Criqui-Kilbane

Eugene Criqui, soldier of France, has brought Johnny Kilbane's gray hairs down with sorrow to the soil. Kilbane will return to farming with his featherweight championship of the world only a memory, as the result of his losing battle with Criqui at the Polo grounds, New York.

The French fighter knocked out Kilbane in the sixth round with a right to the heart and a vicious hook to the jaw.

Through the early rounds it was apparent that the champion had slipped backward rapidly during his two years' retirement. The spring in his legs was gone; the famous right cross had softened up; the agile defense had lost its mastery; all that remained was the fighting smile. Criqui, who had been present at Verdun, was not the man to be slaughtered with a smile.

Kilbane's sportsmanship marked him as a great figure in defeat. The little man who has held the title since 1912 was the least moved member of his camp. He simply shook his head and smiled at the moment that the greatest hope of his life left him--the hope that he might retire and live on his farm to an honorable old age as the undefeated champion of the world.

Criqui has been matched to fight Johnny Dundee in July.