MAKES GOOD IN LONDON

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 45, 23 February 1938, Page 8

MAKES GOOD IN LONDON

SOUTH AFRICAN WRESTLER "BULLDOG BAER” IN FORM. Arriving in England practically unheralded, another South African 1 wrestler has been making good in oversea professional contests. He is A. A. van Zyl, who wrestles under the name of Bulldog Baer, and he is a pupils of Professor Jack Robinson, the well-known city wrestling and jiu jitsu instructor. In a letter to Johannesburg he tells how be made his first appearance on a London mat, when he defeated an Australian, Tommy Nilan, in 17 minutes. His performance created such a fine impression that he was given another contest, this time at Lane’s Club against a German wrestler named Heine Stuck, who was a stone heavier.

Bulldog Baer gained a fall in the first round with a cradle-hold and arm bar. His opponent was disqualified in the third round, when he kicked Baer, fracturing one of his ribs. “It took me about ten minutes to get to the dressing room,” Baer writes, "as hundreds of people blocked the way in order to shake hands with me.”