[Cap]

Taken from The Buffalo Evening Courier - Sept 1898.....After a brutal struggle in which both men are left battered, bruised and bloodied Fireman Jim Flynn manages to avoid disqualification by referee Hiram Cook and retains his American heavyweight title against Jack "Big Six" McCabe stopping him in the eleventh round at Hazard's Pavilion....Three nights later in the same ring Sam McVea wears down big Ray Mercer in a terrific slugfest that sees the latter down five times before the fight is stopped midway through the 8th round....At New York's new Madison Square Garden 8,000 patrons are shocked to see Gus Ruhlin (196) knocked out cold by Irish Jack Burke (182) after dominating the fight through the first four rounds....France's Raymond Berenger draws a huge crowd to Montreal's Sohmer Park, many of them women, to see him box rings around an over-confident and slightly out of condition Mike Schreck for ten rounds to gain the referee's decision....World champion Jack Johnson refutes claims he is stale and out of shape by boxing three rounds each with two local amateurs at a Chicago gym....Johnson tells reporters he is in negotiations to defend his title early in the new year most likely at Chicago's Coliseum....