Firpo, with the arm tightly bandaged, remained in the doctor’s care for the next three hours. The swelling was reduced, but when it came time for Luis to go into the ring, I knew that he was in agony with every movement of his arm. Only his fighting heart carried him through. Nine out of ten men would have quit, but Firpo hurled himself into battle against Dempsey, the most ferocious scrapper of the age. Dempsey floored this magnificent fighting man seven times in the first round and twice more in the second before he was declared the victor. But believe it or not, the fist of that dislocated arm landed the punch which sent Jack tumbling through the ropes on to the typewriters of the working press. Firpo’s gameness paid off. The gate was nearly $1,200,000, the fans were satisfied, and Tex Rickard had been saved from ruin. Dr. Walker told me after the bout that this was the greatest example of courage he had ever come across in all his many years of association with fighters. [Illustration: 15] A SCOUT FOR TEX RICKARD After Dempsey had disposed of Firpo, Rickard suddenly woke up to the panicking fact that there wasn’t a colorful, international fighter anywhere who could be tossed in against Dempsey to keep the million dollar pot boiling. He had gotten accustomed to big crowds and big gates. Now that Dempsey had ploughed through Carpentier and Firpo, and these international bouts had drawn seven figure gates, Tex was through with small fry. With American soil unable to turn up big enough drawing cards, he decided to have Europe scouted. One day Rickard phoned to the New York _Telegram_ and asked if I could meet him that afternoon in the Garden. I did. My diary shows that it was on October 14, 1923. “Goin’ to Europe this winter?” he asked. “Yes,” I replied, “very soon in fact. I have my passage booked for next week. The paper wants me to do some articles on Germany. They’re making amazing strides in athletics, particularly in amateur boxing.” “How’d you like to scout for me?” Tex asked. “Look over the field, and if you see anyone you think I might be interested in, cable me.” I agreed. Scouting wouldn’t interfere with my newspaper assignment. My duties as outlined by Tex were to locate heavyweights of promise, particularly good European prospects who in due course could be pitted against our stars in top contests. He wanted men who could stand up in his million dollar program. Annually I spent from six to eight weeks abroad during my vacation and since only part of this period was paid for by the newspaper, I was on my own so far as the scouting was concerned. It didn’t interfere with my newspaper work.