NAVAL VETERAN'S FIST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21650, 21 May 1932, Page 16

NAVAL VETERAN'S FIST

—— -» MAN WHO FLOORED “JOHN L.” :< THE HERO OF WOOSUNG. Commander Frederick Davies, the 84-year-old retired naval officer, who was rescued from his home in the Shanghai battle zone by two British volunteers, is now revealed as the man who engaged the famous John L. Sullivan, the bare-knuckle champion, in a fight at a Cardiff hotel, in 1888, which ended in Sullivan being cleanly floored for the first time in his life. The story of the famous fight was told to a Daily Express representative recently by a friend of the old naval hero. “Davies of Woosung, as he is known by every foreign resident in China,” he said, “ is a grand old man with a kaleidoscopic personality. For many years ho has been * mine host ’ of the Forts Hotel, down on the shore near the Whangpoo’s wide, grey mouth, the rendezvous for the jaded Shanghai motorist on a hot night or sultry week-end.” The hotel is the only possession in the world of the commander, and when he was rescued the Union Jack was flying over his home, while shells and bombs dropped all round. “ Commander Davies took to boxing in his very early days, and when he was still a youngster he joined the London Pelican Club. Later he became one of the original members of the National Sporting Club. “At 84 years of age he is still a ‘ hefty ’ man, with the eyes of a fighter and the jaw of a sticker. He docs not often talk of his fight with the great Sullivan, but when‘he does his eyes light up with a twinkling glint, as ho recalls that day more than 10 years ago. “It was not a bar-room scrap,” sail the commander’s friend. “It was a friendly fight after dinner in the Royal Hotel at Cardiff. After dinner Sullivan, as was his usual custom, said that if any man would care to box he would be willing to oblige. Davies was called upon to be his opponent. “ There was a good deal of excitement while they put on gloves, and although he was a little afraid, Davies went all out for him. He caught Sullivan a straight left on the jaw and ho went down. As he fell ho hit his head on the leg of the piano, and it was the end of the fight. Jack Ashton, his sparring partner, said afterwards that it was the first time Sullivan had been knocked clean down.”