Jake Kilrain's Life and Battles: Also, a Complete History of the Great International Prize Fight With Jem Smith for $10,...

Jake Kilrain's Life and Battles: Also, a Complete History of the Great International Prize Fight With Jem Smith for $10,...
ISBN-10
1332145906
ISBN-13
9781332145904
Category
Sports & Recreation
Pages
90
Language
English
Published
2015-08-04
Author
William Edgar Harding

Description

Excerpt from Jake Kilrain's Life and Battles: Also, a Complete History of the Great International Prize Fight With Jem Smith for $10, 000, the Police Gazwtte Diamond Belt and Championship of the World Jake Kilrain, the American champion, who fought Jem Smith for $10,000, the "Police Gazette" diamond belt and championship of the world, stands 5 feet 101/2 inches high, and weighs 210 pounds. His chest measurement is 41 inches, upon and around the biceps 16 inches, forearm 14 inches, waist 34 inches, thigh 25 inches, calf of leg 161/2 inches. He wears a No 9 shoe and No. 9 glove, and it takes a 17 inch collar to encircle his neck. Kilrain gives the following interesting history of his life: "My name is Joseph John Killion. When I was a lad my comrades persisted in calling me Kilrain, and the name has stuck to me ever since, so I have bowed to the inevitable, and now write my name 'Kilrain.' I was born at Greenport, Columbia county, which is in the State of New York, and the date of my nativity is the 9th of February, 1859, so that I am twenty-eight years of age. I have no regular occupation other than training athletes and boxing, but in my younger days I worked in a rolling mill in Somerville, Mass., which is a suburb of Boston. It was here that I developed a love for athletic sports. In fact they were forced upon me, for in such a large establishment it was not to be wondered at that there were many good boxers, and as I was a gawky country boy, I was a mark for all their practical jokes. Sometimes they went too far, and when I remonstrated they laughed at me. You can bet that made me mad, so I just made up my mind that I would thrash one or two of these tormentors, and from that day I was champion of the mill. "The first customer was Jack Daley, who had fought several small ring battles, but I put him to sleep in short order. My next encounter was with Jem Driscoll, a regular giant, who, while having little or no science, could hit with the force of a trip hammer. He hurt me very badly, but I finally wore him down, and when he at last gave up his mother would scarcely have known him. I next fought Dan Dwyer. It was a long and bloody fight, but I finally managed to pull through a winner. I was very sore for a long time and thought I was internally injured. The last man that was pitted against me was Dennis Roach. He had been imported to the mill with the idea of putting an end to young Kilrain's run of luck, and they came near doing so, too. I was not very well when the day for the fight arrived, but knowing full well that I should have been branded as a coward if I backed out, I got into the ring determined to stand up as long as I was able. My antagonist was a hurricane fighter, and sought to annihilate me in a couple of rounds. He hit me in the stomach several times, and I thought that I must give in, but after a little while Roach's blows got weaker, and finding he could not hurt me much, I fought with him, and by a judicious use of my left hand managed to close up his eyes. Roach was willing to keep on fighting, although he could not see. Finally his friends took him away, and that ended my fighting career in the mill." He took to rowing, and was one of the winning crew in a four-oared race on Lake Waldron. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.co

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