White appeared to have Welsh ready for a knockout in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth rounds of their 1916 match, but failed to follow up his advantage. Welsh backpedaled against the aggressive attack of White, who scored with hooks to the head and body, when the two were not clinching. The extremely unpopular 20-round decision was awarded to Welsh, though White appeared to land more blows, causing a small riot to break out in the crowd. Both boxers clinched for a large part of the bout, which also incensed the crowd. As White threw more punches and did more damage in the fight, he would have been awarded the world lightweight championship by today's rules, winning on points. In 1916, however, a challenger to the lightweight crown had to knockout the title holder, and White did not, losing his chance to be remembered as one of boxing's best.