Was Johnson counted out against Choynski?

Galveston Daily News
"Joe Choynski put Jack Johnson to sleep last night in less than three rounds. The trick was done so quickly that few realized what had happened, and while the referee was doing the counting they expected to see the colored man rise and face the music again. But he did not, and Choynski has put another laurel in his fistic crowd. Both came out of the contest without a scratch.
...
The third round was scarcely started when Johnson fell forward into the arms of Choynski and gradually sank to the floor, face downward. The referee began counting and Johnson rolled onto his back. He did not rise when 10 seconds were counted, and was called out.
...
In speaking of the blow that did the business, Referee Bernan said it was a feint with the left and a strike with the right on the jaw that put Johnson to sleep."

 

Don't worry, as soon as I meet one heterosexual genie, we're going to get all of these fights on film, in full. :deal

 

Clearly if he rolled over when he was down he was not "put to sleep" - that doesn't ring true straight away so that would make me doubt the validity of the account - plus I've read another account from Johnson himself where he says himself that before he could get up the police jumped in to arrest them both??? So you know something's not right about this - it might be just one of those 6 of one and half a dozen of the other type scenarios

 

IMO Choinsky is one of the most underrated p4p fighters.

 

"At Galveston, Tex., last night, Joe
Choynski knocked Jack Johnson, a colored
fighter, out in the third round of a
twenty-round bout with a right hook on the jaw.
A squad of Texas rangers under
Captain Brock thereupon dashed into the
ring and arrested Choynski and Johnson
who are now at police headquarters
awaiting the arrival of Recorder Allen to
fix bonds. The arrests were made at the
instigation of Governor Sayers, who had
counsel and witnesses at the ring aide.
The penalty under the Texas law for engaging
in a prize fight is from two to five
years in the penitentiary at hard labor.
Counsel representlng the State stated he
would insist on a bond for each man. It
is probable that the promoters of the
fight will also be arrested."

or
"Galveston, Texas— Joe Choynski
knocked out Jack Johnson, colored, last
night in the third round of what was
to have been a twenty-five round go
before the Galveston Athletic club
Juist as the negro went to the floor a
state ranger stepped into the ring and
arrested the fighters."

 

Eight hundred of the lovers of the manly art crowded into the Galveston Athletic Club's hall last night to witness Joe Choynski and Jack Johnson, a negro, engage in a twenty-round setto. Both men showed up well, but it was apparent from the very beginning that Johnson was outclassed. He, however, showed up well in the first and second rounds, but his Waterloo came in the third, when Choynski caught him on the jaw with a right hook and he went down and out like a log. Here came a surprise for the pugilists. Johnson had scarcely been knocked out before a squad of Texas Rangers under Captain Brooks dashed into the ring and arrested Choynski and Johnson, who were escorted to their dressing room and permitted to dress.

 

Pretty consistant reports, I think.

 

I have read that Johnson said his head was ringing the next day.

 

Im one of the biggest Johnson fans here

According to his own words, Choynski was the first man to send him to "dreamland".


End of story

 

The wording is significantly different, though. "Just as JJ went to the floor" and "had scarcely been KO'd before" the police entered provide two very different versions.