Feathers Fly

Greasy with sweat, a fighter slumped in his corner. To the tense manager muttering instructions in his ear he snarled helplessly. Newspapermen in the fringe of harsh white light around the ringside heard the manager snarl something about "quitter." The fisticuffer, despairing, defiant, jumped to his short legs and went through the mill. Panting, pounding, suffering, he hammered the hard little man dancing a short arm's length away. Twice he struck below the belt and was harshly called by the referee. Even he kept the battle, head jarred, hands jabbing. After a swirling fifteenth round the bell jangled with each man exhausted on his feet. Judges and referee returned a sharply disputed verdict. Benny Bass, coldly courageous, no quitter, vanished wearily to his dressing-room, loser of the world's featherweight championship.* Tapped and fondled by the official doctor, he was declared to be suffering from a probable fracture of the collarbone. Bass had fought through some ten rounds of one of the most vicious featherweight combats in memory with the jabbing agony of a fractured bone fighting his savage adversary's battle. Many a newspaper expert at the ring counted loser Bass the winner. The winner, on decision, therefore champion, was Tony Canzoneri.

*The current world's champions with the weight limits for each class:

Flyweight (112) Disputed between Frankie Genaro, National Boxing Association nominee and Corporal "Izzy" Schwartz, recognized by New York State;

Bantamweight (118) Bud Taylor (N. B. A. Candidate. His right to the title is variously disputed;

Featherweight (126) Tony Canzoneri;

Lightweight (135) Sammy Mandell;

Welterweight (147) Joe Dundee;

Middleweight (160) Mickey Walker;

Light Heavyweight (175) Tommy Loughran;

Heavyweight (any weight over 175) Gene Tunney.

All U. S. fisticuffers, white.