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ROMANCES OF THE RING— **y TIM ■ 1..... ==■TIGER-EYE DAL.in that pait of Greater New York known a3 the Bronx, and, more specifically. In that section of the Bronx called Westchester, there is an institution known as Cannon's old road house The present boniface of that house of call is a little man who answers to the name of Dal Hawkins He Is known to the fight fans of the rising generation as the proprietor of a tiaming camp favored by many of the stars or the xisuc world when preparing for bouts in New York Frank Moran trained there for his argument with Willard, and many another pugilist of wide renown has been sheltered beneath the roof of the old road houseAs a fighter. Dal Hawkins is unknown to the younger set of boxing bugs but the old timers remember him a a one of the classiest lads who ever mixed it in the squared circle A fighter was Dal, and not a boxer, and the possessor of a punch the like of which is seldom met with in so small a man, Hawkins was a featherweight, but he fought a number of the beat lightweights and though frequently defeated, he was nevei disgraced“Tiger Eye Dal ' some of the fans used to call the ferocious little ling warrior and it was an apt nickname Dal s lamps were shaped very much like the triangular optics of the big sti iped cat of the jungle, and no tiger ever glared more ferociously than Dal when he was aroused His face was pale, hie hair hung down over his brow, his Up» curled in a wloked sneor, and his eyes seemed to flash venom at his opponent A terrifying sight was old ‘Tiger Eye to the boys who faced him in gloved combat, and Dal always lived up to his reputation. When Dal was one of the contendere# the fans were always sure of seeing a fight, and not a mere boxing exhibitionHawkins is entitled to sit in the parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West, for he was born In San Francisco some forty-five years ago He was about seventeen when he fought his first professional battle It was about twenty years ago that Da! fought the first of his three sensational battles with Joe (Jans It went fifteen rounds and Hawkins was declared the victor The following year Dal met another remarkably clever colored boy. George Dixon. aDd they went twenty fast rounds to a draw It was in the same year. 1897, that Dal got into the limelight by pulling off the shortest fight In the record book He knocked out Martin Flaherty in four seconds at Carson City, the bout being a teature of the tournament in which Bob Fitzsimmons took the heavyweight title from Jim Corbett.Hawkins won that speedy victory with his famous left punch, a blow which looked to the spectator to be a mere tap, but which was more soporific than double-distilled essence of theSoppy No other fighter in history everad a more deadly punch Dal declared he hit upon the idea by walking down stairs in the dark The last step was farther than he thought it was going to be, and he got an awful Jolt, although his foot traveled only a few Inches One sometimes gets the same sensation by sitting in a chair which ia lo»w©r than one thought it was Dal experimented in an endeavor to put Just tha£ sort of a Jolt into a punch, and at last he succeeded His famous left-handed sleep-producer was a wonder He would slowly extend his left until It was within about half a foot of his opponent's jaw Then he would put all his strength back of a peculiar twisting, downward-curving punch If he landed squarely with tnat twisterit wa usually good night for the foeIn 1898 Dal went to New York and was matched with Spike Sullivan, the Irish lightweight It was a vicious fight, and lasted twenty-two rounds, when the Hibernian landed a knockout Dal's next battle In the metropolis was with Kid McFartland, now a boxing referee in New York, and this time he got over his left so effectively in the third round that the Kid was stoppedOne of the most sensational of Dai’s battles was staged In the Woodward pavilion at San Francisco early in IS99 Frank Erne, who had fought a draw with George Lavigne. the lightweight champion, was Dal s opponent The Buffalo boy was one of the cleverest lads in the business, and ho was also game and durable A majority of the coast fans thought that Dal had It on tho easterner, and backed their Judgment with much coin of the realmErne Drops Hawkins.In the first round It seemed that their opinion was Justified The Hawkins left floated out. Innocently, as if to push aside Erne a guard, but then came that whlp-lash finish, and Frank went down like a load of bricks He scrambled up with little time to spare and backed away and covered before Dai s ferocious rush It seemed to be about all over then, and big odds were offered by tho Hawkins contingent without any takers Erne used ail his cleverness and got through that round, and began the second fresh and vigorous. From that time on Erne kept forcing the pace, faster and faster, and although Dal had few equals as a mixer, be got more from Erne than he could assimilate. He tried In vain to get over another left. In the seventh chapter Erne landed a right to Dal's chin that knocked the Californian cold.Yfter that battle Hawkins made another trip to the east, and lost a twenty-five round bout with Jack O'Brien in New- York and knocked out Jack Car rig in the fifth round at Buffalo. He continued his eastern compaign in 1900, and in May he was matched with Joe Gans. The fight had scarcely commenced when Dal got over his crushing left, and the black boy crumpled up Joe got on his feet just as the referee’s Ups were forming “ten.” and although dazed and groggy ho waded right Into Dal They fought like demons through the round, and in the second Gans started the same mixing tactics. The chapter was not more than half over when Joe got in a knockout. Hawkins declared that ho had lost on a fluke, and demanded another chance at black Joe., The match was made, and In August, 1900, the Baltimore negro and the California terror again faced each other in the ring In spite of Joe's cleverness. Dal again got in his wicked left, and Joe sprawled on the floor Again Joe just managed to beat the count. After that It wan a case of a black cyclone and a white tornado struggling for supremacy. The black whirlwind won, and in the third round Dal again took a napAfter these two defeats Dal defeated Otto Sieloff and Jim Popp in Chicago, and then returned to his native San Francisco, where he fought George Mc-Fadden early in 1901 McFadden. known as • Elbows,” was one of tjio cleverest defensive boxers In the business, and he evaded Dal e left and won on a foul In the seventh roundThat bout practically ended Hawkins’ ring career In 1902 he defeated Perry Queenan in Seattle, but in a return engagement was knocked out in the fourteenth He fought Perry again soon afterwards, and was again put to sleep. Dal then went to Butte and fought a draw with Jerry McCarthy, but was knocked out by Jack Clifford The old punch was gone, and Dal, at tho age of thirty-one. was relegated to tho ranks of the has-beens
Newspaper Details
Atlanta Constitution
Atlanta, Georgia, US
Sun, Apr 09, 1916
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
John H.
IL, USA 10 Mar 2018
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