more often, though not necessarily with more telling blows. In the sixth, Matthews brought down Parker with a telling right, though Parker rose quickly and began delivering jabs and punches. Both boxers finished strong, though both were cut above the eye. Loss of the World Welterweight Championship Matthews lost the world welterweight championship in a twenty-five round points decision on June 5, 1900 against contender Eddie Connolly at the Seaside Athletic Club in Brooklyn, New York. It was Matthews and Connolly's fourth meeting. Matthews was down for a count of nine in both the eleventh and eighteenth rounds, in a bout that was described as "the best bout of the four", with Connally winning decisively without ever being knocked to the mat. Matthews was down shortly before the final bell from a strong right to the face. The blow that ended the bout was a left hook by Connolly in the last five seconds of the twenty-fifth round. Matthews was a favorite in the betting at odds of 2 to 1, yet at least according to one source, Connolly outpointed his opponent in nearly every round. Retaking the World Welterweight Championship in October 1900, from Rube Ferns Matthews regained the World Welterweight Title from Rube Ferns on October 16, 1900, at the Cadillac Athletic Club in Detroit, Michigan, in a fifteen-round points decision. The Detroit Free Press gave all but two rounds to Ferns, who entered the ring with sores on his shoulder which opened during the bout. Matthews landed solid blows the Ferns in the final fifteenth round, but it was too late to change the points scoring. Losing the World Welterweight Championship to Rube Ferns six months after taking it Matthews lost the 142 pound Welterweight Title to Ferns on May 24, 1901 before a crowd of 3000 in a tenth-round knockout at the Mutual Street Rink in Ontario, Canada. Matthews was leading on points up until the tenth round, when Ferns downed him with two lefts to the jaw. Upon rising, Ferns finished Matthews with a strong right. Matthews seemed to show greater speed in the bout, which may have accounted for his higher points scoring, and had Ferns bleeding from the nose through most of the bout. On December 29, 1903, Matthews knocked out Isadore Strauss in the second round at the Southern Athletic Club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Strauss had fought such well known boxers as