Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, Rube Ferns, and Joe Gans in 1897. Matthews had previously beaten Strauss on January 8, 1900, in a round twelve Technical Knockout at the Hercules Athletic Club in Brooklyn. Strauss was down three times in the bout. In the final round of the January bout, Matthews landed continuous hooks and swings to the body of Strauss that resulted in the knockout, though Strauss seemed to have fought better in the early rounds. By the final round of the January bout, Strauss was so exhausted his knees may have buckled as many as four times, and at a few points in the match he was fatigued enough that he slipped to the mat avoiding the blows of Matthews. On March 16, 1906, near the end of his boxing career, Matthews was knocked out by Rube Ferns in the ninth round at the International Athletic Club in Buffalo, New York. According to the Boston Globe, on August 19, 1908, Matthew's last bout was likely a six-round newspaper decision against Patsy Sweeney at Ulmer Park, in Brooklyn, New York. Life and work after boxing In his early career, he worked briefly as a sparring partner for friend and great British born welter and middleweight boxer Tommy West, who ran a boxing school in Brooklyn. West faced the great champion Joe Walcott several times, as well as Tommy Ryan, and Mysterious Billy Smith. He had jobs in construction and carpentry, and by 1918 was working as a shipbuilder for Morse's shipyard. By 1915, he had already begun work as a stage carpenter. Like many boxers, Matthews worked in the entertainment industry in his retirement, and once entertained audiences riding a diving horse into a tank at the New York Hippodrome. He worked in several capacities at the Hippodrome including Doorman as late as 1923. He worked briefly as a traveling stage actor after winning the welterweight championship. In his later years he worked as a scene shifter in theaters. At 70 in 1944, he was an official of the Theatrical Carpenter's Union, and a foreman of carpenters for a New York theatrical chain. His long life may partially be explained by rarely having overindulged in alcohol according to several sources, though he was known to on occasion smoke a pipe. He was not reported to have fallen victim to a gambling habit like many successful boxers. Matthews died in a Brooklyn