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TWO GREAT FIGHTERS WILL COME TOGETHER WEDNESDAY. SOMEBODY WILL GET HURT. IT SHOULD BE THE GREATEST BAT TLE IN RING HISTORY. NEITHER EVER MET HIS MATCH. BOTH ARE IN SUPERB CONDITION FOR THE MILL. In Style the Two Men Are Entirely Different and It Is Going to Be Largely Lock in Picking the Winner—A Glance at Their Previ ous Records, James J. Corbett and Robert Fitzsim mons will meet at Carson City, Nev., next Wednesday morning , soon after 10 o'clock in the morning as circumstances with weather conditions will permit, to bat te for the heavyweight championship of the world and forever settle the question, which has been a burning issue In the pugilistic world for the past three years, as to Which Is the better a man. This prom ises to be the greatest championship bat tle In the history of the fing. Often, when two men have fought for the champion ship, one has overshadowed the other so that the contest was, in the minds of a large majority of the followers of the game. Virtually decided Defers it came off. Not so with this battle. Here are two men whose careers In the ring have alike been meteorically successful. Neither has ever met anything approaching defeat since he established the right 0 be considered in the champion class. Both have easily reigned supreme in their respective classes and have won their battles in such com manding style that every judge of fighting, every follower of the ring and its cham pions, has come to agree upon this one proposition—that there is not today an other fighter on the globe who could stand a chance with either Corbett or Fitzsim mons. Never before was there such universal interest in a ring contest. The principals have been so judiciously advertised = ve been kept so constant before the Public for years that they and their achievements are known roas. Public opinion and the money that is swayed by public opinion is much divided. While the Corbett men are, perhaps, in a majority, Fitzsimmons has his admirers by the thou sands in every quarter of the world, who stoutly maintain that on March 17 he will show himself a real champion. A com prehensive review of the records of the two men shows that the adherents of both have cause for believing their man will win. James J. Corbett, then a slender bank clerk in San Francisco, first sprang into prominence by three successive victories over the redoubtable Joe Choynski, even at that time one of the ¢tleverest men on the Pacific coast. These battles took place in 1588, from that time to this Cor bett's fir star shone with it briliancy. In February, as the Call “by the net in which he dispowed of Jake Kilrain in six rounds at New Orleans. This was aeres TS om, by eee ame rot with 7ee at a Francisco. The big, Black at polean was at that time conce to be the cleverest and hardest hitt of all the heavy weights, when rhett stood him off as he did it stamped him as one of the pus. He showed then that al the unable to put Jackson out, his defensive work was something marvelo In re thin threes hours’ fighting. In aid not land one effective blow on 6 face, and only one body each thet was punishing. The famous New Orl mittie in Tl, in which Corbett wrested ‘ beash of the world from John TL. Sullivan In the cave of what was thought to be tremen dous odds, is fresh in the minds of all. In twenty-one rounds he laid the glint low, and it is no exaggeration to say that, had he cared to rush matters, he could have won in six rounds. He introduced to the world in that battle a new system of agi lism, in which the head was made to do as much work as the fists. Corbett’s last real battle was with Charlie Mitchell at Jack sonville, and he made such short work of aie that that could hardly be called a miruie, Fitzsimmons has an equally clean record once he startled the world, by the easy manner in which he disposed of Tae Dempsey, the “Nonparell,”” when they met at New Orleans in January, 189. His fights ever since that famous contest, In which he wrested the middlewright championship from the pride of America, have been of the whirlwind order, and no matter who his opponent he has always won right off the reel Such first-rature as Jim Hall. Jot Cheynekd, Dan Creedon and Peter Maher have easily and repeatedly fallen victims to the superior prowess of the men whom ome people choose to call a freak. In all his battles Fitzsimmons has shown himself to be immeasurably the best man, and his victories have been so decisive and won so eWirnly that he mut to say be fairly con chieted in the same class with Corbett. The stele of three two ring gladiator certainly different. Corbett is conceded to be infinitely more clever at the sparring run than the lanky Australian, but is, miter is not nearly as awkward on the battle, the two other fights scheduled for Din Stuart’s carnival should be rattling Boa contests, as they will bring together men who stand close to the top in their respective classes. In both instances the men are considered by good critics so even ly matched that picking the winners is going to be a hard task and the men who essay to get the best of the odds by laying a combination naming all three of the win ners is likely to slip up on either of the hights outside the big battle. The two other matches are between “Mysterious Bill ’ Smith and George Green (Young Corbett), two of the beat Welterweights In the country outside of ‘Tommy Ryan, and between Martin Flah erty and Cal Hawkins, featherweights. All fuo of these men have been going through as strict course of triining as either of the principals for the big battle, and when they are called on to go in the ring, which will probably be immediately after the main event, they will be found ready to fight. Smith is generally supposed to seek the advantage over Green, but the latter has come to the front rapidly of late, and he will give the Boston man 4 stiff argu ment. Smith's best fights have been with Tommy Ryan, whom he has met four times, twice getting a draw with the welterweight champion and twice meeting defeat. Green his boast that he would some day “take a punch at the big fellows. He has been in trouble more frequently than Corbett. Time and again he has been knocked dizzy by the weight of his orpo ments fists, and many of those who will not acknowledge tat he has qualified for the championship chils strengthen their arguments iy reference to the number of occasions on which he has been within on ace of defeat. They concede that in Maher and Choynski the Cornishman has been against the hardest mushers In the busi ness, and they do not lay stress enough up on the fact that while punched dizzy by each of these brace of heavy hitters Bob escay was being completely knocked out. The most exciting races in the nonals of the turf have been won by what is known as stretch horses, and this Fitasimmons has minass managed to assert himself at a critical time suggests to me that he has well earned the tithe of the stretch horse of pugilism. The hard raps he has received and the hard and decisive raps he has giv en in return make two things reasonably palpable. One is that she recovers quickly from a sarringe blow, and the other that no degrees of dizziness affects the force of his own deliveranor. He has emerged from Usht prices, wand the scalps that dangle at his girdle warrant me In contending that Sullivan will put no stock In the stories that he has dreaded a meeting with Fitz. Neither Neghter has any fear of physical TATEEINE. Exch naturally believes he will win, has no star performance to his credit, but has always made a good showing as a game and scientific boxer in all his con tests. The battle between the pair of feathers will be, perhaps, the most interesting of the series. Both are clever in the highest degree and both have shown notes to Rive and take punishment. Flaherty’s best per formance was when he stom! off George Dixon, the featherweight champion, in a twenty-round go at Boston last June, and he was at that time heralded as the coming champion of his class, Cal Hawkins is recorded in France as a wonder, and when he journeyed to New York last fall look ing for a match, he opened the eyes of the sporting fraternity by beating Joe Gans, the clever Baltimore lad, in fifteen rounds before one of the New York clubs. Haw kins has been convict most of the clever seers of the day, and has held his own well. Corbett picks himself, Smith and Hawk ins as the winners, with a saving clause that Green moeyet the decision over Smith. Smith is also the favorite in the Firesimmons camp. but the followers of “Lanky Bob,” if they take his advice, will mr their ducation Pheberry to beat Haow ns. he, too, upholds the theory of “the survival of the fittest.” Before Training. Now. | Height. eee. CT. Lin, Ot. Lin Neck. ..... 7 in, 1715 in. | Chest. eicetamer ce 2S in. 29 in. Walet....+s ot in. oo im. Thigh. ..... oi in. 22 in. Calf... 2s + 1414 In. T414 Im. Biceps. .. . «= « 144 in. int in. Wrist. .... ot. In, ey in. ROBERT FITZSIMMONS. Before Training. Nov. Heigh?...... 5 ft. 115, fp. 5 ft. 11% In. Neck. .... + 15 in. 154, In. Chest... +. « 41 in. 42), In. Berean os we Sle Im. st in. ; Thich. eneae =0 in. =h, in. ‘Calf. . ee eee 1h. In. Tt. In. Biceps. . . » + 12 in. 12 in. . Wrist... . ++ 6t. In. wy in. CORBETT’S RECORD. Corbett's earlier fights of the dates of which there are no exact records are those when he won from Dave Elsmin, Captain J. H. Daly, Mike Brennan, John Donald son, Martin Costello, William Miller, Frank Smith and draw with Duncan McDonald. In 1888 he was defeated in a boxing con test for the amateur chiuimpionship gold medal of the Ariel Club, in San Francisco, by Billy Welch in four rounds. A few months later he scored his first knockout by putting Billy Welch to sleep in one round. The record of his other battles is: 67 Defeated Jack Burke, eight rounds. ISS-183—Defeated Frank Glover, three rounds. May “—Police interfered in a four round bout with Joe Choynski. June ’—Won from Choynski, Corbett B ounce, Choynski skin gloves, twenty-seven rounds. July —Bested Choynski, four rounds. July 2—Draw with Dave Campbell. Cor bett was the best, but agreed not to knock out. Ten rounds. DWw—February 18: Won from Jake Ki- Tain on points; eight rounds. March S1—Sparred Mike Donovan. April 4—Won from Dominick McCaffrey; four short rounds. Iwi—May 21: Draw with Peter Jackson; sixty-one rounds. June 3—Sparred with JohnL. Sullivan. August 6—Sparred with Jem Hall; four rounds. 18¢—Occtober 8: Won from Ed Kinney; four rounds. 5 it March 15—Match made with John L. Sul van. September 7—Won from Sullivan; twenty one rounds. In H—January 25: Knocked out Charley Mitchell; three rounds. September 7—Fought six rounds with Peter Courtney for the kinetoscope. —January 11: Knocked out McVey in a three round exhibition bout. H—June 4: Could not put out Tom Sharkey in four rounds. FITZSIMMONS' RECORD: Fitzsimmons’ first appearance was made at Timaru, New Zealand, in Jem Mace's competition in ~~ where he selecten four men and won the amateur championship of New Zealand. = Next year, in the same competition, he knocked out five men, among them being Herbert Slade. “The Maori.’ : On December 7 IS Fitzsimmons jumped into the professional class and de feated Dick Ellis, of New Zealand, in three rounds. His other battles up to date foll Ow: 8—February 1—Lost to Jem Ball, four rounds, Muay II—Arrived in San Francisco. May W—Fought Frank Allen and broke the fighter’s wrist with a swinging blow in the first round. : ae Won from Billy McCarthy, nine rounds. June 3—Won from A. O. Upman, scoring his first knockout, five rounds, 1stl—January 14—Knocked out Jack Dempsey, thirteen rounds, and 23—Knocked out Abe Dougle, two rounds. May 1—Won from the “Black Pearl,” four rounds. Isss—March 2—Knocked out Peter Maher, twelve rounds. Apet —Knocked out James Farrell, two rounds. may 1—Knocked out Joe Godfrey, one round. May 11—E Knocked out Jerry Slattery, two TopUrnds. September %—Knocked out Millard Zen der, one round. 18—March —Knocked out Jem Hall, four rounds. May ®—Knocked out Warner, one round. September 5—Won from Jack Hickey, three rounds. _ 114—June W—Draw with Joe Choynski. Police interfered in the fifth round. July 2—Knocked out Frank Kellar, two rounds. September 25—Knocked out Dan Creedon, two rounds, November 1$—Killed Don Riordan in a boxing bout at Syracuse. N. Y. iss—April 16—Knocked out Al Allich, three rounds. am 183—Knocked out M. Connors, one round... WSI—February 2—Knocked out Peter Maher, one round. : run came the eight-round fiasco with Sharkey, In which the sailor was given the decision after being knocked out by Fitz in the eighth round, the head. I knocked up these joints.” Here Corbett pointed to the upper ends of the bones that connect the knuckles with the wrist at the back of the hand, TL quickly found that every time I Punched Joe, I was hurting myself much more than I hurt him. He wasn't doing me any harm with his punches because I was quick enough to guard them or get away from them. I trie all sorts of times to get him where T could land a nockout blow, but it was no use. Then I tried tiring him out by keeping him con stantly on the go. “after the twentieth round his legs be gan to get tired. In the twenty-fourth round I saw that his arms had grown s0 tired that he could hardly hold them up. I feinted for the ody and drew his guard down. Then Lo made a hoard swing with the right. My wrist caught him on the chin and down he went. My hands were hurting me a great deal, but I had the satisfaction of seeing that Joe couldn't get up .That little affair ended my banking ex perience. I dropped it and went into the insurance business, Choynski and his friends were not satisfied with the fight. They thought he had lost by accident, to MARTIN FLAHERTY, Who Is to Fight Dal Hawkins at Carson, we were soon matched again. Of course, we fought with gloves, ‘This time I was more cautious. I did not hit Choyns«l except when I had a good opening, aul every punch IT landed hurt him. He went out in the fourth round this time. Still no was game and thought [ won one tike. “There was more or less talk about these fights. The directors of the Olympic Ath letic Club made me the boxing intstructor. I combined this with the insurance busi ness, and between my salary as teacher and my insurance commission I made a nice income for a youngster. I was still under 21 years of age. The more I boxed the cleverer I became. “A boxer known as “Jack Burke, the Trish lad,” came to San Francisco at this time, somewhere in the eighties. He was nearly thirty years old and a very skiill ful boxer. He had two draw decisions with Charley Mitchell, of England. “My friends wanted to match go against him. I felt that I could best him, but I did not care to go into the thing, because I knew that this would be a real begin ning at prize fighting. The fights with Joe Choynski were different. They were only the continuation of Sor battles. But if I should go against Jack Burke—a man with a world wide reputation—I would be fairly launched in the business as a pro fessional. I hesitated for a long time, but at is I let my friends talk me into the match. “Burke and I met f in public. The condi tions were that we should go four or six rounds, Ire forgotten whic! There was no referee, and the spectators were to do several hundred dollars by knocking out Jake Kalrain in less than six rounds. “Not long after that I challenged Sulli van for the championship of the world. who followed that is all ancient: history. “One thing amuses me.” Corbett conclud ed, with a smile. “Some people seem to think because I am not all scarred and battered that I'm not my real fighter. I suppose if my nose was broken and half my teeth knocked out they would say I was a event gladiator. It seems to me that it requires some little cleverness to come through all the fights 've been in with out getting a single mark. Some very smart people say that because I'm quick and shitty T can’t hit hand, “Well T don't know, Have T won all my battles by fanning the other man till he fell asleep? T know that [im stronger find faster today than I ever was before, and if T don't make Mr. Fitzsimmons think Tecan hit hard Til take off my hat to him.” GEORGE SILER, The Referee. JAMES J. CORBETT,
Newspaper Details
Kansas City Journal
Kansas City, Missouri, US
Sun, Mar 14, 1897
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Tim A.
CA, USA 07 Jun 2026
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