A. M. Chisholm

“ Apart from those which are the culmination of a wearing-down process where the beaten man is already dead on his feet and the victor can take his time and set himself for a final punch, the average spectator does not know how it happens and even experts have disagreed in famous ring battles. The short, snapping jolt that, traveling but a few inches drops a man cold, is too swift for the ordinary eye ”

“ In vain practical unregenerates pointed out that a trained man in ring costume is not only a more pleasing spectacle but a better risk than an untrained one running to catch a car. The wave choked their feeble protests, and swept out of existence not only advertised contests, but “athletic clubs” where any fairly skillful gentleman willing to go through the motions might earn a few honest dollars almost any Saturday night. ”

“ At any rate there was no more rough stuff.
O'Hara had his own ideas of the ring scene. It must observe the best traditions of fiction. That is, the tide of victory must sway. The hero must be in difficulties, almost out. He must rally by a supreme effort. He instructed the fighters carefully. The picture must show real fighting; and must show, moreover, that first one and then the other had the better of it.
“You find the college champ a hard proposition,” he said to Butch. “You tell the men in your corner he's a tough bird. ”

“ Costigan earnestly, “I don't claim to be doing this for nothing. I want a little myself. These boys are good. Each of them has about everything a champ has—as high as the ears. What they ain't got above that, and the fact that the right man never got hold of 'em, it what's kept 'em from being contenders. They've got the speed and the punch. They're as fast and tough as they make 'em, and they can put your fight scene across right. If that's worth five hundred to you, say so. If not, it's all right with me. You're the doctor.”
O'Hara reflected and in the end capitulated. ”

“ Silence infolded them as they meditated upon the depravity of the referee who had forced them to fight the full ten rounds. Butch broke the gloomy silence.
“We got to git a fight, 'sall there is to it. S'pose we see Costigan?”
“He's crooked,” said Chuck.
“Straight guys like us ain't got no chance, anyway,” said Butch. “He may be able to frame something for us.”
Mr. Costigan, sometimes referred to as “Honest John,” dwelt in an unpretentious hotel frequented by “sports” of various kinds. Be it said for Mr. Costigan, he did not seek the spotlight. ”

“ For opportunity knocks vainly upon the door of him who is flat broke. In fact, Mr. Costigan was seriously considering the advisability of letting financial bygones be bygones by the simple method of putting a thousand or so miles between him and Falls City. He was ready to take a chance on making money, but the announcement of Butch and Chuck that they desired to exchange blows for currency left him cold. ”

“ Admitting that Chuck was a tough bird to punch out, Butch privately considered that he could do the trick, and it ground him to be in a picture depicting his own downfall at Chuck's hands. If those scenes were only on the level he would show him up. He listened sourly to Chuck's cheerful observations on the movie business.
“If youse want to know what I think,” was his comment, “all this movie stuff is bunk.”
“How is it bunk?” Chuck asked.
“Every way,” Butch maintained. “Take that fancy-punch stuff. Take a college guy gettin' a match wit' a champ. It don't happen. ”