Show SPORT LIGH T Ex-Champs Criticize Present Crop 1 By GRANTLAND RICE THE FAR-AWAY PAST moves up with today In laying down a heavy barrage on the boxing game ot 1050 and Jack among has been outspoken In tUl There is another out here at Burbank who was a pretty lair heavyweight in his day and Uv is I now 76 years old and he has already I beaten one tough rap from being name is James J. and ho won championship from Bob Rice just 52 years Jeff picked up this crown In his professional an astonishing performance when you figure the deep value of experience In But Jim Jeffries was probably the finest athlete that ever won and held the He waa over 6 feet tall and he weighed around pounds at his best fighting But he could run the In 10 seconds and he could high jump close to 6 There are many who still think the Jeffries of 1903 was the greatest heavyweight of tham His unfortunate return to the ring partly bald and out of removed part of his earlier just as Joe Louis is slowly shucking off his earlier fame by his later like can't see the present crop of are not willing to train or he don't know what hard work means I mean such things as five or ten miles on the road every long before a Jim Corbett trained and worked over eight hours a before he fought me at Coney Few of these fellows today get in the shape needed to make a I saw Jeffries work out around At that time there was no other fighter In the world close enough to make a He was strong a high class boxer and a bard But above all you couldn't stop him with an He was far improved over his showing with and his first fight with Gentleman Jim told me years ago In their second meeting that Jeffries was the better The old fellow still has Jeffries Barn with its amateur its wrestling and Its training center at But it's a far call to his Fitzsimmons fight in A trifle better than half a And that's a long time in the fight Ask any Ex-Champions Left There are still more ex-heavyweight champions left than For one thing boxers get started In their Presidents are usually 50 or It takes longer to make a President than it does a The list today from ex-champions shows Jim Tommy Jess Jack Gene Jack Max Primo Max Jim Braddock and Joe This makes a total of 11 Since the reign of John Lawrence Sullivan which lasted until only Jim Bob Fitzsimmons and Jack Johnson have passed from this hectic earthy All Including John L. there have been 16 heavyweight champions of the Charles Is the last on the Who is the best of the Suppose we arrange them in order Jack Dempsey must be set on top as the best offensive fighter of them Jack Johnson heads the list as the greatest defensive Jim was all odds the best Gene Tunney was the best Jeffries and Dempsey were the hardest to Both Fitzsimmons and Louis were a strong mixture of good boxing and hard Jim Braddock rated high in the matter of ring You can't say too much about the Max Baer could have been a great champion if he had liked his Max These sixteen champions form a strange human The Lemon Grove Baseball's best pitcher over the last three years is now working his system into shape swinging at a ball and traveling many miles a day over various Los Angeles You may recall the fact that Lemon is baseball's only big league pitcher able to win 20 or more games the last three Lemon blew himself to 23 games last season but with any luck he might easily have reached In addition to being a star pitcher Lemon is also one of baseball's better long-distance He could also be one of baseball's better Ted Williams tells me you are the toughest pitcher he has to a golfer said to Lemon goes for Joe Di Maggio It might be added here that Joe Di Maggio agrees with Lemon about golf as a training ballplayer needs his legs as much as he needs anything Di Maggio |