Show Champs Ex-Champs Criticize Present Crop By BY GRANTLAND RICE RICE- T THE HE FARA FAR AWAY WAY PAST moves up with today in laying down a heavy neavy barrage on the boxing game of 1950 and 1951 Jack Dempsey among others has been outspoken in his r. r criticism There is another timer old-timer out here at Burbank who was a pretty fair heavyweight in his hisa a day and time He isa Is Isnow isnow a n now ow 76 6 years old and he has already eady r beaten one tough rap fro from m being 1 1 par paralyzed a I y zed His name is James J. J Jeffries and he won the heavyweight tR championship from B Bob o b Fitzsimmons Grantland Rice just 52 years ago Jeff picked up this crown in his professional fight an astonishing performance when you figure the deep value of experience In boxing But Jim Jeffries was probably the finest athlete that ever ever ver won and held the title He was over 6 feet tall and he weighed around pounds at his best fighting weight Rut But TIP hp could run run the 0 in 10 seconds and he be could high jump close to 6 feet There are many who still think that the Jeffries of 1903 was the greatest heavyweight of them all His unfortunate return to the ring ring ring- fat partly bald and out of condition condl- condl tion removed part of his earlier greatness just as Joe Louis is slowly slow slow- ly shucking of off his earlier fame by his later performances Jeffries like Dempsey cant can't see seethe seethe the present crop of fighters They are not willing to train or learn ie he said They dont don't know what hard bard work means means means-I I mean such things as five or ten miles on the road every day long before a fight Jim im Corbett trained and worked over aver eight hours a day before he fought bought me at Coney Island Few of these fellows today get in the shape needed to make a fighter I saw Jeffries work out around 1903 At that time there was no other fighter in the world close enough to make a contest He was big fast strong a a high class boxer er and a hard P 9 nut But above all II n you U. U couldn't stop him with an ax He was far improved over his showing with Sharkey and his first fight with Corbett Gentleman Gentleman Gentleman Gentle Gentle- man Jim told me years ago in their second meeting that JeffrIes Jeffries Jeffries Jef Jef- fries was the better boxer The old fellow still has Jeffries Barn with its amateur fights Its wrestling and its training center at Burbank But its it's a far call to his Fitzsimmons fight In 1899 A trifle better than half halt a century And that's a long time in the fight game Ask any fighter Ex-Champions Ex Left There are still more ex heavy ex-heavy heavyweight heavy heavy- weight champions left than ex- ex presidents For one thing boxers get started in their Presidents are usually 50 or 60 It takes longer to make a President than it does a champion The list today from ex champions ex-champions shows Jim Jeffries Tommy Burns Jess Willard Jack Dempsey Gene Tunney Jack Sharkey Max ing Primo Camera Carnera Max Baer Bacr Jim I Braddock and Joe Louis This makes a total of 11 sur stir Since the reign of John Lawrence Sullivan which lasted until 1892 only Jim Corbett Bob Fitzsimmons and Jack Johnson have passed from this hectic earthy show All together er including John L. L Sullivan there have been 16 heavyweight champions of ot the world Ezzard Charles is the last on the list Who is the best of the lot Suppose Suppose Suppose Sup Sup- pose we arrange them in order order- Jack Dempsey must be set on top topas topas topas as the best offensive fighter of them all Jack Johnson heads th the list as the greatest defensive Jim Corbett was all odds the best boxer Gene Tunney Tenney was the best trained Jeffries and Dempsey were the hardest to hurt Both Fitzsimmons and Louis were a strong mixture of good boxing boxing boxing box box- ing and hard hitting Jim Braddock rated high in the matter of ring courage You cant can't say too much about the others Max Baer could have been a great champion if it he had liked his game Max didn't These sixteen champions form a strange human medley The Lemon Grove Baseballs Baseball's best pitcher over the thelast thelast thelast last three years is now working his system into shape swinging at a golf goIt ball and traveling many miles milesa a day over various Los Angeles courses You may recall the fact that Lemon is baseballs baseball's only big league pitcher able to win 20 or more games the last three seasons Lemon blew himself to 23 games last season but with any luck he might easily have reached 30 In addition to being a star pitcher pitch pitch- er Lemon is also one of baseballs baseball's better long distance hitters He could also be one of ot baseballs baseball's better better better bet bet- ter outfielders Ted Williams tells telis me you are the toughest pitcher he has bas to face a golfer goUer said to Lemon recently That goes for me too Joe Di Maggio said It might be added here that Jo Joe Dl Di Maggio agrees with Lemon about golf gol as a training game A ballplayer needs his legs as much as he needs anything else Di Maggio said |