BATTLING SIKI

Northern Advocate, 6 February 1926, Page 8

BATTLING SIKI

t ■ PATHETIC SIDE OF CAREER. RUG-SELLER, DISH-WASHER AND waiter. The only time I made an attempt to' converse with Battling Siki was • ■ on the day .after his remarkable victory over Georges Carpentier, writes Trevor C. Wignall in the “Daily , Mail.’’ I had been taken by Des'edmps (Carpentier’s manager) to the offices of a Paris film company to see » the picture that had been taken the previous afternoon. -.There-was a doubt whether Carpentier had been tripped in the final instant and the film company had offered to show ■ a slow-motion film so as to settle the point.. Th.o chair on my right was empty and for a while I sat alone with Descamps. . Then, in the darkness, I - felt someone slip into the chair. When the lights went up I saw* that my .. neighbour was a scared-looking coloured man, but it was much later before I recognised him as Siki. As he was the one person I wantedto meet I started to question him, and I remember now very vividly that although his mouth moved in reply not a sound passed his lips. I realised then that he was too dazed r and too dumbfounded by all that had happened to speak a word. I left him alone for a time and then again asked 3 him some simple questions. He was still silent, and the best he could do, indeed, was to glare at me somewhat piteously. In the end I. gave him up as a bad - job—l had failed to geu.a word from ' him. That afternoon at least he wasa grown man with the mind and men- . tality of an infant. ► SIKI’S DOWNFALL. Three hours later I saw what was . actually the start of his downfall. • Siki then was in a cafe, and surrounding him was a crowd of men and women who were doing everything save worship him. The previous evening I had seen him being carried in triumph along the boulevards;' had seen men ■ rush up to shake his hand and women ■ fling their, arms about his neck and kiss him. But on this second night the demonstrations were even more- fulsome. And Siki was rapidly changing. He was strutting, aiming blows at those who neared him, upsetting tables, and calling upon all and sundry to drink his health. Six weeks passed. Then I saw him again. This time he was holding up ; the bar of a well-known hotel with a revolver. That, as a matter: of fact,- - had by then become his favourite form otf: amusement. He had been so thoroughly spoiled tjiat he had completely lost, his head. . ■ He was never satisfied unless he was • doing something that kept him: in the centre of notoriety. He bought a lion for the sole purpose of taking it to a night club that had refused him admission, and it was his common habit, fpr weeks, to collect a few white friends and enter restaurants which i barred coloured people and insist on being served with'wine. HANDCUFFED. When he fought M’Tigue in Dublin two years ago he was taken to Ireland - handcuffed to a man who had been specially employed to look after him. The greatest difficulty was encountered in getting him to leave France. First he would flot go because his wife would not travel with him, then he refused to budge until his many dogs were also givgn accommodation in the boat, and finally he had to be reduced to a state of semi-conseiousness before anything could be done (with ‘ him at 'all. I was sitting close to Carpentier during the contest. In the seventh round a man behind us yelled something which annoyed Carpentier. He replied heatedly in French; but the quick ears of Siki heard what was . said, and instantaneously he forgot that he was fighting M’Tiguc and made as though to leap at Carpentier. I am convinced that he would have ( done so had it not been for the fact " .that .as he turned M ’Tigue struck him . on the nose. Siki’s real name was Louis Phal, ( and he was born in Senegal on September 16, 1897. He started to box , in 1912, but prior to that he had work- . ed in many capacities in France. , He was among other things a rug- , seller, a dish-washer, a guide, a , “ chucker-out ’ ’ in Montmarte.. cafes, a I-- : : : :

I waiter, and an ill-paid sparring partner. Before meeting Carpentier he never earned more than £2O for a fight. His selection as Carpentier’s opponent was peculiar. The latter particularly \vanted to appear before a Paris crowd, and six names were suggested to him —four Englishmen, one Frenchman, and Siki. CARPENTIER BATTERED. The Senegalese was chosen because he was the cheapest of the lot, and also because it did not appear likely that he would even lay a glove on Carpentier. The result of the fight is still too well remembered to need much recapitulation. Siki fought like a novice in the first round, but then, maddened by Carpentier’s contempt (there is no other word for it) he suddenly became an animal. After battering Carpentier as few men had ever been battered before, he finally knocked him out in the sixth round. Months later Siki created a sensation by declaring that the match was a fatye. Carpentier denied this, and it will be recollected that an inquiry was held in Paris and Carpentier’s statement on the matter accepted. Siki never did anything worth while after defeating Carpentier. He was prevented from boxing in England by Order of the Home Secretary, and it is pot so long since that, he was ordered to be'deported from the United States. His’ untimely eiul will not be regarded as' surprising by anyone who knew, him.' , ' I