Ted (Kid) Lewis - Jack Britton series of fights

1915-03-26 Ted (Kid) Lewis ND10 Jack Britton (135th Street Athletic Club, New York, NY, USA)
Newspaper decision for Britton from New York Evening Telegram, New York Evening World, New York Herald, New York Sun, New York Times, New York Tribune, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn Standard Union, Associated Press.

Weights: 144.5 Lewis, 141 Britton

Reports: http://senya13.blogspot.com/2018/06/1915-03-26-ted-kid-lewis-nd10-jack.html

Summary: Lewis used his jab well in the first three rounds, then Britton got to work and won the other seven rounds.

Score in the series: 1-0 in favor of Britton

 

1915-08-31 Ted (Kid) Lewis W-PTS12 Jack Britton (Armory, Boston, MA, USA)
Referee: Patsey Haley

Weigh-in at 135 lbs at 3 P.M. Lewis weighed 134 pounds. Britton didn't weigh in and was estimated to be about 10 pounds heavier.

Reports: http://senya13.blogspot.com/2018/06/1915-08-31-ted-kid-lewis-w-pts12-jack.html

Summary: Before the bout started there was a long argument about the gloves. In the middle of the 1st round Britton should have been declared to have lost the fight, for refusing to go on until Lewis removed rubber mouthpiece (there was nothing in the rules concerning this being illegal). After another long argument, Lewis removed the mouthpiece. The fight was started anew.

Like in their first fight, Lewis used his jab effectively, taking the early rounds. He also crossed and countered well with his right. His punches weren't always hard, sometimes being landed with open glove. Britton punched harder, but was missing often. By middle rounds Britton improved, one reporter claiming Lewis didn't land a single punch in the 5th round, a clear round for Britton. He punched well to the body and countered Lewis often. In the 7th Britton cut Lewis' lip with a jab. The last two rounds were particularly vicious, both trying to score a KO.

The fight was judged one of the best held in Boston in years. Doc Almy of Boston Post thought that a draw was probably more proper, but he didn't like Britton's dirty tactics, arguments and fouls, so he didn't really object to the decision being in favor of Lewis.

Score in the series: 1-1

 

1915-09-28 Ted (Kid) Lewis W-UD12 Jack Britton (Atlas Athletic Club, Armory, Boston, MA, USA)
Referee: Daniel Lane
Judges: Bill Hamilton (of Boston Herald), J. S. Spargo (of Boston Traveler)

Britton was down in the 11th round, and, according to one source, once more in the 12th.

Weigh-in at 138 pounds at 3 P.M. Britton weighed 136.5, while Lewis refused to weigh-in, as a revenge for Britton doing the same in their previous bout.

Reports: http://senya13.blogspot.com/2018/06/1915-09-28-ted-kid-lewis-w-ud12-jack.html

Summary: When they were negotiating for their previous bout in Boston, Britton's manager, Dan Morgan, insisted on having Patsey Haley as referee. Lewis' manager, Jimmy Johnston, agreed to this proposition, but insisted that Billy Roche, of New York, was to referee a return match if there was one. Morgan agreed to this, but, before the bout began, he changed his mind. After long argument, Daniel Lane, the president of the Atlas Athletic Club was agreed on as referee, with two local sporting writers as judges.

Making such low weight apparently affected Britton, for he fought far less effectively than in their previous bout, his punches lacked force, and he tired perceptibly toward the end.

The bout was a clever one, but far less vicious than the previous one. Both depended primarily on left jabs, most of the fight was at long range. Both blocked right-hand punches well. In the infighting, Lewis had the better of it. In the 11th round Lewis dropped Britton with the left, but failed to finish him.

The judges were unanimous in awarding Lewis the decision. Britton's manager didn't object.

Score in the series: 2-1 in favor of Lewis

 

1916-01-18 Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, NY) (page 10)
When Jack Britton and Ted Lewis step to the center of the Q. A. C. ring at the Broadway auditorium next Thursday night to do battle for the welterweight crown, Buffalo fans and the hundreds from out of town will see two of the fastest and cleverest boxers in the game, but of two entirely different styles of cleverness. And each can hit hard enough to knock out anyone of his weight if he can get the wallop over.

Ted Lewis, the sensational Englishman who has dazzled Buffalo fans on several occasions, is the flashy, sensational, spectacular kind of boxer. He is fast as a flash and moves about the ring constantly, generally in the direction of his opponent, but flitting sideways, backward or any other way, as the rush or aggression of his opponent demands. Lewis is always flashy, moving head, body, arms and feet, and constantly changing position. It takes a classy man to find Lewis, let alone fight him. Lewis wastes a lot of effort and energy, but he has the strength and stamina to stand it. He's a wonderful ten-round fighter.

Jack Britton is different. Jack's cleverness is that of a wizard. Britton is of the Joe Gans-Franke Erne-Young Griffo type. Griffo could stand on a linen handkerchief twelve inches square and defy men to land a solid punch on him. Britton is of that type. Jack walks out to a fight almost flat-footed--that is, he looks to be flat-footed. His hands are never more than a foot from his body. He makes men lead and then makes them miss by the barest of margins. Hooks, jabs and swings go past the tip of his nose or chin, missing by just a hair's breadth, so accurately does Jack judge distance. Then, before the man who has missed can recover his balance or poise, Britton pops him with right and left. And Jack is a wonderful hitter at close range.

It is a delight to see Britton get under or inside of a lead and rip his glove to an opponent's body. He is positively a wonder at this deadly form of execution.

By this it must not be taken that Jack is devoid of footwork. He is not. Instead, his is the classiest kind of footwork. He moves in and out without noise or bustle, like a man gliding in a groove. He doesn't waste a bit of effort or lose an inch of advantage. He is always ready to hit, always set for a terrific punch and can hook or swing from any angle. His shortarm hooks are the most deadly of his punches and he gets them home in such an unostentatious manner that a person must be mighty quick of eye and know the inside, fine points of the game to see Jack land them. Sometimes an opponent crumples under Jack's assault and the spectators miss the punch that caused the crumple.

 

1916-01-20 Ted (Kid) Lewis ND10 Jack Britton (Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, NY, USA)
Newspaper decision for Britton from Buffalo Commercial, Buffalo Courier, Buffalo Enquirer, Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo Evening Times, Buffalo Morning Express.
Newspaper draw from Ed Curley (New York American), Associated Press, International News Service.

Referee: Joe Suttner

Lewis defended his welterweight championship claim.

Weights: Lewis 142, Britton 144 3/4

Reports: http://senya13.blogspot.com/2018/06/1916-01-20-ted-kid-lewis-nd10-jack.html

Summary: Britton was in excellent condition, while Lewis seemed to be somewhat exhausted as the result of having several hard bouts in a short period of time. Still, it was a great, spectacular bout.

Both relied primarily on their lefts. Britton was more aggressive and hit harder, he took the early rounds, but Lewis finished strong and almost evened it up.

In the fourth round Lewis went to the floor after missing a punch, but it wasn't a knockdown.

Here's how local newspapers scored it, round by round:
Round 1--News for Lewis, Commercial even, Enquirer for Britton
Round 2--News+Express even, Commercial+Enquirer for Lewis
Round 3--News+Express+Commercial for Britton, Enquirer even
Round 4--News+Express+Commercial+Enquirer for Britton
Round 5--News+Enquirer for Britton, Commercial even
Round 6--News+Express+Commercial+Enquirer for Lewis
Round 7--News+Commercial+Enquirer even
Round 8--News for Britton, Commercial for Lewis, Enquirer for Britton or even
Round 9--News+Commercial+Enquirer for Britton
Round 10--News even, Commercial for Britton, Enquirer for Lewis or even

Score in the series: 2-2

 

1916-02-15 Ted (Kid) Lewis ND10 Jack Britton (Broadway Sporting Club, Brooklyn, NY, USA)
Newspaper decision for Britton from Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn Standard Union, New York Evening Telegram, John Pollock (New York Evening World), New York Herald, George B. Underwood (New York Press), New York Sun, New York Times, New York Tribune, Associated Press.
Newspaper draw from International News Service.

Weights: Lewis 141.5, Britton 143.5

Reports: http://senya13.blogspot.com/2018/06/1916-02-15-ted-kid-lewis-nd10-jack.html

Summary: Lewis continued to fight often and had had two bouts in the 10 days previous to meeting Britton. He looked disappointing in Feb 5 bout vs Marty Farrell in Philadelphia, and then lost a newspaper decision to Soldier Bartfield on Feb 9 in Buffalo. Some experts thought he should have had longer rest periods between bouts, and that seemed to be the case in this bout too.

Britton was scoring almost at will with left jab. Prior to the bout he had a bet with his manager, Dan Morgan, that he'd hit Lewis 50 times to the nose, and if he hadn't landed that many times, it was still very often, eventually drawing blood from that member.

Britton was the aggressor in most of the rounds, not of the rushing, swarming kind, but the one where the boxer is gradually pressing his opponent, step by step, jabbing and blocking any counters.

Britton showed great feinting skills, making Lewis believe he was going to throw a lead, and when Lewis attempted to counter a punch that never was, Britton countered his counter.

Lewis was down in the last round, but it was a slip, and Britton helped him get up.

Here's how local newspaper scored the bout, round by round:
Round 1--Tribune+Eagle+Telegram+Press for Britton, Evening World+Sun for Lewis, Times even
Round 2--Tribune+Evening World for Lewis, Eagle+Press for Britton, Telegram+Times+Sun even
Round 3--Tribune+Times even, Eagle+Telegram+Evening World+Press+Sun for Britton
Round 4--Tribune for Lewis, Eagle+Telegram+Evening World+Press+Sun for Britton, Times even
Round 5--Tribune even, Eagle+Telegram+Evening World+Press+Times+Sun for Britton
Round 6--Tribune+Telegram+Evening World+Herald for Britton, Press+Times even, Sun for Lewis
Round 7--Tribune+Eagle+Telegram+Evening World+Press+Times+Sun for Britton
Round 8--Tribune+Eagle+Telegram+Evening World+Press+Times+Sun for Britton
Round 9--Tribune even, Eagle+Telegram+Evening World+Press+Times+Sun for Britton
Round 10--Tribune even, Eagle+Telegram+Press+Times for Britton, Evening World+Sun for Lewis


Score in the series: 3-2 in favor of Britton

 

1916-04-24 Ted (Kid) Lewis L-PTS20 Jack Britton (Louisiana Auditorium, New Orleans, LA, USA)

Referee: Richard Burke

Exact weights were not reported in local newspapers, but the bout was recognized as being for the welterweight championship of the world and both were to weigh in at 145 pounds ringside.

Reports: http://senya13.blogspot.com/2011/04/1916-04-24-jack-britton-w-pts20-ted-kid.html

Summary: It was the same story of Britton jabbing Lewis almost at will, pressing the fight and countering Lewis' leads.

Daily States gave Britton 12 rounds, Lewis 2, 6 rounds even.
Times-Picayune gave Britton 17 rounds, 1 round for Lewis and 2 even.

Score in the series: 4-2 in favor of Britton

 

1916-10-17 Ted (Kid) Lewis L-PTS12 Jack Britton (Armory Athletic Association, Arena, Boston, MA, USA)

Referee: Larry Conley

Fought at catch weights, both were clearly bout welterweight limit, so no title was at stake.

Reports: http://senya13.blogspot.com/2018/06/1916-10-17-ted-kid-lewis-l-pts12-jack.html

Summary: As usual, great bout, full of action, the best one between the two so far. It wasn't just a jabbing contest this time, there was a lot of right hand counters and body punching. Lewis started very aggressively, and it took Britton several rounds to adjust his tactics, in particular, to do a lot more punching to the body, to overcome Lewis' early lead on points.

Lewis was down in the 7th round, but Britton helped him to get up as though he didn't think it a knockdown.

Score in the series: 5-2 in favor of Britton

 

1916-11-14 Ted (Kid) Lewis D-PTS12 Jack Britton (Armory Athletic Association, Arena, Boston, MA, USA)

Referee: Larry Conley

Fought at catch weights, no title at stake.

Reports: http://senya13.blogspot.com/2018/06/1916-11-14-ted-kid-lewis-d-pts12-jack.html

Summary: Compared to their previous meeting, this one looked disappointing. Lewis forced the pace, but he wasting energy in his attempts to score a knockout with swings to the head. Still, Britton had to back up more than he was used to, he was depending on his jab, as usual.

Score in the series: 5-2-1 in favor of Britton

 

1917-03-26 Ted (Kid) Lewis ND12 Jack Britton (Queen City Athletic Club, Heuck’s Theater, Cincinnati, OH, USA)
Newspaper decision for Lewis from Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati Post, Jerry (Dayton Daily News), Tom Powers (Dayton Evening Herald), United Press.

Referee: Frank Mills

Britton defended his welterweight championship claim.

Weigh-in at 3 P.M.: Lewis 144, Britton 145

Reports: http://senya13.blogspot.com/2018/06/1917-03-26-ted-kid-lewis-nd12-jack.html

Summary: The fight contained a lot more slugging than their previous meetings. Lewis forced the fighting most of the way, outpunching Britton and not allowing him to land many punches in return. Even Lewis' jab was more effective this time than was Britton's. Only in the 8th round was Britton able to land a good, clean punch, which dazed and nearly knocked Lewis down; this and next round belonged to Britton.

Associated Press report, giving decision to Britton, was likely sent by Britton's manager or by someone on his behalf.

Score in the series: 5-3-1 in favor of Britton