KID M’COY BRAINIEST OF BOXERS, SAYS LEWIS TELLS OF HIS BEST RING TRICK

Los Angeles Herald, Number 228, 24 July 1916

KID M’COY BRAINIEST OF BOXERS, SAYS LEWIS TELLS OF HIS BEST RING TRICK

By FRANK G. MENKE

NEW YORK, July 24.—"The ring game never has known a brainier fighter or a gamer batter than was Kid McCoy,” remarked Willie Lewis, former welterweight champion, and now trainer for Frank Moran, during a recent fanning bee.

There were some wonderfulers before the Kid's time, and some marvels have flashed alone since then. l've seen the best of them perform during the past 15 years, but my hat is off to the Kid. He was the greatest of the lot in all-around ring skill. "The Kid 'pulled' a thousand tricks In the ring—but never the same trick twice. He was always using his head, and that brain of his, added to his amazing skill as a boxer, his great courage and his ability to stand up under punishment, lifted him almost to the top of the pugilistic World, although in the hey-dey of his career he rarely fought at over 160 pounds.

GREATEST BATTLE AT 40

"One hears a lot about the sameness of such-and-such a fighter. I wonder if any man ever displayed the courage and bravery that the Kid showed in his last fight—the on a against Petty Officer Curran, in London, three or four years ago. "I had a ringside seat for that affair. I went there to cheer for the Kid. but I never for a moment thought he had an earthly chance against Curran. The former sailor then was the fighting sensation of England. He was a big bruiser, with a powerful punch and quite a bit of skill. He had been knocking 'em dead right and left. And opposed to him was Kid McCoy, then 40 years old; not the Kid McCoy of other days, but the McCoy that was the result of nearly ten years of free-and-easy life; a fat Kid McCoy, so out of condition In comparison to sleek Curran that it was ludicrous. McCoy's spasmodic training for the fights he had taken part in in New York in 1911 had reduced some of his excessive girth—but not much of it. "While the folks around the ringside were vainly offering 10 and 15 to 1 that Curran would win, and 5 to 1 that Kid wouldn't last five rounds I walked near to the Kid's corner. “‘What's the idea?' I asked the Kid. 'Aren't you getting a bit old for battling?'

PREDICTED VICTORY

"The kid grinned and answered: “‘The idea is that I need the money—and also that I still like this ring stuff. Now this Curran guy is a tough one and I’m not QUITE as good as I used to be. But I'll slip you this tip, Willie, I’m going to beat him. See?’ “The fight began. The trim Curran rushed out, tapped the Kid a couple of times, then swung a terrific right

to the jaw. The Kid went down for the count of six. A minute or so later Curran smashed home a solid body punch and the Kid again was floored. "Six or seven times during the first three rounds the Kid hit the mat. In the fourth Curran drove one against the Kid’s mouth. McCoy went down as though felled by a crowbar. His front teeth flew In all directions and blood gushed from his mouth and nose. I thought it was all over, but at the count of nine Kid was on his feet again and he stalled through to tlie bell. “The Kid came out from his corner in the fifth, blood still pouring in streams from his mouth and nose, but with a peculiar grin on his face —the grin that other men have seen before and never forgotten; the grin that showed the aroused fighting spirit of the great McCoy.

HOW KID GOT A DRINK

“ Now. you little English whiffet, my turn is coming.' McCoy sputtered as he walked toward the confident Curran. You've had all the best of it so far. NOW i'm going to whale h.... out of you. D’ye hear? Take that as a starter!’ "And the Kid whipped a right to Curran’s head that forced the Englishman to back away. "During the fifth and sixth rounds the Kid fought slowly and cautiously. He was playing for time —and for a drink. Evidently he had felt himself in need of a stimulant after the fourth session. None was in his corner, So he sent out one of his seconds. "The liquor arrived iust as the seventh round began. The Kid decided he couldn’t wait for it until the end of the round. He knew that he could not get the referee to halt the round while he imbibed. So he used his shrewd brain and got the drink while the round was on. This is how: “He wig-waged Ihis seconds to pour out a swig of whiskey and place the glass right under the ropes near his corner in the ring. As soon as this was done. McCoy waltzed around in the neighhorhood of the drink, and then left an opening for a Curran punch. Although the Englishman’s swing missed by six inches. McCoy went to the floor—within easy reaching distance of the drink, “While the referee toiled off the seconds, the Kid, laying on his stomach, tossed the spirits down his throat, sighed happily and then arose to his feet in time to beat the count of ten.

McCOY’S AMAZING RALLY

“ 'Now, my friend, I am going to hammer you somewhat,’ said the Kid to Curran. And he kept his word. “Never in all my ring career have I soon a comeback as amazing as that which McCoy staged from the tenth round on. He had let Curran wear himself out up to that time and then he started after the tiring Britisher. He battered him from one corner to the other and reduced that once smiling face to a bleeding pulp. He didn't fight with all the old speed of other years, but he fought a fight that was, all things considered, the greatest of his life. “And when the twentieth —and final —round came, the English referee, in the presence of a thoroughly English crowd, walked over to the grinning McCoy, lifted his arm high Into the air—the signal that the 40-year-old American had beaten the youthful pride of England's ring warriors.’’

 

Wasnt he mentally unstable? It seems he was a firm believer in, "why let the facts get in the way of a good story". Anyway thanks Senya for posting the article.