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Show ip?i ONE of the high spots in this sporting existence is that an argument can run along for over 40 years and still remain unsettled. We discovered this in quoting Doc Kearns, Jack Dempsey's former manager, to the effect that Bob Fitzsimmons weighed 157 pounds the day he faced Jim Corbett, back In 1897. Doc has many supporters in this argument but Just as many who disagree, dis-agree, claiming that Fitz wobbled the vv scales at 177 before f -the Carson City I .' - ,1 party. Both sides ? v will swear to their side of the debate. lSsi.'s Jim Corbett, before ' "",,. -N he died, told me ft' that he had a pri- a vate checker on Jm hand, who reported Fitz at 177. mi''m, J Fitz had the legs Grantland Rice of a welterweight and the arms and body of a big heavyweight. He was tough to guess. A short while ago a good bunch threw a small party for Barney Ross. Benny Leonard, one of the all-time tops, was referred to as a "Philadelphia lightweight" "What," asked one of the younger element, "la a Philadelphia lightweight?" light-weight?" A Philadelphia lightweight used to be whatever you weighed, so long as the scalea only registered 136 pounds. That part of It could bo easily handled through the proper use of chewing gum, or glue or other oth-er skillful devices. An Important Factor We see where Beau Jack has been advised to take a rest after losing stamina from a combination of lighter light-er eating and overwork in the desire de-sire to keep his weight down. Weight-making is an important factor in every game boxing, horse racing, baseball, football and other sports. But It goes far beyond that It Is something that affects the majority ma-jority of all people beyond the age of 21. It is something that doesn't belong to the athlete alone. . The greatest weight defter In sport was a fellow by the name of Babe Ruth. The Babe defied most con ventions and most rules of life. Ht was the greatest of all the exceptions. excep-tions. "Here's a funny thing," ha told me a little while back. "They were always after me about keeping down my weight, which at that time, la the 1920s, was around 230. You remember re-member the year I hit those H homo runs? Yon know what I weighed that year? Just 253 pounds. I had that much extra hulk and bulk to put back of my swing." That might have worked for the astonishing Babe, but it would have been destruction for the average oi normal citizen. The Argument We were not present when Corbett Cor-bett and Ruby Robert met at Carson Car-son City those 48 years ago. But we've always doubted that Fits won that title at 1S7 pounds, three pounds under the middleweight limit There was nothing that made Jim Corbett madder than to be given these weight figures. It was tough enough to lose, but much tougher to lose to a light middleweight A year or two later Fits was fighting fight-ing around 17? pounds. But outside of his skinny legs, he was built on the order of a strong 190-pounder from the waist up. For all that the freckled Cornish-man, Cornish-man, as both a boxer and a puncher, was one of the top fighters of all-time. all-time. He was on beyond 33 when Jim Jeffries stopped him, well beyond be-yond his prime. Pound for pound, I'll still nominate nomi-nate Harry Greb. Pace Raters Pace-rating Is a distinct science In any game. Years sgo, I recall the tail and willowy Robert Moses Grove fsclng the Yankees. The big left-hander struck out six or seven of the first nine Ysnkees thst came to bst He hsd more smoke than a burning oil welL ne put everything bo had into very bail he threw. Before the end f the sixth inning, Lefty was on his wsy to the cooling showers, taking a tired arm along the melancholy route. Counting his bsseball experience in Baltimore and Philadelphia, it took Grove eight years to learn the correct way to conserve his left arm. This was in 1928 when he won 24 games and lost only 8. In 1931 he won 31 and lost only 4, one of the greatest of all major-league pitching pitch-ing years. No pitcher knew better than Christy Mathewson how to rats himself when he was winning over 30 games a year and saving 6 or 10 o;hcrs In relief work. Also, Cyrus Denton Young, the Psoll Phenom. "I had four different deliveries," Cy told me once, "and I used to mix 'em up to ssve my srm." Old Cy only won 811 bsll games In 22 seasons. Matty had no Interest In i any earned run record. After get ting the Jump, Big 6Ix would then turn part of the gams over to his outfielders. It wss a small difference, differ-ence, of course, with the desder bsQ. |