Cap's New and Improved Alternate Universe

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Briefs from The Toronto Telegram November 16-20, 1908...Charlie Gage won a crushing victory over former fellow stablemate Frank O'Malley last night in front of a capacity crowd at Mutual Street Arena. The Irish lad was coming off a one-round knockout of Quebec's Soldier Jones and was expected to force matters with the Canadian champion, but it turned out to be a fairly one-sided thrashing, with Gage sending him to the canvas no less than five times before finally ending it with a straight right to the jaw at 2:13 of the twelfth round. Gage weighed in at 189½, O'Malley 193¼. The loss brought O'Malley's record to 23-9-3 (17) while Gage is now 25-1-1(11), having defended his Canadian heavyweight title twice since winning it in November of last year...In the semi windup Arthur Pelkey defeated young Dai Griffiths, causing a stoppage at 1:23 of the tenth inning. Griffiths was game but Pelkey was much the stronger, putting him down in round six for an eight count, opening a cut in round seven, reopening the same cut in the next round and forcing referee Joe Francis to call a halt because of the profuse bleeding around Griffiths' eye. Pelkey weighed 206 and Griffiths 187¾. The Welsh lad just didn't seem to have the firepower to hurt the big man from Chatham. After his fight, Pelkey issued a challenge to Gage, claiming the champion was ducking him...Tommy Burns made the news on his comeback tour, outpointing Blackie McDonald over eight rounds. There were no knockdowns, but Burns was easily the superior of the local boy from Winnipeg. Burns expects to travel to Vancouver next to meet George Stanley who won a narrow decision over Bill Taylor of Alberta on Wednesday. A win over Stanley would likely guarantee Tommy a shot at the Canadian title next year...In an unexpected turn of events, Nova Scotia's young Clyde Parker, the East Preston fighter, managed to kayo Bert Kenny in the main event at Antigonish Arena last Tuesday. Kenny was the betting favourite and many accused him of going into the tank. Most unbiased observers however said that Parker was ahead going into the fifth round and had hurt Kenny just before the bell ending the previous round. In his dressing room, Kenny stated, "The kid caught me with one I didn't see coming. I've got no excuse."...At Mount Royal Arena Wilfrid Gagne (190¾) avenged a loss to Horace "Soldier" Jones (181) in May with a knockout in three rounds. This sets up a rubber match which should draw a standing room only Montreal crowd in the new year...Coaltown promoter Leo Roberts is moving heaven and Earth to bring together the new tiger Johnny Gillis of Sydney, Cape Breton and Al Lambert of Moncton, New Brunswick to headline a card in January with an open date at the King Street Arena. Most boxing pundits figure Gillis is still too green to take on Lambert when he has yet to go past six rounds. The unbeaten Gillis graduated from the Halifax DBF academy last winter...Hot off the wire. The IBU has made Sam Langford their number one challenger for the world title held by Luther McCarty...

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From the pages of the December 1908 Christmas issue of Mitt Slingers Magazine...Sam Langford has been named the IBU's premier contender for the world title currently held by America's Luther McCarty...McCarty has yet to catch on with the public in any meaningful way, largely perhaps because of his defensive style and his lack of a strong personality...Langford doubtlessly owes his prestigious position to his defeat of Harry Wills "The Black Panther", not once, but twice. As for Wills, he slides in behind the Canadian thanks to his wins over both Fred Fulton and Billy Miske...The question on the minds of many US promoters regards the Manassa Mauler Jack Dempsey and his cunning manager Doc Kearns. Will they challenge Wills for his American heavyweight title or stay in California and bide their time until they get a crack at the world championship...Fulton, the Minnesota Giant, wants another shot at McCarty but he has already been told he needs a big win or two before that door opens up...Gunboat Smith clings to a spot in the top ten and has signed with a promoter to fight Billy Miske in January or February...Tom Cowler was pondering a return to Merry Old England until someone suggested he might get a sizeable purse headlining a card in Toronto with the Canadian heavyweight champion Charlie Gage. His manager Jim Corbett was interested enough to travel there and seek an audience with Tom Flanagan...As for Gage, he was exploring his options. He could fight someone like Cowler or New York's John Lester Johnson, or defend his Canadian title belt against Tommy Burns when Burns had restored himself as a real gate attraction...Ern Waddy found himself floundering despite having sent Jack Johnson back into retirement. Offers to his manager were small potatoes, a few hundred dollars to fight men like Bud Gorman, Kid Norfolk and Bill Brennan. Cables from Hugh Mcintosh back home in Australia proffered princely sums to return and fight Albert Kid Lloyd at Rushcutters Bay. So Waddy was leaning towards going home...In Europe, promoter Ray Charrington was angling to get a match made between his latest star Dave Hawkes of Australia and EU champion Colin Morrison of Scotland, but the British boxing board was pressuring the National Sporting Club to force Morrison to defend his title against Bombardier Billy Wells first. Morrison ignored both parties and signed with a promoter in Scotland to meet Edinburgh's 15th ranked Rab Dickson, as was his right in his first title defence...

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Monday, May 18, 1908. Montreal. St Denis Street Gym. Horace "Soldier" Jones KO 1 Wilfrid Gagne.

Thursday, November 19, 1908. Montreal. Mount Royal Arena. Wilfrid Gagne KO 3 Soldier Jones.

Wednesday, January 6, 1909. Montreal. Mount Royal Arena. Wilfrid Gagne contre Soldier Jones..??

Billed in one or two local papers like Le Devoir and Le Journal de Montréal for the heavyweight championship of Quebec (Not recognized by the CPBF)

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The Brussels HQ of the International Boxing Union issues the list of the top heavyweight prospects as of December 1908. A pair of unbeaten lads head the Canadian contingent in Johnny Gillis and Jack Renault, but Big Al King and Jeff Baldwin, two boys from Hamilton, Ontario do not lag far behind. Jack Grindal has been a surprise for Australian boxing fans but Dave Nelson has performed pretty much as expected. Jack Leahy, a big kid with some good skills looks to be the best out of New Zealand since Alec Pooley. As for Europe Piet Vanderveer and Gert De Vries from the Netherlands look the best of the current crop. In the amateur class Ovila Chapdelaine of Montreal won the Canadian amateur title at middleweight but will be joining the ranks of professionals as a heavyweight fighting under the ring name of Jack Delaney. Of the Europeans England's Phil Scott, the new European amateur champion, appears the best of the lot...

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The top prospects from the USA and Latin America are good but none show championship quality yet. The big Argentine Luis Firpo may be a real force to reckon with, certainly a threat to UBAL title holder Valerio Ruelas. The amateurs may turn out to outshine this year's prospects. US amateur middleweight champion Tommy Gibbons will be fighting as a heavyweight along with New York's Tommy Loughran. Feab Sylvester Williams alias George Godfrey is also turning pro after easily winning the amateur US heavyweight competition in November.

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Jottings from the desk of Hamish MacBeth senior sports editor of the Glasgow Sporting News January 4-8 1909....

Amsterdam - In his last bout as a prelim fighter, Piet Vanderveer knocks out England's Corporal Harris in two rounds, forcing Harris' corner to toss in the sponge. The fight is the curtain raiser for the Cornelis Koln - Samuel Glasoog welterweight clash.

London - In his first fight with an American boxer since his win over Joe Bonds back in Australia in 1906, Dave Hawkes dominates the action against Sailor White. He easily takes the first two rounds, then boxes on the defensive in three and four luring White into his punching range. He lands a hard shot on White's head early in round five then drops him with another squarely on. Referee Joe Palmer counts White out at 1:32.

The co-feature at Blackfriar's Ring features Frank Goddard (14st) and American plowboy Al Palzer (15st 2lbs.) in a wild melee as both throw caution to the winds swinging away toe to toe. Goddard is down in round one and Palzer is dropped twice in round 2. Goddard is cut and hits the deck again in round five. Palzer is knocked down three times in round six, ending the fight on a TKO at 2:51.

Thursday Jan.7 Gaumont Palace, Paris. Georges Carpentier looks a winner as he puts young Marcel Nilles down early in round one, but Nilles comes back strong in succeeding rounds, working the body. Carpentier goes down in round eight but recovers and takes round nine. In round ten he takes considerable punishment and slumps to the canvas. He beats the count but Nilles is all over him landing lefts and rights at which point the referee jumps in and stops it to save Carpentier from a knockout. The end comes at 1:49 of round ten.

Friday January 8 Scotland's National A.C. Colin Morrison (13st 7lbs) defending his EBU heavyweight title against Rab Dickson (13st) of Dumfries. The end comes at 2:35 of round four. Dickson edges the first two rounds with slick boxing, but Morrison finds his footing in round three and hammers Dickson to the floor. The bell saves Dickson but he takes another thumping in round four and goes down again, this time taking the full count...In the main preliminary Dan MacAlistair (15.3) of Ft. William takes a bloody eight round decision over Glasgow's Fred Drummond (14.9), knocking him to the floor five times, three for nine counts.

Retired: Wm. Iron Hague (Eng.), Giuseppe Sciacca (Ita.), Dan McGoldrick (Scot.), Dave Merrick (Eng.), Alphonse Dumoulin (Fra.).

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Just a quick word here regarding the ridiculous number of views my posts are suddenly getting. I'm told they are the result of bots. So don't take them seriously. I don't.

Cap

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Excerpts from The Sydney Sporting Gazette January 13-15, 1909...Thanks to the warm reception given to his earlier show at the Stadium, promoter Hugh Mcintosh brought together the ANZBF No.4 ranked Sid Neilsen (12.13) and No.3 ranked Colin Bell (14.1) in a return match for a purse of £250 with a guarantee the winner would meet champion Al Kid Lloyd in March. As in their previous go the two men set right to work at the bell, Neilsen aiming for Bell's head and the Moree fighter focusing on the Dane's body. Both men, however, seemed wary of the other's power and took few big risks early on. As the rounds sped past Bell blocked cleverly at times, but Neilsen was landing the more effective blows and slipping back before his larger foe could set himself. As in their first encounter, the contest went the full ten rounds, but this time there was no draw, the verdict went decidedly to Neilsen. In the semi windup Young Peter Felix walloped Jack Howard from ringpost to ringpost for most of eight rounds, and only Howard's incredible stamina enabled him to remain on his feet. Most observers gave the local man two of the eight rounds, with perhaps one even, but it was clear the Brisbane pugilist was the better man. Just prior to the main event, Mcintosh announced that Ern Waddy had departed America on a steamship bound for home. This was met with a loud cheer and much applause...In the meantime, Champion Lloyd is considering his options while touring the country boxing exhibitions...Last night at the Hippodrome a big house saw Gordon Coghill (13.8½) outclass South Africa's Fred Storbeck (13.13) on points in ten good rounds. Coghill was too clever though Storbeck occasionally hit hard, even putting his foe down once for a brief count, and did well to see the contest out with minor damage...Dimitris Nikolaou and Pat Doran met at Nathan's Athletic Hall on Thursday evening for Doran's claim to the Victoria State title. For ten rounds the husky Greek made the pace a cracker, and had the crowd shouting and cheering excitedly. He belted Doran on the jaw with fierce well-aimed right swings and had him groggy and ready to go, only to see him saved by the bell. There was little disagreement when Nikolaou's hand was raised in victory. Prior to the main contest, Dave Sonter and Jack Grindal fought a lively scrap for eight rounds, ending in a disappointing draw. The crowd had been informed the winner would meet the winner of the main go...At Adelaide supporters of George Cook feel he was robbed of a win Wednesday when his fight with Bill Walsh was stopped and awarded to Walsh because of a cut over George's left eye. Even referee Paddy Basto had had Cook ahead on points going into the fatal last round...

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From the Chicago Daily News January 12-15, 1909... As the boxing world anxiously awaits the upcoming championship contest between Luther McCarty and Sam Langford, fight fans content themselves with battles for lesser crowns...Thanks to a scarcity of willing opponents against whom to defend his American title, Harry Wills found himself in the ring against the once formidable behemoth from Oklahoma, Carl Morris. Despite receiving low blows, head butts and rabbit punches, Wills took the fight to Morris and inflicted terrific damage to his head and bulky frame. By the opening of the seventh round Morris was a bloody, stumbling mess. Short hard blows put him on the canvas for counts of eight, and when he rose the second time, Referee Barry stepped in and saved him from further mayhem. "The winner, by technical knockout at 2:02 of the seventh round, and still US heavyweight champion, Harry Wills!"...Fred Fulton's loss to New York's pocket heavyweight John Lester Johnson is an early candidate for upset of the year. Fighting in front of his own hometown crowd, Fulton (210¾) boxes Johnson (186½), landing hard left jabs to his face. Fulton is playing to the crowd, easily taking the first three rounds. In the fourth he relaxes his guard for a moment and Johnson strikes! A punch lands on Fulton's temple and his legs wobble. Johnson goes for the kill, landing punch after punch. Fulton stumbles across the ring with Johnson in hot pursuit. Johnson catches Fulton propped up against the ropes and smashes home lefts and rights, rocking Fulton's head until referee Barton leaps in and stops the slaughter. Fulton staggers back to his corner unaware the fight has been stopped. Official time 2:44 of round four and we have a new NABF heavyweight champion...According to United Press International, "Jack Dempsey of Utah knocked out highly touted contender Billy Miske in five rounds of fierce scrapping in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Dempsey used a shift on Miske with telling effect, landing heavily and forcing him to clinch or go to the canvas. Early in the fifth round Dempsey caught Miske a terrific clip on the chin with a left uppercut, lifting him a foot off the floor and depositing him on his back where he was swiftly counted out. Dempsey's dancing and rocking baffled the St Paul boy. The Gate was $18,523. Dempsey fought for a guaranteed $5,000 for this defence of his Pacific Northwest title. Miske drew down about $3,500...At Manhattan's Hippodrome last Tuesday evening, Kenosha's Bud Gorman (18-2-2) was carded for eight rounds with Philly's Honeyboy Wilson (20-4-2) as half of a co-feature. Gorman shaded Wilson so there could be little dispute at the close of battle as to whom would take the winner's share...

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Details from the morning edition of The True Loyal American January 1909..."Luther McCarty put on an abysmal display against an opponent over whom he had all physical advantages in the stumpy Canadian Sam Langford. For seven rounds he simply sparred with Langford, using a long left jab to keep him away as though frightened of him. Few hard blows were landed by either pugilist and fans began stomping their feet and hollering at the referee to force some sort of action. Following a particularly dull frame in the seventh, featuring mauling and wrestling and half-hearted punching, Sam Langford sprang from his corner at the bell to begin the eighth and slammed a dynamite-laced right hander on McCarty's exposed jaw. The champion sank to his knees, took a three count, then wobbled erect, lurching into the windmill assault of the gnome-like Langford. Down he went again, this time failing to rise until the referee's toll of eight. It was at this juncture that McCarty's manager regretted his acceptance of the IBU's three knockdown rule. Seconds later another haymaker put the big cowboy on the seat of his pants and the fight was over. America has lost the heavyweight championship of the world!"

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Notes from the desk of Frank Allnutt, senior sports reporter for the Toronto Daily Star January 23-26 1909...At Ottawa Arthur Pelkey, the former national champion, received a gift decision over Frank O'Malley when their fight was called due to cuts suffered by the latter when he was well ahead on the Referee's scorecard. The result was deemed a technical knockout thanks to a referral from Doc Hoople to referee Joe Popp on the advise of Police Inspector JW Murray...Charlie Gage, the CPBF champion, was in steady training for two weeks while promoter Tom Flanagan worked the wires to find a suitable opponent when a Buffalo pugilist backed out. After some effort Flanagan and his usual booking agent dug up a west coast wonder by the name of Lee Anderson...Gage got the decision over Anderson at the Armouries last night. The Toronto lad justified the confidence his friends and supporters have in him by boxing a clever, well-judged bout from end to end. Anderson, used a peculiar shifting style and Gage took no chances with him in the early rounds. The Seattle boy appeared to have a distinct weight and reach advantage. Anderson scored frequently with his left, but Gage evened matters with ripping body punches. Gage did most of the leading and was ahead in most of the middle frames, even scoring a good clean knockdown in the eighth. Some felt Referee Francis was too quick to break them apart when their hands were free to punch...In the semi windup Dai Griffiths has apparently ended the ring career of Laurie Mackenzie forcing a stoppage of their contest in the seventh round after delivering a one-sided beating to the local veteran...Monday In Montreal Wilfrid Gagne finally met Soldier Jones at Mount Royal Arena after several delays. Jones had first battled through a case of the flu, then weather postponed a second meeting before another open date appeared. Unfortunately for Jones, Gagne was in top form and managed a clear decision after ten rounds...Word from Vancouver is Tommy Burns came back from way behind to score a knockout of George Stanley in the 9th stanza of their ten rounder at Steveston Arena. A ringside poll had Stanley leading five rounds to two with one even when the knockout came. Burns was bleeding from a gash on his forehead and had been down for a short count in the eighth round. In his corner he was told he had to score a kayo to win or the fight would be stopped. Twenty-six seconds into that round Burns delivered a right cross to Stanley's chin that crumpled him up in a heap. The end coming at :43 of the ninth...In Coaltown a packed Rankin's Hall saw big Johnny Gillis of Sydney wipe the floor with the more experienced Al Lambert, putting him down multiple times and taking the six round nod...while over in Antigonish Clyde Parker made short work of his crosstown rival Sam Dixon, sending him to the canvas three times in the third round for a technical knockout...

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Monday February 22...Berlin Sportpalast. Paul Korner (14st 1lb) KO 8 Arthur Townley (13st 8lb).

Tuesday February 23...Salle Wagram, Paris. Ernst Rosemann (14st 11lb) W10 Einar Iversen (14st 13lb). Marcel Nilles (13st 6lb) W8 Jack Curphey (13st 1lb).

Thursday February 25...Premierland, London. 10rd main event. Charlie Weinert (13st 5lb) TKO 9 Dave Hawkes (14st 3lb). Paul Hamms (13st 13lb) KO 8 Frank Goddard (15st.0). Henry Hall (13st 7lb) W8 Matt Killeen (14st 6lb).

Friday February 26...National Sporting Club, London. Bombardier Billy Wells (13st 9lb) W10 Otto Flint (13st 11lb).

Saturday February 27...Scottish National A.C., Glasgow. Jan De Groot (15st 4½lb) KO 2 Colin Morrison (13st 7lb). 12 rds. European heavyweight championship. Lucien Brusque (13st 8lb) W8 Rab Dickson (12st 12lb).