1917-06-14 Ted (Kid) Lewis ND10 Jack Britton [St. Nicholas Arena, New York, NY, USA]

1917-06-15 New York Tribune (New York, NY) (page 13)

Lewis Outpoints Britton in Fast Ten-Round Bout

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Ted Kid Lewis, of England, won the twelfth of the series of bouts with Jack Britton, the welterweight champion of the world, at the St. Nicholas Rink last night.

Lewis had the better of six rounds; two, the fifth and sixth, were clearly Britton's, and the first and seventh could be called even without injuring either man's reputation.

In spite of the many rehearsals between this pair, the bout last night was sensationally fast, particularly the fourth and eighth rounds, when Lewis had Britton jarred from one-two punches to the jaw. Jack fought back fiercely, and the crowd roared approval as the men battled chest to chest in midring.

Lewis did his best work at long range, nailing Britton with stiff straight lefts to the face. Several times, too, Ted caught Jack on the side of the jaw with wicked right chops that spun the champion right around on his feet.


1917-06-15 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY) (page 10)

BRITTON BEAT LEWIS

Ted (Kid) Lewis fought a great battle against Jack Britton of Chicago in the St. Nicholas Rink last night, but Teddy weakened toward the end and Britton was entitled to the decision. In the first three rounds of battling Lewis was the aggressor, but the Englishman's punches were missing, and the ones that did not miss were blocked by the holder of the welterweight title. When the men came into the ring Joe Humphries announced that Britton had weighed in at 146½, while Lewis had tipped the beam at 144¼ pounds.

It was evident from the start that the fight was to be fast. Both men plunged in, and though Lewis looked to be battling hard, Britton's cleverness offset the Englishman's rushes. But at that Ted managed to land enough blows to get a lead in the first four rounds. From then on there was a different aspect to the battle. Britton began to fight. The manner in which he punched Lewis' body caused Jimmy Johnson's champion to weaken. The craftiness of Britton was very evident.

From the fifth to the end of the ninth rounds it was Britton's fight. He managed to block or get away from the punches aimed at him, and at the infighting game he was the master. In the last round Lewis made a rally, but it was not enough to give him the verdict. Except for a badly puffed nose on the part of Lewis, both fighters were unmarked at the last.


1917-06-15 The Evening Telegram (New York, NY) (page 10)

Lewis Beats Jack Britton in Ten Rounds

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With four rounds to his credit in his ten round bout Thursday night at St. Nicholas Rink against Jack Britton, the world's champion welterweight, Ted (Kid) Lewis earned the verdict inasmuch as his opponent garnered but three of the sessions while in a like number they broke even. The winner tallied the first, second, third and tenth, while the Chicago boxer scored in the fifth, sixth and ninth.

Britton was probably the more effective when he got home, but the peppery Lewis was a particularly busy proposition in a majority of the sessions. He proved an adept at holding immediately following his frequent landing of leads and swings, many of which, however, landed around his man's neck.

The champion fought in his usual nonchalant, "don't give a rap whether I'm outpointed or not" style and appeared "under wraps" most of the time. At other times he was most effective with his right hook to the body, which was apparently not relished by the Englishman. Britton's jabs at times had plenty of steam behind them, but there was not that continuation of effort seen which is felt to be in his makeup, but which is so seldom seen in his battles.

There was no period when either was in any serious difficulty. The men have met so frequently that in all likelihood each knows every move of the other. There were some well staged mix-ups which had the partisans of each on edge yelling for each to deal out a finishing punch, but that appears to be as far off as when they first engaged in battle, which was some dozen bouts or so back. With honors even coming into the concluding session there was a deal of ineffective mixing which looked fierce enough with the only result that in this instance Lewis was the one to come off with whatever honor is involved in getting the verdict.


1917-06-15 The Evening World (New York, NY) (page 16)

R. Edgren's COLUMN
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Britton and Lewis Box Fast Draw at St. Nicholas Rink.

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Copyright, 1917, by The Press Publishing Co.

(The New York Evening World.)

Jack Britton, now generally recognized as the welterweight champion of the world and Ted Lewis, who claims the European title, are at liberty to play the rest of their circuit. Their twelfth bout, or their one hundred and fifty-sixth round of boxing, was fought last night at the St. Nicholas Rink and at the finish the question of supremacy was as much in the air as ever. It was a good, fast draw.

Lewis didn't put over his promised knockout, but it wasn't because he didn't try. Countless times during the evening he swung his right with all his might, and if he didn't entirely miss landing he only managed to graze Jack's head, the clever local boxer always "riding away" with the punches.

The men fought at top speed all the way, and it is not hard to understand why they put up such even battles, as they know one another's styles so well and both are so adept at the manly art that they anticipate one another's moves and of course sidestep or block as the blows come their way.

Lewis started off as though he was confident of stopping Britton in short order. He was in the best of shape and put every ounce of steam he possesses back of his wallops, but as we said before, Jack was not on hand to receive the goods when or where they were delivered.

Towards the end of the bout Lewis slowed up considerably. This was not only because he saw it was practically useless to hit Britton "on the button," but because Britton greatly weakened him with a continuous bombardment in his mid-section.

It was odd to see these two clever ring performers pursuing different modes of warfare. Lewis usually was doing his best to drop one on Jack's chin that would spell curtains. Britton seldom tried to reach the head, but confined his hitting to Ted's body. One practically offset the other, with Britton once or twice landing the most effective blows, left hooks to the stomach that made Lewis double up and so temporarily paralyzing his muscles that his arms hung limp at his sides.

Britton's ability to just step back and cause Lewis's blows to fall to land by a fraction of an inch was a treat to watch. He was as cool as a cucumber throughout while Lewis displayed great eagerness to score a knockout and his face showed disappointment when he found he couldn't perform this feat.

When the bout was over and they were dressed for the street nobody would have guessed that they had just emerged from a slashing ten-round battle. If they had just quit playing checkers they couldn't have been less scathed.

"I would like to get Britton in another twenty-round match," said Lewis, after the bout. "It is pretty hard to stop him in ten, but now I think I have so much more stamina than he that I would surely wear him down over the distance."

Britton weighed 146 1-2 pounds and Lewis 144 1-4.


1917-06-15 The New York Herald (New York, NY) (page S5)

Lewis Outpoints Britton in Bout

Ted Lewis proved his superiority over Jack Britton, welterweight boxing champion, in their thirteenth bout in the roped arena, fought at the St. Nicholas Rink last night. The one-time English title holder earned his victory by outpointing Britton in seven of ten rounds.

Chopping right hand blows dealt from the elbow in a way employed by Kid McCoy, coupled with an aggressiveness not too frequently displayed by his opponent, contributed heavily to Lewis' success. Britton seemed to box at times under a restraining influence. Although Britton's most effective blows were those which he delivered to the body with such force in the fifth and sixth rounds as to cause his opponent to double up, he tried for the head in many others.

Britton's right hand blows directed at the jaw were not given the freedom of action one had a right to look for from a man whose purpose was the accomplishment of a knockout. But it was a bout that seemed to please all who attended. The eighth round in particular was a slashing affair, the men fighting toe to toe during the greater part of the three minutes.


1917-06-15 The New York Times (New York, NY) (page 10)

BRITTON AND LEWIS HAVE CLOSE BATTLE
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Chicago Welterweight Divides the Honors of Bout with Englishman.

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Jack Britton of Chicago, recognized world's welterweight champion, and Ted Kid Lewis, the English boxer, meeting in the ring last night for the twelfth time, furnished a fair-sized crowd of enthusiasts at the St. Nicholas A. C. with an interesting ten-round draw. The willing aggressiveness of the English boxer and heavy blows to the head which he landed with telling force on Britton in many of the rounds, earned him an even break in the honors for the bout. Britton, while his style was not as spectacular or interesting, nevertheless managed to land the cleaner blows in the latter rounds of the bout.

In fact after the first few rounds Britton settled down to his task, and taking the lead away from Lewis, forced him with a punishing attack to the stomach. The Chicagoan, incidentally, directed his efforts almost solely to Lewis's stomach, and the effects of this hammering was plainly noticeable as the contest progressed, and Lewis slowed perceptibly. Lewis earned the second, third, and fourth rounds; Britton got the fifth, sixth, and ninth, and the remainder were even.

In the early stages of the bout Britton was unsteady and wild and landed few effective blows. Lewis, carrying the fighting, aimed blows for the jaw, but the majority went wide or were taken easily by Britton, who "rode" with them. Quite a few blows were landed in the second, third and fourth rounds by Lewis, however, which shook up the title holder and made him wary, but Lewis, while his dashing style attracted the eye of the spectator, was unable to get past Britton's close guard with a clean, really damaging blow.

Lewis was evidently somewhat tired from his efforts in the first four rounds and in the fifth Britton took the lead. The Chicagoan found his rival a comparatively easy target for heavy blows to the stomach, and Britton sent these home with both hands, making little or no attempt to reach Lewis's face except with an occasional left hand jab; in the sixth session the title holder followed the same style of boxing. His cleverness and more effective hitting, coupled with his coolness in the face of Lewis's spasmodic rallies, earned him his share of the honors. Britton weighed 146½ pounds and Lewis 144¼ pounds.


1917-06-15 The Standard Union (Brooklyn, NY) (page 12)
Jack Britton and Ted Kid Lewis battled ten rounds to a draw last night at St. Nicholas Rink.


1917-06-15 The Sun (New York, NY) (page 13)

BRITTON AND LEWIS DRAW IN RINK BOUT
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Welter Champion Held to Even Terms by Englishman in Their 12th Meeting.

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By GEORGE B. UNDERWOOD.

The only way to decide the supremacy between Jack Britton, the American welterweight champion, and Kid Lewis, his English rival, is in a bout of twenty-five rounds or more. That much was shown in their ten round tilt in the St. Nicholas S. C. last night. It was the twelfth meeting of the two and as usual the bout ended with the honors in doubt. The only decision Referee Kid McPartland could have rendered, had he been empowered to do so would have been "a draw."

Lewis started out as if he intended to annihilate Britton. Ted shaded Jack in the first round and put it all over the champion in the second and third. Getting inside with rapid fire lefts and rights to the body, in the fourth Britton gained an even break in that round.

Keeping inside with his body bombardment and occasionally using a left hook to the head and crossing a right to the jaw, Britton took the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth rounds. The ninth, like the fourth was even, and by a whirlwind finish in the tenth Lewis took that round and gained an even break. Britton had four rounds, Lewis four and two were even.

Heretofore, Lewis did most of his execution with his left hook. He is a master with that blow. During the early rounds last night Ted used his right to good advantage. Britton, by beating the Kid to that punch by getting inside with drives to the body, turned the tide in the fourth.

Britton's body bombardment took the steam out of Lewis, brought him off his toes and slowed him up considerably. While he was up on his toes in the first three rounds Lewis landed at will with clean lefts and rights. The punches to heart and wind slowed him up, however, and between the fourth and the last rounds Britton had little difficulty in getting inside with snappy lefts and rights.

Once in the second round and twice in the third Lewis rocked Britton with right hand punches to the point of the jaw. Early in the fourth Lewis, employing a left shift, crashed home flush to the jaw for the most damaging blow of the bout. It shook the champion from head to heel. Britton's head cleared quickly, however, and he uncorked a fierce rally. He backed Ted about the ring and landed smashing lefts and rights to heart and wind.

As the bout progressed Britton frequently bluffed Lewis off with his right. All Jack at times had to do to keep Ted on the defensive was to poise that right hand.

The weights were announced as Britton, 146½ pounds; Lewis, 144¼ pounds.