Alexander Sporting News · Boxing · January 15, 1900

Ferns Gets the Verdict After Twenty-Five

Rube Ferns opens his ASN record with a unanimous decision over Mysterious Billy Smith at Hawthorne Athletic Club, Buffalo.

Fight Card Boxing logo
Presented byFight Card BoxingPowder Blue Sports · C&D game used
Rube Ferns wins by unanimous decision · 25 roundsJanuary 15, 1900 · Hawthorne Athletic Club, Buffalo, New York · Welterweight

USE-000007 · UBX-000007 · CANONICAL / KEEPER

Mysterious Billy Smith historical portrait
Mysterious Billy SmithASN 0–1

Historical portrait supplied by the owner; photo date and photographer not established.

Rube Ferns historical portrait
Rube FernsASN 1–0

Historical portrait supplied by the owner; photo date and photographer not established.

All three judges agree

BUFFALO, January 15.—Twenty-five rounds brought no stoppage, but they brought a clear verdict. Rube Ferns defeated Mysterious Billy Smith on every judge’s card: 238–233, 237–234 and 238–233.

Ferns took the first three rounds by the judges’ majority and never surrendered the overall card lead. The second was his largest damage round, worth 24 game damage points. Smith kept answering and took ten of the twenty-five rounds by majority vote; Ferns took fifteen.

The judges agreed unanimously on nineteen rounds and divided on six. Four rounds carried 10–8 scores. Those scores are part of the game’s judging system; the export does not establish separate knockdown totals.

Both men reached the end of the scheduled distance. Ferns finished with 105 endurance and Smith with 45. The game damage ledger favoured Ferns, 138–77; these figures measure tabletop damage, not punches landed.

Ferns is 1–0 and Smith 0–1 in the ASN replay record. Historical career totals are kept separate.

Official scorecards

Judge 1238–233Ferns
Judge 2237–234Ferns
Judge 3238–233Ferns

Final scores above are shown Ferns–Smith. Every scheduled round was scored.

Replay comparison

MetricSmithFerns
ASN replay record0–11–0
Rounds won by judges’ majority1015
Game damage inflicted77138
Final endurance45105

Round-by-round scorecard

All row scores are Smith–Ferns. Round verdict is the judges’ majority; damage columns are Smith / Ferns.

RoundJudge 1Judge 2Judge 3Round verdictGame damage
19–109–109–10Ferns 3–00 / 6
28–108–108–10Ferns 3–00 / 24
39–109–109–10Ferns 3–00 / 4
410–910–910–9Smith 3–02 / 4
59–1010–99–10Ferns 2–13 / 5
69–1010–910–9Smith 2–14 / 6
710–910–910–9Smith 3–02 / 4
89–109–109–10Ferns 3–00 / 4
910–99–109–10Ferns 2–10 / 0
109–109–1010–9Ferns 2–16 / 5
118–108–108–10Ferns 3–00 / 4
1210–910–910–9Smith 3–05 / 0
138–108–108–10Ferns 3–00 / 7
1410–910–910–9Smith 3–09 / 8
159–109–109–10Ferns 3–00 / 9
1610–910–910–9Smith 3–06 / 0
1710–810–810–8Smith 3–09 / 0
189–109–109–10Ferns 3–00 / 7
199–1010–99–10Ferns 2–17 / 19
209–109–109–10Ferns 3–00 / 7
2110–910–910–9Smith 3–05 / 0
2210–99–109–10Ferns 2–17 / 8
2310–910–910–9Smith 3–05 / 0
249–109–109–10Ferns 3–00 / 7
2510–910–910–9Smith 3–07 / 0

ASN boxer records

Rube Ferns · 1–0 → · Mysterious Billy Smith · 0–1 →

About this replay

Both fighter cards were derived with the owner-supplied John Turnbull creator and full-career source inputs; W/L scoring-row allocations were selected by ASN within the creator’s tolerance. They are creator estimates selected by the owner, not separately issued designer cards or January 1900 form ratings. The game’s long-bout endurance convention was used.

The 25-round welterweight setting follows the prepared historical fixture. Historical championship recognition was disputed; this result adds no separate ASN title assignment. Historical outcomes and incidents were not scripted. No specific finishing punch, punch counts or knockdown total is inferred.

Source: owner-confirmed KEEPER export; all 25 rounds restored from the recorded actions and checked with the unchanged game engine. No replacement rolls or additional play. Original numerical cards, random seed and dice logs remain private.