Johnny Dundee succeeded where a German bullet failed. He pounded the
jaw of Eugene Criqui so viciously that he hammered the Frenchman out of
the world's featherweight championship. Criqui received a rifle bullet
in the chin during the War but returned to the ring and won the
featherweight title from Johnny Kilbane. Although thoroughly
outclassed by Dundee, knocked down four times, thrice for the count of
nine, his courage kept him on his feet. The championship went to Dundee
by decision. Despite the startling example the Frenchman displayed of what courage
can accomplish with poor fighting equipment , 30,000 Americans jammed in the New
York Polo Grounds booed. It was probably the worst example of
collective unsportsman-ship this country has exhibited at an
international sporting event. The answer is that Dundee is a New York
boy, and New York wanted him to win. It is simply the answer — there
is no justification. Johnny Dundee, christened Guiseppe, surnamed Carrora, nicknamed the
“Scotch Wop,” has been 13 years in the ring. He is normally a junior
lightweight and has fought all the con tenders for
the lightweight title, including eight no-decision bouts with Benny
Leonard. He is a gallery fighter specializing in the spectacular bound
from the ropes which made him famous. Paris bristled with anger when the flash of the fight arrived. When
details ticked in over the cables anger changed to pride. The press
presented Eugene Criqui with three new titles to replace the one he
lost: Criqui the Brave, True Frenchman, Cockerel Criqui.
