JOE GANS PUT TO SLEEP
Elbows McFadden, the local pugilist, fought his way to fame and fortune at the Broadway A. C. last night. In the twenty-third round he knocked out the clever Baltimore pugilist, Joe Gans, with a right hook on the jaw. At the start McFadden appeared to be outclassed, but by persistent attack, wonderful strength and splendid generalship he gradually forged ahead and won. Gans had been regarded as a possible lightweight champion, but McFadden is now the man to pit against the leaders in his class, Kid Lavigne, Spike Sullivan or Frank Erne.
There was plenty of betting on the result of the star bout. The crowd, which numbered close to 4,000 persons, was the largest that has attended the fights at this club since it was opened. Gans was a 2 to 1 favorite, his manager, Al Herford, and a big delegation of colored sports from Baltimore placing in the neighborhood of $3,000 at these odds. The men weighed in at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, McFadden scaling at 127 pounds and Gans getting just inside the lightweight limit, 133 pounds. When McFadden got into the ring he was greeted with wild cheering, which was an indication that his friends were on hand in force. His seconds were Billy Roche, Tommy Shortell, H. Bahr and Chip Morrison. Gans was taken care of by Al Herford, Jack McCue and Jerry Marshall. The articles of agreement called for twenty-five rounds at 133 pounds, Marquis of Queensberry rules. John White was the referee.
The men had not been sparring a minute when Gans's superior knowledge of science was apparent. He was cool, calculating, shifty, and blocked with consummate ease the few swings that McFadden aimed at his head. Gans appeared to have no trouble in landing a long left, but he did not cut it loose much, preferring to find out what McFadden had up his sleeve, so to speak. Gans began to do some real punching in the second round. He shook McFadden up with a couple of swings on the neck, and altogether outclassed the local man in such a way that the crowd laughed in derision. McFadden concluded that his only chance was to mix it. So when the third round began he rushed in with heavy swings. Gans was equal to the emergency, and at in-fighting surprised the talent with his quick blows, all of which were well directed. McFadden did not land a solid blow in the round, although he tried his best to do so.
Gans did some superb blocking in the fourth round, and also beat a tattoo on McFadden's face. Improvement was shown by McFadden in the fifth round. He began to use his right and got it several times to the neck. Gans, however, nearly scored a knockdown with a hook on the jaw. McFadden continued to improve in the sixth round and landed several hard drives on the head and body. He was Gans's master in physical strength, and his punches appeared to contain more steam. McFadden forced the fighting in the seventh round, and with a hot left hook on the jaw he made the Baltimorean take the defensive until the bell. McFadden had the eighth round, Gans receiving some terrific smashes on the body and jaw. The latter was warned for holding in the clinches. The crowd cheered in a deafening manner when the bell rang, and kept it up during the minute's rest.
The ninth round was McFadden's, too. He did most of the work, and did not allow Gans to rest a moment. Both did pretty blocking, but McFadden's blows were the harder. The tenth round was full of execution. McFadden walked right into his man in spite of left jabs and body blows, and sent back as much as he received. The crowd cheered McFadden when he was in his corner. During a rally in the eleventh round, both men swinging, Gans received a clip on the jaw that brought a clinch. The latter seemed to be a trifle tired when he took his corner. That he was not fighting up to his past form seemed to be the opinion around the ringside, while McFadden's showing was an agreeable surprise.
The twelfth round was uneventful, except that McFadden more than held his own. Gans's nose was bleeding when he got half way through the thirteenth round. His blows lacked force and he appeared to be tiring. McFadden was as strong as a bull. The fourteenth round showed that Gans still had stamina, for he did the leading and landing, McFadden apparently resting up a bit from his previous efforts. McFadden came back in the fifteenth round with his old attack, and ended the round by driving Gans to a corner and to a clinch. It was an even thing in the sixteenth round, McFadden's blocking being up to anything that Gans accomplished in the earlier rounds. McFadden forged to the front again in the seventeenth round. He bored in without let-up and had his man clinching and holding at the gong. It was the same thing over again in the eighteenth. Gans failed to land a square punch because of McFadden's defence, while the latter hammered away successfully at the stomach and neck.
Gans received three savage lefts in the mouth in quick succession during the nineteenth round, but he retaliated with a heavy swing on the jaw that took McFadden by surprise. Again in the twentieth round McFadden did the bulk of the work, and made Gans's nose bleed afresh. At this stage it looked like a defeat for Gans, and the latter's followers were blue. Gans was fought practically to a standstill in the twenty-first round. He was tired and could scarcely keep his hands up. McFadden kept at him incessantly, but did not hustle enough when he received the right opportunities. McFadden cut loose in the twenty-second, and had Gans in evident trouble throughout. The crowd was in an uproar when the bell rang.
When the twenty-third round opened McFadden lost no time in mixing things. Gans threw in a few weak counters, and then received a stomach punch that threw him forward. Quick as a flash McFadden brought up a terrific right hook. It caught Gans flush on the point of the jaw. The Baltimore fighter tottered a moment, and then fell flat upon his face, the blood gushing from his mouth. There was no need of counting him out for he was helpless, and had to be lifted to his chair. The referee declared McFadden the winner amid an unusual demonstration. Hats and canes were thrown in the air. Men hugged one another in their ecstasy and others yelled wildly for the money they had won. McFadden was embraced by his friends, and was cheered all the way to his dressing room. When Gans was able to leave the ring he was applauded generously, too. It was one of the best fights ever seen in this vicinity. The time of the last round was 1 minute and 48 seconds.
(The New York Sun)
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Al Herford Tells Why Joe Lost to McFadden..
Al Herford, manager for Joe Gans, the negro boxer from Baltimore, who was defeated by McFadden, still believes that his man is one of the best fighters in the world. Neither he nor Gans is discouraged over the result of the last fight. In regard to Gans, Herford says "My boy is the prince of his class. We lost. It was a fair fight, and I have no kick to make, at least on that score. We stood to win $2800. The winner's share of the purse was $1600 and by Joe's defeat I lost $1200 in bets. But few bets were made. The sports looked upon it as a selling-plater against a stake horse. Out of it all I have been taught a lesson. Never again will I bet 2 to 1 against any man--not even were Fitzsimmons matched to meet Joe Goddard. A chance blow can win any fight. Right here I want to say that the report given out that McFadden weighed 127 pounds is an untruth. He tipped the scales at 133. Both men weighed in at the same weight. Joe thought that he had a walkover and did not do the proper training. Besides, he was a very sick man.
"Believing himself unbeatable, he had come to grow careless. He did not believe he needed to train. As it was he put in only five days' work for the contest, and was far from being in shape. Although suffering from stomach trouble, he hid the truth from me. He thought the worst that he could get would be a draw, as he afterward said he wanted to save the forfeit money. His mistake he realized later. The fight itself tells the story of his condition. Though a long distance fighter, his constitution being broken down, he was unable to go the limit. Why, in the first six rounds he made a sucker of McFadden, knocking him about from side to side. But his blows lacked steam. He was weak. At the close of the tenth round he said that he felt himself getting weaker and weaker, and that his stomach was giving him great pain.
"At the end of the twentieth round he could hardly stand up owing to the pain, and he again said that he was very weak and doubted if he could stand on his feet. 'He's too strong for me in my weakened condition,' is the way Joe put it when he realized that he had no strength. He desired to keep away from his man, but was too weak to move about. Yes, he made an uphill struggle. Defeated, I admire him all the more. Why, after the battle he vomited for fully fifteen minutes. He was in a very bad way. He takes his defeat very nicely, and his only regret is that he was caught napping. No, he is not down hearted. He believes himself capable of defeating any man in his class, and will yet come out on top. Again I reiterate that he will be back. Money will work wonders, and Joe is the boy who will give battle with any of them, and I want to give it out here that Baltimore has the champion lightweight. Any one differing need but place his money and I will cover it." Herford also announces that Gans has cancelled all of his engagements. He was matched to fight Martin Judge at Baltimore on April 25, Billy Moore at Syracuse on May 1, and Otto Sieloff at Buffalo on May 8.
(The Philadelphia Inquirer)
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*Should be noted that in the October rematch of that same year Gans easily defeated McFadden over 25 rounds in Brooklyn. In September 1900 Gans won a six round newspaper decision . In October 1900 they fought to a ten-round draw (in which McFadden was down once). In February 1902 Gans was a clear winner in a newspaper decision over six, and in June of that same year Gans scored a three-round stoppage over McFadden when McFadden's corner pulled him out having been down twice in the second and four times in the third - this would be the final in their series of bouts.
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