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Show WORLD OF SPORTS. Champion Corbett Talks About the Great Battle. THE STORY OF HIS VICTORY. Jims' Seconds Would ot Let Him Fight as Fast as He Wanted to Until the Twenty-first Hound-Wheel Hound-Wheel Xotes Turf Topics The Latest Sporting Xevvs of Interest. Sullivan has told the story of his defeat many times, and the sporting public has been waiting for Corbett to tell the story of his victory. It has just come, and is in the form of a letter written by the young champion cham-pion to a friend. Iu it Jim says: It is rather a hard matter for a man to tell how he would act in a certain moment of danger, therefore you will realize how difficult it is to answer your request for a statement of how a pugilist makes an attack or defends himself from attack. It is altogether ac cord'.ng to circumstances. Some boxers are small and active, and others large and slow. Some have powerful left hands, while others-rely others-rely upon the right. There are no set rules either for attack or defense. A boxer to be successful must study Lis man as an artist studies the subject for a nieture. "Feel him out." if possible, with- i ' thought I was running away, when I was only sizing him up. My principal desire throughout the fight was to keep him moviu and not give him a moment's rest. Whenever I would get away too far he would drop his hands in the expectation ex-pectation of getting a rest. Then, in accordance accord-ance with my plan of battle, I would jump in again and up would go his hands. It takes a big man like Mr. Sullivan some time to get set for a blow. A man has to set himself him-self just like a runner for a foot-race before he can strike. I would fiddle away in front of his face until I could see that he was almost p.;t, ttien I would take a step to his ljft. This would throw him all oil again. Then if he put down his hands for a brief rest I went at him, knowing that he was not ready for rne. I was surprised to see Sullivan in such good condition. I knew the papers had said that he was in good shape, but I thought the reports were exaggerated. In that whole fight I have not one moment or one blow to regret. Tha report that Sullivan called me out giving your own points away. Study two or three different counters for every blow so that your opponent will not know which one to expect. Keep any plan you have formed well in mind and wait for an opportunity to use it. Thus, if you see that in swinging his right an opponent leaves the right side of his neck unguarded, lay for a cross-counter with your right. It may not come for a round or so, but when it does come do not forget for an instant what to do. Do not get rattled and try with your left. Mop out your battle like the general of an army and do not change it unless the conditions change. ' It would be hard to tell just where I learned the tactics that I use in the ring. I think I have learned a point or two from every man I ever put up my hands against. They would have a few things with which I was not familiar, then after the bout I would go to my room or the gymnasium and practice them until I got them down fine. Since I first put on tha gloves I have been ambitious to become perfectas a boxer. Hence I have studied every point as it arose and forgotten none of them. Early in my experience I found that a sure judgment of distance and a quick eye were absolutely necessary to make the good boxer. I , practiced for months to acquire them. I used to allow the boys to swing for me to see how nearly I could estimate their reach. Practice enabled me to gauge the blows so closely that I could feel the wind of their gloves on my face. Then again, in practicing for quick eye-sight, I would allow them to lead straight foe my face. When the blow came within s'x inches of my nose I would duck and it would pass over my shoulder. I consider quickness quick-ness of eye-sight and ability to judge distance dis-tance the first requisite of a good boxer. I believe that to be more important than the principles of attack, because it is comparatively compara-tively easy to repulse an attack if you Lave good eye-sight and good backing- ability. There are very few in the world able to hit a good boxer in the face with a straight lead when the boxer knows what is coming. He will duck his head sideways before rnn The only discourteous thing he "did was to throw my hand aside after shaking it. Under the circumstances I suppose this was natural. nat-ural. Any way, I forgive him for it. I say again that he made a good, game fight, and a manly speech after it. Had he beaten me I would have done the same. I do not exaggerate, nor do I mean to boast, when I say that I could have knocked Mr. Sullivan out far sooner than I did had it not been for Mr. Delaney, my second. In the second round I felt sure of bim. and wanted to get at him and fight fast, but Delaney De-laney kept me back. He told me Sullivan was still strong on his legs, and that I had better fight at his belt until he got weaker. I did so, but it w as all I could do to restrain myself whenever I saw an opening. Almost Al-most every time I landed with my left on bis neck the blow was a counter. He would jump forward with a chopping left-handed blow. I would bob my head to one side and it would go over my shoulder. This would bring him in good reach, and I would swing my left glove on his neck. When the twenty-first roujid opened Mr. Delaney told me to fight as fast as I pleased. This was what I wanted. Up to this time my mouth had not even been moistened by a lemon and I was not winded in the least. For this I thank my trainers. It would be unfair to criticise " Mr. Sullivan's style of boxing, consequently it would be difficult for me1 to tell just what occurred in the twenty-first and final round. Mr. Sullivan opened It with a rush, when I eluded by a side step. Then, as he came in, I landed on the face with my left, which stopped him, and then before he could recover I fought him to the ropes, and went at him so fast that he becatae dazed and did not know where to guard. A few momenta later the fight came to an end and I was pronounced the victor. I have received almost 1000 telegrams of con- fratulaiions since the fight. In conclusion, wish to thank my friends all over the world for their kind messsires, and I assure them, one and all, that I will always endeavor en-deavor to deserve their friendship and confidence. con-fidence. Whenever Mr. Sullivan desires me to spar l any Deneni 01 nis 1 win ao so with pleasure, provided my business engagements en-gagements will permit me to do so. My services shall not cost him a cent. James J. Corbett. Colonel Kelly Returns. Colonel Ed Kelly, "the prince of sports," has returned from" New Orleans, where he witnessed the fistic carnival. The colonel dropped over $5000 on John L., but says Corbett is the only man living who can defeat de-feat the old champion. can laud every time. I naver saw a boxer in my lif a but I tried to get his good points ; I can tell them quick enough, too. Early in my experience I used to be fond of parrying blows. I found that they would sometimes get through my guard in spite of everything. every-thing. Then I began to rely on my legs and eyesight. I found it a great deal better ! plan. If I was not sure of what a man intended in-tended to do I found it the best plan to step to the right and keep away until I sized up my opponent's intentions. If the reader of this will put up his hands fighting fashion and let some agile man dance around him in a circle to his left he will find how hard it is to land any kind of a blow. My present style of fighting is made up more or less of the styles of all fighters instead of hanging to one style. I always try to have several to fall back upon if necessary. nec-essary. If I find I can do more with an opponent Dy sianaing sun ana Jetting him come to me, I will not shift a foot If 1 see that my opponent is disposed to stand still I will go to him. "Nine pugilists out of ten rely upon parrying blows, instead of estimating es-timating distance and getting away. I do the latter because I believe it to be the best and surest way to get behind an opponent's op-ponent's guard. About the only time that 1 ever parry a blow is when I am cor-nered cor-nered and the rope will not allow me to tret back." 6 The reader who has seen many fights will know that nine out of every ten pugilists when they corner an opponent will hit for his face instead of his stomach. I do not know why they do this, but I do know it to be a fact. Possibly they have a knock-ont In their mind. At any rate they will bang away at the face and let the stomach alone unless it comes to a c!iDch. I always remember re-member this when cornered, and throw my arms in front of my face like a lettered and upward in time to throw oil my opponent's blows. Of course, I have often been hit when cornered, but I have generally managed man-aged to keep clear. One thing of which I am rather proud is the fact that I have never in all my experience teen knocked down, aud I firmly believe this to be because I almost always shift back or to one side instead in-stead of parrying. It is a comparatively easy matter to dodge a man like Sullivan. I do not want to bo misunderstood. No man ever made a gamer or more manly fight than he; but Le was entirely en-tirely too heavy on his feet to catch an activu man who was not afraid of fcim and one who gave him glare for glare. Whenever his eyes turned green and he looked especially furious furi-ous I wonld make it a point to go in and mix up with him, just to let him know that I was not afraid of him. This, I think, surprised him more thau anything else. I think I deserve more credit for the first round, when I did not strike a blow, than for almost any other one in the tight. When time was called I begn to feel him out. He would lunge for me, and I would gauge his force and speed, aud see just where his weak points were, then I would make feint and try to bring out another weak point Iu this way he showed me his entire hand. His best plan would have been to stand stock still and let me have come to him. If he had done this I would have thought he had something some-thing ui his sleeve, and I would have been very cautious how I went in. When I heard the people hissing 1 want.-d to tell them to wait; instead of this I held up a glove, but they did not know what, it meant. - They |
