WEBVTT

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All right, so
that's Jack Johnson.

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"Battle Royale."

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Back then, they'd chain a
bear in the middle of the bear

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garden and let the dogs loose.

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Iron chains around a bear's
neck won't slow him too much.

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A bear will always make
short work of a dog.

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Shakespeare said Sackerson did
it more than 20 times to dogs

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and wild cats alike.

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And since most creatures are
naturally afraid of bears,

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there wouldn't always be much
of a show in the bear garden.

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So the handlers sometimes
put the bear's eyes out

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or took his teeth to make
the fight more sporting.

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I believe you need eyes more
than you need teeth in a fight,

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but losing either makes a
bear a little less mean.

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Once baiting was
against the law,

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some smart somebody figured
coloreds would fight just

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as hard if hungry enough.

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So they rounded up
the skinniest of us,

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had us strip to trousers,
then blindfolded us

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before the fight.

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They turned us in hard
circles a few times

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on the ring steps before
pushing us between the ropes.

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When the bell rang,
it seemed like I

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got hit from eight directions.

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I don't know where
those punches came from,

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but I swung so hard my
shoulder hadn't been right

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since because the man said,
only the last darky on his feet

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gets a meal.

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