The 'Irish Lad' Meets His Match

The crowd at the Skating Rink numbered over 12,000 persons, all told, this afternoon when Ed Burke, the 'Irish Lad,' weighing 190 pounds, entered the ring to meet J. L. Sullivan, weighing 185 pounds, for ten rounds. Generally, this was the end of a mixed program of wrestling and sparring that had been given, and the crowd was somewhat jaded. But they had a surprise. A middleweight named 'Tommy Warren,' the ex-lightweight of the Pacific Coast, appeared. When the champion Walker walked down the aisle, a crowd ran to see him. But time that was lost in arranging the match was made up by the pugilistic exhibition. Warren looked like a pig compared to his adversary. A number of persons were heard to say: 'Keep up your heart, my boy, and you’ll knock him out.' After that, we saw the champion shake hands with the weary infant of his own, and tried hard to laugh when the little wind-back-wore a grin or two that seemed, in a way, defiant. He became awfully quiet. Then, suddenly, Burke did a stunt in the back of his neck, down to his knees, and spun round. Burke’s reach was 20 inches, but he went down to a count of ten blows that would have leveled a giant.