Cap's New and Improved Alternate Universe

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Cut from The Toronto Telegram -October 24, 1894....The Canadian representative of the IBU orders an immediate rematch but both fighters refuse to agree without consulting their managers first....In the semi windup Sandy Ferguson wins a clear decision over a desperate Gus Ruhlin after 10 hard rounds....Queried about his performance by the Telegram Ferguson is unable to explain why he seemed to be having trouble putting together two or three good rounds in a row....As for the main event many fans wonder how George Chuvalo could have been denied a win when he managed to put Johnson down for a nine count in the fifth round....Referee Asquith refused to be interviewed by the assembled press....

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From the November 1894 issue of Mitt Slingers Magazine...Ticket sales for the Peter Jackson-Denver Ed Martin world heavyweight championship contest in San Francisco have been sluggish and some critics blame it on apathy in the country for a championship battle between two men of colour....In an exhibition outside his Los Angeles camp the champion knocks out a ponderous pork & beaner from Pennsylvania named Harry Lohmes in short order which edges up the odds in his favour....Ed Martin has moved his camp to Blankin's Six-Mile House outside San Francisco as he winds up his training and employs a couple of local pugs in sparring....Visitors to the sessions are impressed by his mobility and ability to block and slip punches....

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Cutting from the November issue of Mitt Slingers Magazine....Sanders goes on to mention that Martin is 9-1-0 with four KOs in his last ten fights and in the last two years has beaten guys like Mervine Thompson, Young Peter Jackson, Bob Armstrong (twice), Hank Griffin and former British Empire champion Bob Fitzsimmons...

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Excerpt from The Los Angeles Herald -Dec 1 1894....Peter Jackson (198) coasted to an easy decision over Denver Ed Martin (192) at Mechanic's Pavilion after taking control of the fight from the sixth round on....Once in command Jackson did just enough to maintain his hold over Martin with an unerring left jab to the head and neck and punishing right hand blows to the midsection....When he realized he couldn't beat the champion Martin did what he could to last the fifteen round limit....In the semi windup Jack Munroe of Canada earned a 10 round decision over Hank Griffin after which the California veteran heavyweight announced his retirement....In a six round preliminary Oxnard's Sam McVea easily outpointed Omaha's Terry Mustain...

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Excerpt from The San Francisco Call - December 27 1894....Following repeated challenges in the newspapers from Tom Sharkey World champion Peter Jackson suggests to the IBU Championship Committee that Sharkey their No.1 contender (a fellow Jackson had previously beaten) fight Jim Jeffries of California their new No.2 contender for the right to contest Jackson for his title....When the IBU agrees the National Athletic Club of San Francisco outbids the rival Olympic A.C. to stage the fight either at Woodward's or Mechanic's Pavilion offering the fighters 65% of the gate receipts to be split 60% to the winner and 40% to the loser....Both men agree to post a $1000 forfeit with the Call's sporting editor....

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Cutting from The Australian Star a Sydney daily - January 3, 1895....Corrie Sanders has expressed his intention to travel to Australia to challenge Joe Goddard for the British Empire title...In Johannesburg Bakari Olokun is asking the South Afrikan Boxing Union to sanction a rematch with Sanders for the national championship and offering the champion £150 as a side wager and 70% of any purse a club will be willing to put up....In its year-end issue The Referee selects Bill Squires of Narrabri as top prospect of the year and Billy McColl [unbeaten in his last 12 fights] as leading contender for the Australasian championship held by Harry Laing of New Zealand...

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Excerpt from The Detroit Tribune - January 14, 1895...At Cleveland highly ranked contender Jimmy Bivins went into a match over-confident and over-weight against veteran Klondike Haynes of Chicago and caught a tartar as Haynes took the fight to him at the get-go and never took a step back copping the decision of referee Walter Kelly....At Brooklyn's Royale A.C. Ray Mercer of Jacksonville Florida jumped on Mike Conley with a barrage of ten or fifteen punches that had the Ithaca Giant on queer street when the ref jumped in to save him....Marvin Hart did not impress the crowd in San Diego in his 10 round points win over Mike Brennan of Porta Costa....At Toronto's Commonwealth Arena John Scholes put on a boxing clinic in outpointing Jack "Big Six" McCabe over 10 fast rounds but never had the big man really hurt....On the same card young Johnny Jackson the ebony wildcat showed California's Jerry Quarry it may be time to hang them up...

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Cutting from The Toronto Telegram - February 1895...Some good fights coming up all over...At Montreal matchmaker Armand Bibaud has secured Sohmer Park Pavilion to stage his first major card featuring the big New Brunswick lad Sandy Ferguson and the Cincinnati Dutchman Mike Schreck ....On the undercard Bibaud's brother Sesostris is handling the corner of his latest find a former Ottawa River logger named Joe Montferrand.. ....James Corbett will defend his Pacific Northwest championship against Jack Johnson the Chicago heavyweight who beat him last year....George Chuvalo and Ray Mercer will fight for the vacant North American Boxing Federation title....John Scholes (17-1-1) will challenge Jack Munroe (25-5-2) for his Canadian heavyweight championship....Harry Laing of New Zealand will make another defence of his Australasian title when he meets Billy McColl of Armidale, NSW....

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Cuttings from The Los Angeles Herald, The Sacramento Daily Record-Union, and The San Francisco Call - March 1895....At Philadelphia Larry Frazier lost a decision to Philadelphia Jack O'Brien but won many new fans...Hazard's Pavilion in Los Angeles saw an out-of-shape John L Sullivan take a frightful beating from Oxnard's young bullock Sam McVea before the referee stopped the carnage in round five....Gus Ruhlin was likely behind on points when an ugly cut opened over Denver Ed Martin's left eye, blinding him and forcing referee John Eckhardt to award the fight to Ruhlin.....Abandoning his usual caution Jim Jeffries took the fight directly to his smaller foe and battered him from pillar to post coming within inches of knocking Tom Sharkey out in the ninth and tenth rounds....James Corbett and Jack Johnson put on a terrific display of scientific boxing much to the dismay of the uneducated mob who had paid to see gore....Referee Jack Welsh was asked about his decision and stated,"It was as pretty an exhibition of defensive boxing as I've ever had the pleasure to witness but neither man was able to hurt the other over the course of twelve rounds so I felt a draw was the fair call to make"....

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Clippings from The Coaltown Gazette and The Sydney Union Miner - March 1895....John Scholes was a betting underdog right up to fight time when there was a flood of Toronto money....Johnny Jackson the new champ's stablemate was in his corner lifting his spirits when the going was tough early on...Jack Munroe just seemed to run out of petrol after the seventh round...George Chuvalo was in the best shape he'd been in since he first won the NABF title weighing in at 14 st 8 (204) while Ray Mercer looked much heavier....In the only preliminary Moncton's Kid Williams won a rugged six round decision over "Iron Mike" Boden....Sandy Ferguson looked in top form and says he's ready to take on anyone his manager can sign up....Story on the western wire is Jim Jeffries is claiming the only reason he didn't knock out Sharkey is because he fractured his left arm in the third round....

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A cutting from The Barnsley Earwigger - March 1895....A Mr Egbert Daft-Shufflebottom of Number 23 Turley Street, Netherstoke was to present a sterling silver belt to the winner of the Taylor-Beckett contest but rescinded the offer when Ben Taylor failed to finish....So the British title remains vacant as promoters continue to search for two suitable contenders....[Editor's Note: Oddly Joe Beckett has not lost to a British opponent only to three colonials, an Austrian emigre and an Eye-talian....]

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Clipped from The Sydney Sportsman - March 1895....Harry Laing had Billy McColl down in round 8 for seven seconds and came within a good right hand of knocking him out....As the fight progressed McColl seemed to grow stronger and Laing just managed to hang on through the last round....At Foley's Hall Jimmy Henry outpointed Tut Ryan in a six round contest reduced from eight at Ryan's request....At White Horse Hall Jack Blackmore had the books in a panic when he stopped Steve O'Donnell on cuts in eight rounds....O'Donnell looked pale and a bit soft around the middle....Earlier in the programme Bill Squires scored a clean knockout in four rounds of Wallsend Smith......At Melbourne Athletic Hall Ned Ryan was in over his head against a motivated Mick Dooley who showed his old cleverness and superior skills against the Braiwood heavyweight...

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Clipped from The Halifax Chronicle - March 1895....In front of 11,000 spectators Joe Goddard and Corrie Sanders met to battle for Goddard's Empire championship and the winner's end of a purse of 150 sovs....In the first exchange at ring centre Sanders landed a terrific left square on the side of Goddard's head that sent him sprawling....The Barrier Champion stumbled up at nine and walked into a barrage of rights and lefts from the big South Afrikanner and dropped heavily to the canvas a second time....Referee Joe Cullen began tolling off the seconds again but seeing the glazed look in the prostrate Australian's eyes pointed to Sanders and awarded him the win....

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Excerpt from Mitt Slingers Magazine - April 1895...Jim Jeffries the American champion has been ordered by the IBU to defend his title in two months or vacate....Corrie Sanders retains his South Afrikan title and holds the British Empire title belt after his defeat of Joe Goddard....George Chuvalo is NABF champ and plans on defending his title against Marvin Hart at Toronto...James Corbett remains the Pacific Northwest titleholder after his draw with Jack Johnson and expects to defend it again against either Gus Ruhlin or Denver Ed Martin....Roberto Damiani is the European champion and has offers to defend his belt against Eire's George Gardiner and Frenchman Raymond Berenger....

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Excerpt from The Coaltown Gazette - May 1895...Ringside telegraphic report round by round from Detroit's Olympia arena of the George Chuvalo Vs Jimmy Bivins battle for the North American heavyweight championship....Also off the wire at Montreal's Mount Royal Arena Ross Delaney knocked out Bill Wilson in 4 rounds in the main event...On the undercard Phil Miller outpointed Gunner Arnold (6); Kid Williams outpointed Jean Lapointe (6); and Big Joe Montferrand (nee Hippolyte St-Germain) knocked out Pugg Hanlon in one round...At Toronto's Mutual Street Rink Jack Stewart knocked out Mike Boden in 4 rounds...At Dreamland Arena in Vancouver Jack Munroe stopped Patsy Cardiff in 7 rounds....At Sherman Rink in Calgary George McRay won a six round decision in a rematch with Colorado's Joe Dineen....At Massey Hall in Toronto Johnny Jackson outpointed Black Bill Brooks (6)....

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Posted outside the Montreal office of the North American Boxing Federation on St Catherine Street....Rankings after the Chuvalo-Bivins fight at Detroit.

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Cuttings from The New York Sun and The San Francisco Call - May 1895....Weeks of behind the scene wrangling between Jackson's manager Parson Davies and Jeffries' business agent W.A. Brady finally results in agreement to stage a championship contest in New York with purse offerings from local clubs ranging from $12,000 to $20,000....Tom Sharkey and his manager Tom O'Rourke failed to act swiftly enough when an offer was extended and were left out in the cold....Bob Fitzsimmons immediately suggests a fight at Los Angeles with Sharkey, side-stepping Jack Johnson who had wired a less lucrative offer to the burly ex-sailor the day before....

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Clippings from The San Francisco Call and The San Francisco Examiner - May 1895....Based on the result of their previous encounter Fitz's manager Martin Julian demands the lion's share of the purse or winner take all...The National Athletic Club of San Francisco puts up a $10,000 purse at which point Sharkey's manager Tom O'Rourke signs the initial articles pending his man's agreement to the terms....Then comes the biggest disagreement when both managers reject every name put forward by each other to act as third man....Finally both fighters agree to abide by the choice of the club and move into their respective training quarters Fitz at Sausalito and Sharkey near Seal Rocks....In the meantime Jack Johnson offers 65% of any potential purse to Marvin Hart or Gus Ruhlin if one will agree to meet him for ten rounds at a venue to be decided....Shortly after The Chicago Tribune claims Hart and Ruhlin will sign to fight each other at Madison Square Garden in New York City....Interviewed by The Examiner, Bob Fitzsimmons was asked what he'd been doing since his decision over Battling Ed Corcoran in January and told the reporter he'd been considering an invitation by the NSC in London to box their Joe Beckett and Eire's George Gardiner and keeping in shape by giving exhibitions on tour in the East and Mid-West....

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Torn from The Cleveland Courier - June 1895....At Madison Square Garden Jack Johnson clearly out-boxed the Akron Giant Gus Ruhlin over 10 rounds with the Ohio man barely laying a glove on him and taking considerable punishment in return....Ruhlin was down briefly in the ninth round from a short right uppercut...At Mechanic's Pavilion Denver Ed Martin took a six count in round 10 but otherwise dominated the action to take Jim Corbett's Pacific Northwest title...Referee John Brink gave Martin 7 rounds Corbett 3 with 2 even....Martin weighed 197 Corbett 181....Mike Schreck put himself back in the picture with a brutal three round knockout of fading star Jerry Quarry of Bakersfield....Adolphus "Jack" McCabe was robbed of a win thanks to the poor "judgment" of referee Wyatt Earp at Woodward's Pavilion when the former lawman ignored two clean knockdowns of Pittsburgh Jack Kelliher and the steady barrage of punches over the course of 10 rounds...One ringsider estimated "Big Six" out-slugged Kelliher almost 3 to 1 and added his voice to the chorus of boos as Earp walked back to the dressing rooms....Fighting before a hometown crowd in Louisville Kentucky Marvin Hart failed to impress with a boring punchout of old Mike Morrissey the "Tipperary Giant"....

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Excerpt from The Australian Star - June 1895....The IBU has directed the BEBC to sanction an elimination match between Harry Laing and Joe Goddard to establish a mandatory challenger for Empire champion Corrie Sanders....The National Sporting Club of New South Wales has offered a purse of £200 for a 12 round contest between Sanders and the winner of the Laing-Goddard fight...In the past three and a half years Laing has engaged in 19 bouts and only lost two and has defended the Australasian title four times....Goddard is 27-10-6 with 19 KOs and since May of 1893 has only lost twice....Goddard and Laing have split two previous contests....The Cumberland Athletic Club of Melbourne has offered to put up a purse of £125 plus a portion of the gate receipts to stage the Laing-Goddard battle....