[Cap]

From the afternoon edition of The Barnsley Earwigger July 20, 1903....The star bout at London's National Sporting Club was the 10 round main event between Scotland's Derek Beattie and England's Tom Cowler...Cowler was a slight favourite going in but Beattie upset those odds by boxing wonderfully, eluding Cowler's rushes and wild swings midway through the contest and bringing blood to the nose of his opponent with a smart left jab that the English lad seemed unable to avoid...It was obvious Cowler had underestimated the Scot and failed to press any advantage he gave himself in the certainty he could land a finishing blow late in the fight...In the end only the most partisan fans could deny the victory belonged to Beattie...Cowler showed good sportsmanship in grasping his opponent's hand and has promised himself the result will be different if they meet again...In Norway Bjarni Thorsen suffered defeat in his rubber match with PO Matty Curran, just two two months after stopping Curran in four rounds at Paris...Thorsen started off strongly but let up in the fifth round and appeared to run out of petrol as he let Curran back into the fight and took a grueling from then on...At Palermo, Italy Giuseppe Sciacca eked out a home-pitch decision over Denmark's Bryn Pedersen in their 8 round match and appeared in poor condition...At London's Palace Theatre Wm Iron Hague battered the Belgian Henri Caradec for 10 rounds but could not put him down...For his part, Caradec seemed distracted by a shapely brunette seated near his corner who frequently called to him between rounds...At the popular Salle Wagram in Paris newcomer Alphonse Dumoulin administered a thorough drubbing to local idol Marc Gaucher who has fallen on hard times in the ring lately, losing three of his last four...Gaucher's sole victory was against what the Americans call "a member of the pork & bean brigade", Damaso Silvestre of Spain...At Marseilles promoter Charles Ouimet brought together touring South Afrikan heavyweights George "Boer" Rodel and Fred Storbeck in a limited rounds contest with four ounce gloves...The two novice pugilists had met before in December of 1901 at Pretoria with Storbeck prevailing, but this time Rodel gained the upper hand when the referee stopped the action in round two when a cut Storbeck had suffered in training reopened triggering the gendarmes to order a halt...Rodel's manager has cabled this office with a challenge to any English heavyweight to meet him in an eight round contest with a side wager of £50...