on april 4, 1904 walcott defended his title against black contender dixie kid. he was winning the fight handily when the referee disqualified walcott for no apparent reason in the final seconds of the 20th round. "duck sullivan", the referee, was a last minute replacement, and walcott protested the choice before the bout began. in the one sided contest, walcott appeared to have a clear advantage in all but the seventh round. many in the crowd were shocked with the decision, and walcott himself was immediately angered at referee sullivan who made the call. the match was disregarded as a title bout when it was discovered, not surprisingly, that referee sullivan had bet on dixie kid to win the match.