Thursday, June 28, 2018

1915-09-28 Ted (Kid) Lewis W-UD12 Jack Britton [Atlas Athletic Club, Armory, Boston, MA, USA]

1915-09-29 Boston Journal (Boston, MA) (page 10)
TED 'KID' OUTCONDITIONS BRITTON
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CLEVER EXHIBITION AND RECORD CROWD
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Wiley Englishman Scores a Knockdown in the 11th Round.
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By Jack Malaney.

Backing up the judgment passed in their previous meeting, Ted "Kid" Lewis, the English lightweight, defeated and won the decision over Jack Britton of Chicago at the Atlas A. A. last night. It was a limit battle and went the 12 rounds scheduled.

Their first meeting here Aug. 31 was what easily could be called a ferocious affair. Last night's battle was as clever as the other one was fierce. Throughout the entire distance, it was an extremely clever exhibition of what a pair of able boxers can do when they want to. Skill prevailed as also did coolness. At all times also were both men fully in control of themselves. It seemed like a well-planned battle.

Estimated Crowd at 6500

Possibly the largest crowd that ever saw a bout in this city greeted the boxers. No figures were given out but a fair estimate would be about 6500. And it was a very fair and unprejudiced crowd, willing to cheer the men who flashed and landed the best blow.

Early in the evening before the bout started, it appeared as if there would be some trouble in getting the men together. As had been announced, Billy Roche of New York had been picked as the referee. When Britton reached the Arena, he declared that he would not enter the ring if Roche was going to be the third man and it looked like a deadlock as Jimmy Johnson, Lewis' manager, wanted Roche.

Two Judges Decide It

This matter was finally patched up. The arrangement decided upon brought in Dan Lane, president of the Atlas A. A., as referee, with Billy Hamilton, a well-known boxing writer, and J. S. Spargo acting as judges. The decision was to be made by the judges, but in case they didn't agree Lane would have decided. But Dan did not have to get in on the decision, for it was the unanimous opinion of the judges that Lewis was the victor.

Weight played a big part in the contest. Britton can attribute not a little of the defeat to the fact that he was drawn down too fine. They had agreed to weigh 138 pounds at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Whether intentionally or not, Britton got himself down to 136½ pounds, for that is what he weighed at the scheduled time. Because of the fact that Britton failed to weigh in for their last bout, Lewis did the same thing this time and did not show up at all to get on the scales.

Britton Cannot Reduce So Low

That Britton cannot make such a low poundage was ably demonstrated last night. For nine rounds he went along smoothly and nicely, but in the tenth session he started to appear leg weary, and he got worse as the bout progressed.

In the 11th the battle was practically settled when Lewis surprisingly toppled Britton. After about a minute's work in this round, Britton ran into a straight left hand wallop and dropped to the canvas. He was not down long enough to be counted over, but the fact that he had been spilled, counted. When he was on his feet again, Lewis got after him and Jack never before looked so poor in this city.

Left Jabs in Every Round

In nearly every round, it was a contest of puzzling left jabs. They both made this method their principal form of attack. While Lewis was also hopping around and shooting straight ones in, neither man could be said to have been the aggressor, so fast was the milling.

In the first half of the bout Britton, with all his coolness and cleverness, was quietly scoring. Not only was he shooting in little jabs in one-two order, but he was making Lewis miss by the dozen.


1915-09-29 The Boston Daily Globe (Boston, MA) (page 6)
LEWIS DEFEATS BRITTON AGAIN
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English Lightweight Has Best of It in Bout Here.
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Chicago Boxer Did Not Display His Customary Hitting Power.
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Ted Lewis, the English lightweight, showed again at the Atlas A. A. last night before the largest crowd of the season there. He showed that he was a better boxer than Jack Britton of Chicago, for he again got the award in their 12-round bout.

Lewis outscored Britton so much in last night's bout that Britton's manager, Danny Morgan, acknowledged that Lewis was entitled to the decision.

The bout was not so good as their previous one, for there was not so much action. Britton did not appear to have his old punch and evidently lost power by doing too much training and getting down to the weight--138 pounds.

Lewis did not weigh, as he wanted to get even with Britton for not weighing in the last time they met here. Billy Roche of New York had been selected as referee when the match was made, but Britton would not stand for the arrangement, and Dan Lane, president of the club, acted as the referee, while Billy Hamilton and J. S. Sparge, two newspapermen, officiated as judges. They were unanimous in giving the decision to Lewis.

Most of the battling was at long range and Britton was the aggressor in most of the sessions.

The judges figured that Britton gained the honors in only three of the rounds, while Lewis led in seven rounds. In the other rounds the boxing was about even.

Lewis was as speedy as in the previous meeting and he showed that he had power in his left, for he put Britton down with a left hook on the nose.

Britton hooked the left to Lewis' stomach a few times, but the blow did not appear to have much force behind it. In the infighting, Lewis had the better of it. Both tried repeatedly with their rights but good blocking prevented most of the punches from reaching the jaw. Those Britton landed did not appear to bother Lewis. After the sixth Britton began to show signs of tiring, while Lewis worked as he did in the early sessions and from the 10th to the finish made Britton look bad.

Lewis put Britton down in the 11th and tried hard to win by a K. O., but Britton blocked off his punches so well that none reached the right spot.

In the semifinal Joe Eagan and Charley Byers provided some lively boxing. Eagan was too clever for Byers and won at the end of eight rounds. In the opening bout Kid Thomas of Lawrence won the award over Teddy Murphy in six rounds, and in the other preliminary Willie Green defeated George Brooks in six rounds.

The program for next week calls for a 12-round bout between Charley White and Matty Baldwin, an eight-round go between Joe White and Patsy De Lucca and six-round preliminaries between Bat McFarland and Cy Goodwin and Charley Sheppard and Bat Carroll.


1915-09-29 The Boston Herald (Boston, MA) (page 4)
TED LEWIS IS AWARDED DECISION OVER BRITTON

Ted Kid Lewis of England defeated Jack Britton of Chicago in a 12 round bout at the Atlas A. A. last night. Britton was hardly up to the form he showed here a little over a month ago, when he also lost the decision to Lewis.

Britton simply was not there with anything last night. After the fourth round he petered out and the blows he landed, which were not any too frequent did not bother Lewis. The latter, on the other hand, never appeared to better advantage. He had the best of nine of the 12 rounds.

Lewis scored the only two knockdowns. In the eleventh he put Jack to the mat with a perfect left jab and again in the last round Britton was flopped for a few seconds.

At the last minute Britton's manager put up his usual objection. He refused to accept Billy Roach of New York, who was to have refereed the contest. It was finally agreed to accept two experts as judges, and President Daniel Lane of the club acted as referee. There was little for the club director to do, as the judges were quick to reach a decision.

Joe Eagan defeated Charley Byers of the South End in a hard eight round bout. Young Thomas of Lawrence defeated Teddy Murphy in six rounds and George Brooks of Cambridge defeated Willie Green of South Boston in six rounds.

Matty Baldwin was announced as matched with Charley White of Chicago for 12 rounds next Tuesday night. Joe White of South Boston and Patsey De Lucca of the North End will meet in the semi-final bout.


1915-09-29 The Boston Post (Boston, MA) (page 12)
Ted Kid Lewis Beats Britton
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English Boxer Has Seven Out of Twelve Rounds Fought With Honors Even in Two.
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BY DOC ALMY

Jack Britton of Chicago received a second licking last evening at the hands of Ted Kid Lewis of England, at the Atlas A. A., and, while the affair lacked the streaks of viciousness that marked their contest in this city on Aug. 31, it was a remarkable battle, and will go down as one of the best ever fought in this city.
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HAS SEVEN ROUNDS

The contest went the full 12 rounds distance, with Lewis having seven out of the dozen to his credit. Two were even while Britton showed in front in but three, consequently it is apparent to the reader that his defeat last evening was far more decisive than the former upset he received here.

Fully 6500 fans witnessed the contest, representing all walks of sport and business life, the largest gathering that has ever assembled about a Boston ring with the possible exception of the Smith-Langford and Walsh-Kilbane fights.

And, as on the former Britton-Lewis occasion, the fans were with the Englishman all the way, and received the verdict with approval, despite the fact that the wagering about the town had made Britton a last minute favorite.

"Dumb" Dan Morgan, called so because he allows no one else to do any talking, as usual earned the ill-will of the gathering for his man by starting the customary wrangle. This time the burden of the song was Billy Roche, the New York referee, imported for the occasion by the club, to whom Morgan objected.

Lane Referees

As usual the club, under the force of circumstances, gave in, and finally Dan Lane, president of the club, was agreed on as the third man in the ring. But there must be two judges to assist Mr. Lane, so Billy Hamilton and J. S. Spargo, sporting writers, were nominated and elected.

When their decision was called for at the close of the bout they were a unit for Lewis, but such an agreement was not difficult, as the battle put up by Britton was far inferior to that of Aug. 31.

As for this battle he actually made weight, tipping the scales at 136 1-2 at 3 o'clock, while Lewis turned the tables by not weighing, it is to be presumed that this affected his work. His punches, while far cleaner than those of Lewis in the main and also better delivered, lacked the usual sting behind them and never at any stage did he have the Englishman in anything like serious trouble.

The Britisher for his part did a lot of landing with the open gloves, pawing and flicking as is his wont, but at that his fists were closed frequently enough to mar up the Chicagoan.

Britton Loses Steam

In the last rounds it seemed probable that Britton would not be on his feet to hear the final bell, for in the 11th Lewis hooked him to the jaw with a fine left and sprawled the Morgan protege on the mat. He was up in an instant, but the punch and drop to the canvas took a whole lot of steam out of him and at that stage he had none to spare.

The earlier sessions were tame, both men using their left hands almost exclusively, passing out an assortment of jabs, swings and uppercuts that did little damage. Britton carried his right as if he intended it for a museum exhibit and feared he might lose it, but about the sixth frame, when both began to warm, he came out of his trance and let it go once in a while. Presumably, the old alibi stuff about a broken hand will be put forth.

Britton came out apparently determined to make a quick cleanup. Lewis greeted him with two lefts and a right to the ribs, a sample of in-fighting that shaded that put forth by Britton throughout the bout. They clinched, and Lewis put his left to Jack's nose and Britton landed a left on the Britisher's head.

Jack jabbed left to face and pushed his man about the ring, forcing the fighting. Britton's left again went to the face and he duplicated with two more lefts. Lewis caught him with half a dozen straight lefts and swings to the neck and mouth. No damage--Lewis' round by a shade.

Britton Crowds Lewis

As in the first round, Britton took the initiative and crowded his man. Lewis swung a left and it landed on Britton's shoulder. Lewis tried a left jab and missed and Britton caught him in the mouth with a beaut. Lewis jabbed left to face and got one back that sent him dancing about the ring and Jack followed him, putting lefts to the face. Lewis tried Britton's trick of Aug. 31, i. e. used the heel of his glove on Jack's mouth and the crowd hissed.

Lewis opened the third by missing twice with his left and getting a left jab and hook to the jaw. Ted put left to chin and Britton came back with another jab and left hook.

Lewis Is Aggressor

Ted became the aggressor in real earnest on the opening of the fourth. He put a left swing to the neck and two straight lefts to Britton's mouth. They exchanged lefts and Ted scored again with left jab to mouth. Lewis worked a fine one-two, left and right straight punches to the face and the crowd cheered him.

It was the sixth when the real hard fighting of the evening really commenced. Jack missed with a left hook, but repaired the accident by connecting on the next attempt. Lewis danced in and out and shot left to mouth. Britton unslung his right for the first time and uppercut to body and repeated. He drove Lewis into a corner and plastered him with lefts and rights.

The seventh was a corker with Lewis forcing matters. He opened hostilities with a left swing to the neck and at close quarters outfought Britton to the "fare-the-well."

The eighth round was another fine one with every minute full of fighting. Lewis forced Britton against the ropes and had the better of the milling by a good margin. It was Lewis' round.

Britton won the margin in the ninth, his last look at anything like a victory, but he was pretty well fought out, nevertheless, and had a decided worried look. The next three frames were the Englishman's beyond question.

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