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Show I, 4 I Tqitipq T TpffripQ The Greatest Pugilist of All Timl 'J CJL JLJLJL JT flf JL JL JL JLlCg (CJonyrlght, 1910 by th0 Tribuno oompany.) By JAMES J. CORBETT (Unauthorized Reproductions of TlUg Article Will BpW II I -w Having been requested to pick tho rami I . J-B who in my opinion was tho greatest (jf. pugilist tills world over has soon nnd to I 'nlft give, tho reasons for my selection, 1 reply . ii without, uny hesitation to tho first rpics-m rpics-m lion James J. Jeffries of .Los Angeles, 'HI cui. ' . The reasons for my selection may rent re-nt qulro something of a review of flstlana. -J although 1 may say at tho outset thai IS puglllstlt: history, generally speaking, i . jjj docs noL offer any one who may be used I Vt in close comparison. Jeffries seems to , ' fJ me to havo boon in a class all by hlm-I hlm-I ":! self. That he should retire as an unde-,ri unde-,ri fcatcd champion to my mind cuts off nearly all argument. .He Tho question has frequently boon I Jj asked, howovor. as in the case with othor - P ring champions, and in fact In nearly 'W every class of sport, as to what position .UP Jc-f fries would have held had ho been 5j born ten, twenty, fifty or even one hunts hun-ts liro1 years ago. My answer in thin case would be tho same. Jeffries has a variety of ring accomplishments that no other pugilist ever had. and ns i search through tho pages of history I reach tho same conclusion, that ho stands out as the Ideal pugilist of nil time. Old Tactics Lose Value. In nearly every decade sluco the days of Flgg In 1710 there has been a new champion, one man at least who classed above all his follows. From the old prints showing tho poses assumed In tho ring by former champions and from all I can find in written history or have heard during my travels about tho world from those who had a close poruounl contact con-tact with former champions, and I havo made probably more of a study of this matter than any other man. I do not find that the old champions had anything that could he developed Into any value today bv our flr.tlo champions. In a review of this subject wc must start away hack In the old. old days when ring contcstn were hold out in the open and the followers of the sport were largely large-ly drawn from tho toughest clement. This was necessary, because so keen was partisan feeling that when cither contestant con-testant nhowed signs of defeat tho ring ropes were out and frequently the man with the toughest crowd behind him won tho battle. It has taken years to change all this, and wc of the present day should rejoice at tho different conditions that now pro-vull. pro-vull. Boxing coutCKts arc now held In largo auditoriums lighted by electricity, attended by men In ovonlng drcsa and frequently by women: there aro padded ring posts and ropuu; honest referees and large purses to offer a ploaslng contrast with conditions of other days And. Incidentally, In-cidentally, I call attention particularly to the fact that the character of tho men ongaged has much to do with this change. The prints of thc early champions show i. variety of poscH In the ring, but absolutely ab-solutely no Indication of what we ioduy call science In boxing. Our presont-day amateurs would bo ridiculed should .(boy strike the same attitude as tho champions cham-pions of ovon 100 years ngo, and that is really only ten deendes in boxing. They had then to develop wrestling skill as well as punching ability, and tholr iiiuh-eular iiiuh-eular development. I will admit, was something to admire. But II. was all i summed up In brute strength, and the science which now furnishes Mm piquant sauce to thc sport was then almost, entirely en-tirely lacking. Tho same conditions today to-day beyond the attraction of a novelty would not only kill thc r.port but. after tho first performance would excite Mio most hostile criticism. Coming down to tho time of Jem Mace, wo really reach tho first pugilist to study out tho scientific side of hoxlng. Ho wns tho founder of this Innovation In pugilism, pugi-lism, nnd to him wc owe tho change that has clovatcd the sport. Oorhctt Convinces Maco. I shall mn'er forgot my first Introduction Introduc-tion to Jem Maco some .sixteen years ago lie Invited me to come around nnd show him what I had that was new In boxing. It was a meeting of tho old nnd now champions, nnd I was aa glad of tho opoortunlty to learn from him as to show hiy own skill. Mo explained the straight loads and straight cross-counters cross-counters that he hud used no effectively In earlier days, and seemed greatly surprised sur-prised when 1 kindly lold him that If they boxfd llko that now the clover men of tho new school would tear the top of his head off. To Illustrate this fact as ho desired, nnd I being tho younger man. I said: "Vou lead at mo and I'll show you something some-thing you havo never seen." Tic wns simply dumb for a time In his astonishment astonish-ment at my skill In avoiding his leads. For Instance, r tried the doublo feint with both hands and slipped Into a sidestep, side-step, at which ho let go both hands and wont out of position and at my mercy, as the trick Is intended to be used T followed with all I know of boxing, and the grunt! old man of tho ring wns greatly great-ly pleased and warmly congratulated me on my skill. After Mace camo Joe Wormald, Joe Goss. Tom Allen nnd Joe Coburn. They all simply followed the atylo of tho old m.'istor as far as they were able to master mas-ter thc scientific ond of thc game, each adding a little Individuality, but nothing thai was startling or that had not been seen before. Comment on John L. Then along came John l4. Sullivan, a rough-and-scrutT. slam-bang, right-handed lighter of great muscular development and gnmo to tho core. 1 wouldn't detract de-tract one lota from John L.'a reputation or seek to lower him from a position he occupied so many yoars as tho popular Idol of tho ring, but honesty compels me to sav that ho added nothing to fistic science except his famous right-hand punch. As usual, tho new champion's style was Immediately In vogtm, nnd Mike Olcary and some others gained a Place in fistic history as right-handed fighters. I am not going out of my way to say here that I don't bellcvo Sullivan In his best days was thc master of Jeffries, and I say this because I have so often heard them compared. Charley Mitchell was one man whom Sullivan could never whip. Mitchell, who had trained In Mm Mace school, was nearer to the present style of boxing than any man of his day. Weight was his great handicap. Then came Peter Jackson from Australia, Aus-tralia, who weighed 'J00 pounds stripped and was 6 feet 11 Inches in height. Jackson, Jack-son, too, had the Mace style as Improved by Larry Foloy, the teacher of so manv good men from the antipodes. Jackson also was a wonderful Infightcr. a good left-hand Jabber, and he hnd a right-hand right-hand punch capable of terrific damage. Thc one thing Jackson lacked was the left-hand hook. Oorhett Works on Now Lines. What shall I say of Jlnt Corbet tV He had studied out a miscellaneous stvle' In which something had beon adopted' from Mace and carried forward Into a dovel-1 opment showing Individuality. It was a system of boxing entirely Ills own and ono that had never been soon before the night of September 7. IS02. at New Orleans, Or-leans, and without dwelling further upon the subject 1 wish modestly to say that there has been little Improvement since Bob Fltzsimmons was a wonderful two- handed fighter, ablo to lilV',3.1! ono hand as tho other and fairly clovci. It was his wallop I hat won noar y all 1 ds fighla. Tom Sharkey was a physical wonder, won-der, game nnd a hard iduggor. Slnvin and Joo Goddard wero of similar class. And now wo get to Jeffries, a big. robust ro-bust m.-iri weighing 2;si; pounds, as hard as nails, and the quickest man of his weight I have ever soon In the rlrv; Above all, h has something that noii-j of tho others, arid particularly none- of tho Sullivan type, could ever show. In a knockout punch with the left hand, riio fact that ho Is naturally loft-handed, and as good, If not bettor, In ovcry othci way as all ho has met. has contributed matcrlallv to his success In the imp-That imp-That bo has defeated Fltzslmmons. &liar-kov, &liar-kov, Ttuhlln and Corbet I. not onco but twice, and the fact that those named wor tho bMit of the heavies at the time, shows what a marvelous fighter Mils groat bear from tho Pacific coast really Is. for, unlike some of tho other critics, I bollevo Jeff still the master of them all. nnd I much doubt if TO. . rjH upon his llko again. BhaUL Jeffries Beat olSsMm Fifty yean? ngo. Jnrr-u vK been considered n well an a successful knlfe even among such men , sW John Moftnnn. Tom SM scy and Ned O'BaldwIn ifi?K Jeff, with a knocko ,," pfifcB hand as well as tho richhdW done to the men named. ttisW lute to say he waK ovoVSMME Mmso men. and as clover. ' Jeffries takes punlfllimcn.P same degree of nonchag.M rlsGcy; h clever llko Improved style, and .Q i,' S O'BaldwIn. He 8 bJitel Vfe than Coburn. ;iml le LI'Wm that any one else over llttlo more. Including thatrV" out punch with the ho doesn't need to send It aln;Mf jmyen Inches to mal;0 "1 |