So Descamps let it be known that his pupil was ready
to fight him. And very soon to Paris did I go to
engage with Til, and the contest helped to wipe out
the memory of my experience against Snowball, for
against this accomplished Frenchman I drew. Which
draw, I knew, was the greatest performance I had
yet achieved. Thereafter, I went from victory to
victory, until I lost to Henry Piet, brave soul, who
was killed in the war. But before I met Piet — ^all
Englishmen will remember him for his good style
and rare fighting quahties — I won ten contests against
strikingly different men. Immediately after Paid Til
came one Cuny.
If I were asked, I would say that the turning
point in my career came when I met Cuny. We
fought on August 14, 1910, at Cabourg, a fashion-
able seaside resort, under the auspices of the
management of the Casino — ^my terms, two third-
class return tickets from LfCns and fifty francs. All
English boxing enthusiasts do not know Cuny ; very
few of them have seen him. No champion was he,

but in his way a great man, and one who had much

39



My Fighting Life

to do with giving France a place among the boxing
nations of the world.
