Era Ends With the repeal of the Horton Law, what might be called the golden era of pugilism came to an end in our town. Through those few, brief years of activity all of the greats and near-greats of that time appeared in Brooklyn or Coney Island rings. Besides the heavyweights already named, the list includes George Gardner, who was to become the first light heavyweight champion; Kid Carter, Jimmy Hanlon, Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey, Tommy Ryan (who lost the middleweight championship when he was knocked out by Kid McCoy in 15 rounds at Maspeth), Mysterious Billy Smith, Frank Craig, Frank Erne, Jack Downey, Joe Gans, Dal Hawkins, Australian Billy Murphy, Terry McGovern, Harry Harris, Harry Forbes and George Dixon. For a time in New York State fight promoters got around the illegality of prize fighting by the so-called "membership" subterfuge.

A patron's ticket to the arena was a membership card for a club, two "members" of which were giving a boxing exhibition that particular evening. This was a popular caper in Manhattan, but Brooklyn did not go in for the dodge to any great extent although Brooklyn claimed quite the most exciting fighter of that particular period. That was Terrible Terry McGovern. He was born in Johnstown, but was raised and lived in our town. He fought with unparalleled fury.

He won the bantamweight championship by knocking out Pedlar Palmer of England in the first round 1899. He captured featherweight chain-, pionship by knocking out George Dixon (Little Chocolate) in eight. He knocked out Frank Erne, the lightweight champion, in three rounds but this was 1 handicap affair in which Erne was forced to make 128 pounds and McGovern never was regarded as lightweight champion. In Chicago he knocked out Joe Gans in two rounds and Gans later became one of the greatest of lightweight champions. A man from Denver named Billy Rothwell fought under the name of Young Corbett.

He was McGovern's nemesis. He unexpectedly flattened the Terrible One in the second round at Hartford in 1901. Two years later he chilled McGovern in the 11th round at San Francisco. McGovern's career rocketed and burned out like a Roman candle. He was a mental wreck lohg before his death in 1918.

Ultimately, the Frawley Law legalized prize fights of a sort in New York. Ten-round boxing exhibitions were per- V. l.VJ His last battle was the first recorded fight of importance ever to take place in Brooklyn. It occurred on July 4, 18S2, and his opponent was John L. Sullivan, who had acquired the championship by knocking out Paddy Ryan at Mississippi City earlier that same year.

This was a glove fight and Sullivan knocked out Elliott at Washington Park in the third round. The following year Elliott was shot and killed by a gambler in a Chicago saloon. The immortal John L. was a roisterer and a booze fighter in a period when there was great competition In this field. But, even so, his character was so far superior to that of most of the assorted thugs, criminals and hoodlums who had completely dominated the shadowy beginnings of the prize ring that boxing actually gained some form of respectability during his reign as champion.

Most of those early ring battles were frowned upon by the authorities, if they were not downright illegal acts indeed. A bill called the Horton Law passed the New York State Legislature permitting gloved fights under the Marquis of Queensberry rules. It was under the aegis of this law that Coney Island became the scene of some of the most celebrated old-time ring battles in history. REMINISCING Jim Jeffries, one-time world's heavyweight champ, looks at a photograph of. his famous fight with Tom Sharkey at Coney Island, Nov.

3, 1899. Jeffries defended his title in a mauling 25-round bout after having dethroned Fitzsimmons. In the modern home of the Dodgers, Pete Herman regained his bantamweight championship by beating Joe Lynch and Pancho Villa, the powerful little Filipino, beat both Johnny Buff and Frankie Genaro. It was at Ebbets Field that the mythical threat of Harry Wills as a heavyweight contender was exploded when Jack Sharkey of Boston beat the big Negro and Paulino Uzcudun, the un-derslung Basque, knocked Wills out. Little Mickey Walker astonished the fight world by holding Sharkey to a draw in 15 rounds at the Brooklyn park and It was at Ebbets Field also that Sharkey and Primo Camera met for the first time with Sharkey winning a 15-round decision.

The largest gate for any fight in the world in which the participants were not heavyweights amounted to 161 ,789 at Ebbets Field and that night July 16, 1926 Delaney regained the light heavyweight title by outpointing Paul Berlenbacli fc Cannonball Eddie Martin i i- A 1 ently, Tom Hyer's original demand was based on nothing more than inheritance, but he seems to have been a capable bruiser, too, and. he won general recognition in -1811 when he knocked out'George McChester, also known as Country MeCloskey, in 101 rounds at Caldwell's Landing, N. Y. Tom Hyer was the first pugilist to obtain actual public recognition as champion of the United States. His most famous battle took place on Feb.

7, 1819, when he whipped Yankee Sullivan in 16 rounds at Rock Point, Md. Sullivan's right given name appears to have been James Ambrose. He was born in Ireland, raised in London and his early fights took place in England. He got into trouble with the constabulary, was deported to a penal colony in Australia and escaped. He got to this country on an American vessel and took his ring name from the captain of the ship which brought him here.

He landed in Verba Buena (later San Francisco) and started to fight his way East. When he arrived, he had enough of a stake to open a saloon in Manhattan. He lived in Brooklyn, married a Brooklyn girl, but didn't settle down. The ballyhoo for his fight with Hyer was whetted by a brawl in a Park Row barroom, la the course of it, Hyer choked Sullivan into insensibility. Yankee challenged Hyer in a newspaper advertisement, accusing Hyer of "taking advantage of his drunken condition." There was so much interest in the fight that the New York Herald actually covered the training camps of the gladiators.

Afterwards, Sullivan returned to California to participate In the gold rush. In 1858, he was arrested and thrown into jail by vigilantes in the course of a round-up of underworld suspects. One morning he was found dead in his cell with his wrists slashed. The law-and-order committee called him a suicide. His friends accused the viligantes of murder.

In the '70s there was no universally recognized American champion. A claimant, was one Jim Elliott, a native of Ireland. He was a seasoned fighter who seems to have been a hold-up man and all-around thug in his spare time. In 1870 Elliott lowered the boom on Hugh Dougherty, a well-known minstrel of that era. Dougherty almost died as the result of the beating and Elliott was sentenced to 16 years in a Philadelphia penitentiary for highway robbery and assault and battery with intent to kill.

He was pardoned, presumably for the express purpose of fighting John L. Dwyer. Johnny Dwyer was a native of Newfoundland, but he lived in our town and was the brother of Brooklyn's political boss. He had had three fights, won them all and figured that a Not all ''of our famous fights took place at Coney Island, although most of them did. An exception was Jim Corbett's battle with Dominick McCaffrey at the Casino, which was a roller skating rink on 5th Ave.

in South Brooklyn. On April 11, 1890, two years before Corbett perpetrated the all-time ring upset by stopping Sullivan in New Orleans, Jim kayoed McCaffrey in the third round. Another exception was the Lavigne-Walcott fight held at the Empire Athletic Club of Maspeth on Dec. 2, 1895. George Lavigne was lightweight champion of the world.

Joe Walcott, a squat Negro from Barbados, was a natural 110-pounder. It was an handicap match with Wajcott agreeing to weigh in at 131 pounds and forfeit the decision unless he knocked out Lavigne within 15 rounds. Fight Became American Tradition Lavigne not only stayed the 15 rounds but, according to all accounts, had the better of a fight that for sheer ferocity and ample blood-letting became a tradition of the American ring. Lavigne had claimed the title when Jack McAuliffe, a native of Cork but a resident of Brooklyn, retired undefeated. One of McAuliffe's last appearances came in a six-round no-decision bout against the amazingly skillful Young Griffo of Australia at Coney Island in 1891.

The big Coney Island battles were fought in a pavilion off Surf Ave. near the present site of Steeplechase. At times, the club was called the Coney Island Sporting Club, at other times the Seaside A. C. Then there were bouts fought under the auspices of the Greater New York A.

C. Perhaps the greatest crop of heavyweight fighters ever 1o simultaneously grace what has been poetically called the squared circle cropped up in the wake of the knockout victory lanky, knock-kneed Bob Fitzsimmons scored in Carson City, over Corbett, conqueror of the great John L. And they oncentrated much of their activity in the Coney Island ring. The first of the important heavyweight fights to take place there occurred on June 29, 1808, when Tom Sharkey, a broad-shouldered, hammered-down ex-sailor, knocked out Gus Ruhlin, known as the Aron giant, in the first minute of a fight scheduled for 25 rounds. A year later, Coney Island got its first heavyweight championship fight when Fitzsimmons defended his title ably but not well enough against James J.

Jeffries. They met on June 9, 1899. Although Fitz weighed a mere 170 and Jeffries scaled well over 200, the champion entered the ring a 2-to-l favorite over the comparative novice who was engaging in only his 11th professional fight. But Paul Berlenbach Jack Delaney in rounds, tommy Lou-ghran outpointed Young Stribling there. Several stanzas of the furious, longstanding feud between Vincent Pepper Martin and Steve Kid Sullivan took place at Ebbets Field.

There were many, many other fights in Brooklyn clubs. There was Henderson's Bowl in Flatbush, where Kid Sullivan beat Johnny Dundee for the junior lightweight title and the Coney Island Velodrome where Ace Hudkins, called the Nebraska Wildcat, got off the floor to knock out Ruby Goldstein, the pride of the ghetto. And there is a long list of Brooklyn fighters for the past quarter century Eddie (Can-nonball) Martin, who held the bantamweight title; Dave Rosenberg, once regarded as middleweight champion in New York; Solly Krieger, an N. B. A.

middleweight king: Joe Click, Sammy Mosberg, the Silvers brothers, the late Al iBummyi Davis and dozens of others. Every once in a while someone tries a boding operation on a large scale at Ebbets Field. Andy Niedcrreiter was the last to attempt it. It doesn't seem to work anymore and Brooklyn has become a small-club fight town. In season there are those Tuesday night shows put on by Joss at the old B'way and Fleischer's Saturday night presentations at the Ridgewood Grove.

The Eastern Parkway closed out the last indoor campaign with "all-star" cards (meaning no-star cards) and charged $1 for any seat in the house. In the Summer there are Jack Monahan's shows at the attractive Fort Hamilton Arena and somebody sometimes promotes at MacArthur Stadium. mitted. There was no official decision. A champion could not lose his title in a New York ring unless he was knocked out.

That didn't seem too satisfactory but it revived boxing interest in Brooklyn. Among the small clubs that flourished in our town was the Clermont Rink, off Myrtle and the Broadway Arena, which opened in 1011 and operates throughout the Winter season today under the management of Max Joss. The old Broadway produced a spectacular upset in the very first year of its existence. The reigning middleweight champion was George Chip of Scranton. He appeared at the Broadway to meet Al McCoy of Brownsville, a southpaw, regarded as an ordinary journeyman club fighter.

McCoy wound up with his left fist and knocked Chip cold in the first round. Not only that but he successfully defended his unexpected title throughout the rest of the Frawley Law period. There were also Frawley Law fights at Washington Park, the old home of the Dodgers. A notable heavyweight fight took place there in 1916. Frank Moran had stayed ten rounds and McFarland an overgrown lightweight.

Finally they were with Jess Willard in Madison Square Garden and was gen- n.r.t. i- i. A 111 mmm''' Ifi. I the burly Jeffries took charge from the start. He dropped Fitz as early as the second round.

In the tenth, Fitz crashed to the canvas twice. In the 11th, Jeff scored a knockout with a left and right to the chin. Before that year was over, Jeffries was back in the same ring. He defended his crown against Sharkey on Nov. 3 and their 25-round fight resulted in one of the most controversial decisions of that era.

Sharkey gave the champion a terrific battle and when Referee Tom Siler gave Jeffries the decision, the hooting was loud and long. But circumstantial evidence seems to have upheld Siler's verdict. Jeffries went to a champagne party after the fight and Sharkey went to a hospital with three broken ribs. On Jan. 1, 1900, the remarkably clever Kid McCoy appeared at Coney Island against Peter Maher, a mus-tached Irishman with a weak chin and a heavy punch.

McCoy feinted Maher into knots, knocked him out with a body i jL 1 i jr "''V 1 ft- wi i sa i i I A 11 i erally considered the logical heavyweight contender, but at Washington Park, Jack Dillon, called the Giant Killer, earned the "newspaper" decision over him. It was at Washington Park in 1916 also that the great Benny Leonard boxed the second of his three engagements with Freddy Welsh, the Englishman who held the lightweight title. Welsh shaded Leonard in that one but the following year Benny was to win the championship by knocking Welsh out in the ninth round at the Manhattan Casino, outside the Polo Grounds. A no-decision fight that aroused terrific interest was staged at the Brighton Beach Motordrome in 1915. The principals were Mike Gibbons, called the St.

Paul Phantom, and Packey McFarland of Chicago. They were the cleverest boxers of their time and arguments had raged for years over which was the more accomplished. Difficulty was encountered in making the match because Gibbons was a heavy welterweight EBBETS FIELD BRAWL Heavyweights, ever popular in Brooklyn, topped one of the star cards at the home of the Dodgers on Oct. 12, 1926. In this clash, Harry Wills (left) lost on a foul to Jack Sharkey, later enthroned as world's champ of the dreadnought class, in the 13th round.

blow in the fifth round. Then came another heavyweight championship classic on May 11. 1900, when Cor-bett came back to meet Jeffries. Celebrated old Gentle- FAMED FOR FIGHTS Terrible Terry McGovern (left) and Bob Fitzsimmons, two of the immortals of ringdom. McGovern, raised in Brooklyn, held both the featherweight and bantamweight crowns.

Fitz surrendered his throne to Jim Jeffries June 9, 1899 in the 11th heat at Coney Island. Section 2 SUNDAY, JULY 17, 1949 21.