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Copbftt'sGossip/(Copyrighted, 1904., by Nc\l'p*Per Enterprise Association.). (By jas. J. Corbett).Champion Jeffries can stand more punishment than any two fighters that ever stepped into a ring No matter what part of his anatomy you pick, out to attack, lie gives you the same cordial reception. So wonderful is hi* ability lu take punishment that T believe he could knock out half the heavyweights in the country •without doing much fighting llini-flel f.T shall not forget the first experience 1 had with him in this line. It was 011 ihe occasion of our first battle til New York. My trainers and I had studied his makeup and hismethods of lighting as closely as men possibly could We came to the conclusion that his stomach was the one point that would affect him if it could be reached. Of course, his crunch had In be lakrn into consideration, but we thought it was possible t» get uj him I*or weeks } practiced infighting ant! landing Mows on the solar plexus.Went After Jeff.When 1 stepped i;i t he ring at Coney Island I had my mind made up (0 spend a great deni of time and attention on the lug fellow's bellows, and if possible hr.nl him down.This ylt; just what Jeffries wanted. Blow after blow rrached his • lout* arli. and my •weouds krpi idling me to keep ii up 1 was hitting him Tc«v|ar Bui to my a'lnhislmicul. he kepi mining to mr wilh as murh energy as ever. II** did not seem I*' mini) my blow* at :»lk Finally I landed, a Icuilir punch that would have taken the light on) nf any man, for a s/iorf tour at JeffFluffed nnd pretended to hr hanging on. and tlm first tiling I knv lu-rent one back to me with inierrsl.1 heard one of hi' seconds say. If Curbed keeps tha* Op hnag. it will hr all over Mire. Well, 1 was wise enough In see that my tactics weren’t getting what I expected. 'U 1 began directing my attention to nihrr parts of his enormous bo«fySiurr then 1 have Iramrd tbat Jim’s Momadi is practically ltnhurl' tblr. He has given coPchnivr proofthat the organism of Jiis stomach is perfectAnother tiling about Jeffries' makeup that always caused me a great deal of amusement. Hiss jaw has never been affected by a swing or a blow I11 all his fights he has received as many blows on the jaw as he gave Those blows hurt the audience more than they hurt him. Kite landed on him time and time again with those heavy swings, but to the best of my knowledge the big fellow’s head has never been knockedback.Corbett on RyanTommy Ryan has been the. subject of a great (leal of unfavorable criticism of late because of the set-10 with Root at Philadelphia, However. 1 still slick by the statement that many have no doubt heard me make: 1 . think Ryan, for his weight and height, the greatest fighting machine J have ever seen. He has everything thal. the words “ring genera Ik hip ini’Iudc. llv lias a wonderful punch for a lad his size. I te carries- a sleep tablet in belli fists, and when lie is right, ho is the ideal fighter.I shall never- forget the first time 1 saw Ryan. 1 was on my way east from Frisco and stopped off in Chicago. 1 met Lou Househunt, who insisted that 1 put on the gloves with a youngster who had plenty of promise and was a willing worker.We made our way to an uld fire engine house where u little gymnasium had been fitted up for Ryan and other fighters J f is manner attracted my attention and I deter mined to give him a good trying out. If ever I was .surprised, it was on this occasion. Ryan had not bctpi taught .much, but intuitively lie was a fighter. Jn other words he was born a ring star, llis showing was remarkable aud I fold Jluu.scninit then and • there that lit* had discovered n wonderful fighter.This talk atmul *Ry«n may smir-d extravagant to some nf the ring enthusiasts. hut f believe almost any fighter of prominence will bear me out in these statements.The last tinir f saw Ryan was wlicu 1 was training for my last big fight. He was then far from being a well man and as far I know lie has never cutnplrlcdy recovered.Fighters Generous.Fighters as a rule arc the iiiml generous rlns* ill tli»* world. Their money comes iit large bpueluN and they give il away :utd spend il {rr**-ly. 1 remember. however, when I was given a severe ‘ailing down by a beggar, while walking down Broadway wilh an ni’i|Viniul:ini'e opr day.f pot ml.1 ihe habit that all fight* rrs do after ) wop from Sullivan :il New Cblrans. J thought that crcYv bf'HKtir ought to receive some altcn-lion. and •-cldoni parsed ur wilh-r»u 1 handing him a 0i«. On this oc-CAsinil 1 happened (n sltilrt* a soilof rite Fmeiald ulcf who was in hard 'Irails. | ran my baud down into my pocket for a coin. I couldn't 'find anything but a penny ami I dirln’i have lime to gri change for a $10 hill—the smallest and largest piece of money I had in my pocket. S.. 1 handed the old lt;-Jmp the* coin. 1 lie took d and by this lime mvfriend was interested in him. “How did you come 10 be so poor?’’ asked my companion. The beggar replied: “Ah, madam, it was because I resembled yum* husband. 1 was loo fond of giving aic,7 large sums of money.Interest in Champions.Great interest was taken in fight* fifteen or sixteen years ago. 1 was just Starting out in the game and naturally \va- :i» much interested a any youngster could be. I was not alone, however. Hack in t8Sfj. when John L Sullivan fought his mentor-i able battle with Jake Kifrain in ihe far-off Mississippi valley. 1 was In a small I own in California where there was nothing in those*days but ;i one* lir.i-sc telegraph station on a small railroadAs the time for the light approached. the telegraph operator became more important than tiny other person in the roiimry.I knew- the hold keeper at the place and was one of the few who was allowed to Maud in the lilllr 8x0 telegraph office when the returns urn* expected. Oni julc. people lor miles around, crowd cm r the little place and looked nt Ihe operator. v;ho would he I he first lo learn I he outcome nf the battle.No dctadcd report was received. Noon filed aromvl and Suddenly I lie operator jumped from his chair, exclaiming; “Sullivan win*.”A cheer went up from ihe crowd as ihey heard the aimmmccmcfil. 'I'fie fight had gone 755 rounds.Long before IhM, when a champion was first known of down 11111i! today, you find interest in 1 he* fight ■-ing game a*. widespread as in a nn-t tonal election. in towns far front iln* cell lee- of civtli/.*ili*,n y*n\ find jrnpjr today heller informed oil ihr ifr nf Jinrntv Britt limn on llr lately rleelrd \ icr president.
Newspaper Details
San Antonio Gazette
San Antonio, Texas, US
Tue, Jan 10, 1905
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
John H.
IL, USA 27 May 2018
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