| Show I R CE WHAT HAT two men would you say played the most prominent roles in making Gene Tunney the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world It must be admitted at the start that Tunney did a fair job on his own He was still the vital factor He lie did most of the work and most of the thinking But he still needed some outside help for Gene was a araw araw araw raw product on the way up In his first match against Harry Greb Tunney took the worst beating of his career But from that fight tight on Commander Tunney kept moving up The two men who helped me most Tunney told ld me a few weeks agog were Jim Corbett and William Wllliam Muldoon l It was vas Mr Muldoon who gave fave e 1 me early encouragement when I needed It badly He lie was also 1150 theone theone the one who gave me sound advice on onI I physical conditioning and training 11 1 Master aster Boxer What boxers need today Tunney Tunney Tun- Tun ney said is variety of attack Jack Dempsey didn't need U this so much with his devastating left hook He could knock your head off with U this s sone one punch And dont don't forget that Jack was extremely fast I had no noI luch loch punch So I needed variety I which Corbett gave me At least Jim fin gave me the general idea For orbett Corbett had more variety than any any- me ne Ive I've ever known After talking and working with Corbett I went to work on several types of punches I mean by that the b bod body o d y uppercut which few boxers had ever eve r used I Most 1 uppercuts are headed for the chin x There were several other punches I Il z l worked on day after day I might even say year after year I made Gene Tunney a close study of the human body to find the most vulnerable parts Especially Especial Especial- ly the nerve centers I had discovered discovered ered that a punch delivered to some spots would have no effect where effect where the same blow a few inches away could cause trouble Fitzsimmons applied this knowledge in his famous plexus lolar plexus punch that left Corbett paralyzed for a minute or more Six Inches to the right or left this punch would have had no such effect It was Jim Corbett to whom I went for ring advice In my opinion there has only been one Corbett when it comes to the science of box- box Ing I boxed with Corbett when he was past 60 He would feint with his left hand hand and and then hit you with the left leIt Or he would feint with the left and and nail you with a right There was no way to tell just what he was going to do He could mix mL up more punches than any anyone one I ever saw Corbett not only had amazing hand and foot speed but even more important important important im im- he had a smart brain Even at that age Jim could really dazzle dazzle dazzle daz daz- you He could still keep you be be- So I can imagine what he must have been when he was was 25 or 30 years younger I can only say that Jim was always kind to me always interested in helping Few Pew Vulnerable Spots Judging a fight from the viewpoint viewpoint view viewpoint view view- point of blows that hit certain parts of the anatomy is something more than you can ask a referee or any judge to consider And yet it is a avital avital avital vital factor Ive I've heard fight crowds cheer loudly at some solid thump on I an opponents opponent's shoulder This means nothing at alL It is just wasted effort no matter how effective effective ef d- it may look to the crowd There are only certain parts of the human body that give way vay to punishment These are arc parts that few Cew boxers today even know about It was Corbetts Corbett's advice that led me meto meto meto to study these vulnerable spots At least Jim proved to me beyond any doubt that boxing was more of a asci science ence than mere ere brute strength A scientific boxer can make a crude fighter look lock awkward although the latter might be twice as strong Ive found that few of these terrific terrific terrific ter ter- punchers can hit a moving target target tar tar- get who knows how to keep out of the way You may recall how many many punches Max Baer landed on Jim Braddock who was no section of lightning I dont don't believe Max landed even one solid blow in 15 rounds But Max couldn't miss big Camera Boxing is one of the finest and one of the most scientific sports in the world It would be a great help to the game if it a few of or the modern generation coming along were only willing to work along these lines Which so few of them are Return of 0 Lombardi When Ernest Natali Lombardi lay stricken in the dust of Cincinnati's ti's home plate in the final world series game of 1939 the big fellows fellow's career seemed to be closing out But It is all diff different rent now The big Giant catcher has again become one of the most valuable adjuncts to his squad one of the strong men from either eithe league Lombardi normally a sitter litter dropped down to a average average average aver aver- age last season But now in hi his year he has again been thumping he the ball lustily I |
