THE RING

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4301, 9 March 1901, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE RING

OTTO CRIBB IN AMERICA. HIS SECOND BATTLE. .Woodward’s Pavilion was packed to the gallery window's last night with a crowd of eager, fight-thirsty, shouting enthusiasts, who did not shout in vain (says the San Francisco “Calk’ of Jan, 19). They saw a fierce and furious 20round bout between Otto Cribb, of Australia, and Charles Thurston, of Sun Francisco, that ended in a draw. After that they saw a nine-round fistic affair, more scientific but less tumultuous, that ended in a complete victory for “Jack” Root and a knock-out for George Byers, of Boston. It is safe to say that no such fight as that of Cribb and Thurston was ever seen in this city before’. For fierce onslaughts, terrific batterings, unquestioned and physically heroic gaineuess Thurston has no equal in tho business. And Cribb proved his mettle by accepting no small meed of jmuishment- In the sixteenth round, when tho sailing was fair and tho fight looked Cribb all over, Thurston crossed his right full smack upon the Australian’s jaw. The Antipodean went down, but not out, us was first thought. Many another—and hardy fighters at that—would have coveted tho ring floor for 10 seconds on such a .punch, but not Cribb. He got up dazed and bewildered, fought his round out under the most fearful odds, and came back for the next round strong enough to hold on. At the end of tho twentieth round Cribb was fighting stronger than his sturdy opponent. Referee “Jack” Welch called it a draw. Tho decision was eminently' satisfactory to Prom the start to the finish the fight was a fistic whirlwind. “This can’t last fi\*e rounds,” was heard all over the building at tho end of the second threeminute spasm. It lasted five and five more and five after that before anythng like a cessation of the pugilistic storm showed on the horizon. Then came the eventful sixteenth, when tho first brake was put on. Two rounds of comparatively subdued fighting followed, aud then they lashed at one another again. How long they would have continued is conjectural, the limit of human endurance seeming to have no place in the forecast of a fight between Cribb and Thurston, Thurston and Cribb furnished a twen-ty-course dinner of heavy dishes, any one of which would have satisfied the average ring-goer. Were it not for tho sixteenth round, Cribb would have proved himself the winner. .Once in awhile Cribb would be knocked down, not by telling blows, but when he was off his balance. In the thirteenth round Cribb clearly showed a superiority in hitting ability and ring comportment. After that Thurston was on the defensive, though strong, active, and eager when the two men mixed. So the fight went until tho sixteenth. This furnished enough heart excitement for the crowd to last a month. By a swift and sure right cross Thurston caught his antagonist on tho proper spot. Cribb went down and then scrambled to his feet when eight seconds had been called cu him. Then he showed how a fighter could save himself by duckling and clinching. Five times heywent down on the floor, but managed to stand the round and the fight.j Tho seventeenth and eighteenth rounds found Cribb a bit weak, but in the nineteenth and twentieth ho was tho aggressor and the stronger of the pair. While the fight was not of the scientific order, it was supercharged with exciting situations. Cribb was waiting all tho time to shoot his right on Thurston’s chin. Ho never connected just as lie planned, but Thurston did. Tho fight was a wild, roaring hurricane, with never a stop. Tho crowd was on edge, expecting anv time to see a wind-up of hostilities. With all the beating Thurston received all there was to show for it was a cut on tho left cheek, received in the eighteenth round.