"
Cassidy took the hunch, and a moment later as the two
men faced each other he regretted his act, for to his surprise
the "white hope" came up for the fifth round smiling and
confident once more.
"Someone's been handin' him an earful," grumbled Cassidy,
"an' it might be all he needed to take 'im through the first
minute of the round, and maybe the whole round--I've seen
that did lots o' times."
As the two men met the "white hope" was the aggressor.
He rushed in to close quarters aiming a stinging blow at
Billy's face, and then to Cassidy's chagrin and the crowd's
wonder, the mucker lowered his guard and took the wallop
full on the jaw. The blow seemed never to jar him the least.
The "hope" swung again, and there stood Billy Byrne, like a
huge bronze statue taking blow after blow that would have
put an ordinary man down for the count.
The fans saw and appreciated the spectacular bravado of
the act, and they went wild. Cheer on cheer rose, hoarse and
deafening, to the rafters. The "white hope" lost his self-control
and what little remained of his short temper, and deliberately
struck Billy a foul blow, but before the referee could interfere
the mucker swung another just such blow as he had missed
and fallen with in the second round; but this time he did not
miss--his mighty fist caught the "coming champion" on the
point of the chin, lifted him off his feet and landed him
halfway through the ropes.
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