JUNE XCVII 1929 Munsey's Magazine SuS 1

by Underwood

LURID Levantine sun The " plaster of Paris punch " isn't to beat down upon the Plains be found in any manual of boxing of Troy. Not far from blows, but it has decided many a prize where Agamemnon's fight. transport galleys were But on the shimmering sands that tethered in batches — even afternoon some twenty-five hundred as the Shipping Board's discarded years ago, knuckle thongs of bull's freighters now lie like a shepherdless hide, reenforced Avith iron studs, were flock off Jones's Point on the Hudson Avhat the well-dressed boxer was ex­ River—plumed warriors had seated pected to wear. themselves in a ring on the sand. Your Athenian and your Roman They had gathered here, these bat­ didn't mean maybe when from the tle-weary besiegers of Troy, for a re­ sanctuary of a ringside seat thev bel­ freshing afternoon of sports by way lowed: "Knock his block off!"' The of honoring the death of Patroclus. cestus could come close to it. Two cestus-armed gladiators were to Don't be too quick to condemn the fight, and the cestus was the forerun­ ancients. Drop in at Madison Square ner of the gangster's brass knuckles. Garden some night when the amateurs Those rawhide strips, incasing the are pummeling each other, presumably knuckles, could make a shambles of the for gold watches and glory, listen to human face. To-day plaster-stififened the eager yelp of the pack when it bandages, used surreptitiously by un­ smells blood, and ask yourself whether scrupulous boxers, lacerate the flesh. we moderns aren't brothers under the 1 1 PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE

JAMES J. TUNNEY JACK DEMPSEY " Gene," the retired champion The Manassa Mauler skin to the plebeians for whom Nero It is Diomedes who buckles the cinc­ gave his gladiatorial shows. ture around the waist of his man. But let us return to the Plains of One may presume that the purpose Troy. There in the front row sits of the belt was the same then as it is Homer, first of an endless chain of to-day—to mark the line below which prize fight reporters. When he smote it wasn't deemed sportsmanlike to his " bloomin' lyre" in praise of the strike an adversary. No hitting be­ rib-roasting half arm punch, he started low the belt must have been a cardinal something which now gives pleasure to rule of classical ring battles, for we many an American reading the story read of no foul blows struck by the of a championship glove tight. Greek or Roman gladiators. Scanning the " Iliad," you can vis­ Those old timers got along very ualize Epeus and Euryalus as they nicely without a referee. The ringside square off within that armor-girt ring, crowd enforced such rules of fair play see their long, smooth muscles writhe as were considered essential by raising and twist in the dazzling sunlight. a vocal clamor. Diomedes himself, second only to Without any hand-shaking prelimi­ the moody Achilles at plying the spear naries, Epeus and Euryalus come to in battle, occupies Euryalus's corner. grips. Homer employs the familiar PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED THE GREATEST PRIZE FIGHTER OF ALL TIME s

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is cast up on the beach, so the blow stretched Euryalus helpless on the ground." The victor helps his fallen foe to his feet. The vanquished warrior, feet dragging, head lolling, mouth spurting blood, is supported to his tent. Homer doesn't record what Diome- des said. Perhaps, after the manner of modern seconds, he urged his punch drunk fighter to " go back in there, you big stiff, he can't hurt us I" In our search for the greatest prize fighter of all time we must eliminate those mighty warriors of the cestus.

JOHN L. SULLIVAN The Boston Strong Boy phrase " put up their hands "—an ex­ pression that has come down through the ages. These Greek pugiUsts rush to close c[uarters, and there ensues " such a crashing of jawbones as to cause shudders among the faint-heart­ ed." The hard-bitten spectators of an­ tiquity would not tolerate long-range sparring. Their resentment one sus­ pects would have taken a more vigor­ ous form than the whistling of the " Merry Widow " wahz. Wherefore, Epeus and Euryalus stand toe to toe — Dempsey-Firpo fashion—and belabor each other with damaging half arm blows. Blood flows whenever the terrible cesti thud to the mark. Violating a boxing fundamental, gladiators always led with their right hands. It is a right lead by Epeus which finishes off the luckless Eury­ alus. The cestus catches him on the cheek bone. Cudgeling his brains for a worthy simile. Homer writes: " As when by JAMES J. CORBETT the ripples of a sharp northeaster a fish " Gentleman Jim," boxing master PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED THE GREATEST PRIZE FIGHTER OE ALL TIME

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PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 8 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE left the ring flat for more genteel pur- parison with a Brobdingnagian fellow suits, let us set down in cold type ex- such as Babe Ruth, actly what we mean by " the greatest Size counts for a lot on the gridiron, prize fighter," and name the conditions yet the greatest football player of all under which we shall make our choice, time was a scrawny, peaked-looking,

JAMES J. JEFFRIES The California Grizzly Boxing differs from such sports as one hundred and forty-five pounder golf, tennis, football, baseball and the named Frank Hinkey. Football being like, in that it must necessarily be sub­ what it is, you could stack that little divided into various weight classes. gamecock up against such oak-like On the diamond, a little shaver, such chaps as Thorpe and Heffelfinger and as Willie Keeler, can stand direct corn- compare them on a man to man basis. PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED THE GREATEST PRIZE FIGHTER OF ALL TIME Pint-sized Cochet is to-day more phrase very literally. By that ambigu­ than a match for the gangUng William ous term we mean the man who, at the Tilden on the tennis court, while Hugh zenith of his form, could have beaten Doherty, England's " Little Do," has down any given rival at the corre­ had few equals among the strapping sponding stage of that adversary's ca­ giants of tennis history, but we don't reer, in a fight to a finish under the have to tell you how ridiculous it is to rules now existing. draw comparisons between a bantam- Naturally this interpretation slams boxer and a heavyweight. the door in the faces of all but a few It is an axiom of the prize ring that superfighters outside the heavyweight a fighter cannot go out of his class and class. Aside from Fitzsimmons, Mace, beat a genuine champion of the heavier Sayers, " Dutch Sam," Mendoza, and order. Like most adages, this one has possibly Walcott, all of whom scaled its glaring exceptions, but weight and at less than one hundred and sixty size are nevertheless the essence of the pounds, none of the other " good little contract in ring fighting. men " of ring history would have had Physical freaks, such as Bob Fitz- a Chinaman's chance against the cham­ simmons and Joe Walcott, with the pion heavyweights. chest, arms, and shoulders of a heavy­ You recall that Stanley Ketchell, weight superimposed on the waist, probably the greatest middleweight of flanks, and legs of a welterweight, the lot, excepting Fitzsimmons, went demonstrated that they could meet out of his class to meet Jack Johnson, giants on fairly equal terms; but, with disastrous results. Stung by a speaking generally, you can't dispute knockdown punch, the Galveston black the maxim that " a good big man can arose from the resin and fairly mur­ alwa}^s beat a good little man." dered " the Assassin." Pound for pound, there is no ques­ To pit a McGovern or a Gans tion but that Bob Fitzsimmons was against a second-rate heavyweight the finest piece of fighting mechanism would be courting manslaughter ever cast in the mold of man. We charges, although I confess to having shall describe his technique and quali­ seen some heavyweights who would ties later. Suffice it to say that " Ruby play the role of corpse instead of mur­ Robert" won the heavyweight title derer if Gans were turned loose in the while scaling one hundred and fifty- same ring with them. However, you six pounds—a natural middleweight if get the point. Most of the good little ever there was one! men are out of this reckoning before Judged on a poundage basis solely, it even starts. who shall say that England's " mighty Note also that we say " finish fight." atom," flyweight Jimmy Wilde, wasn't There is sound reason for this qualify­ the best fighter of the lot? Disregard­ ing phrase. In an eight-ounce glove ing size, and reckoning the greatest fight restricted to six rounds, for in­ fighter by what he actually did against stance, Jim Corbett would have out­ contemporaries of his own weight, or pointed any fighter past or present. by what he might have done against His boxing wizardry would prevail in previous and subsequent fighters of his a restricted encounter barring the al­ particular class, you could make out a ways possible " lucky punch." convincing case for either Stanley The ring saying—"may the best Ketchell, Terry McGovern, Joe Wal­ man win," implies a fight to a finish. cott, Joe Gans, Jim Driscoll, Kid La- " Let's go down cellar and find out vigne, or Benny Leonard. who's the best man " is a blatant chal­ In this article we propose to inter­ lenge often uttered by disgruntled pret " the greatest prize fighter" fighters, but one seldom seriously in- PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 10 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE tended and never, so far as we know, glibly of the " sweet science," the fact accepted. remains that a boy learns boxing so Boxing skill and ring craft are not that in time of need he may level a to be discounted, but rawhide endur­ thug or bully with the utmost possible ance, the abiHty to take punishment dispatch. Ring followers, from the as well as give and avoid it, must cer­ police-baited days of Bendigo to the tainly be the prime qualification of commercialized era of Dempsey, have " the greatest fighter of all time." The paid their money in the hope of seeing man we pick must be able to outlast a knock-out rather than a deft exhibi­ any possible rival in a fight to the tion of jabbing and shadowy foot­ finish. In this theoretical tournament work. of the ring immortals there is no place II for the fancy stepper who cannot carry on beyond the fifteenth round. GANGWAY, please, for the great fig­ It is readily conceivable that the ures of prize ring history! Cut back man we pick would stand no chance to the rollicking epoch of betasseled for the title in this soft era of ten or knee breeches, white stockings, buckled fifteen round matches. Such restrict­ pumps, and bare knuckles, when lan­ ed bouts are too short to determine guid English dukes, fashionably de­ the " greatest fighter " question. Could crepit, backed burly butchers and fish­ Gene Tunney survive a forty round mongers in savage tussles on the grass struggle with Jim Jeffries, each at his that grows nowhere else so green. respective peak? That's the type of Under London prize ring rules a question which will here concern us. knock down terminated a round, which Aggressive attack will weigh more might thereby last three hours or three heavily than militant defense in this seconds. Certain wrestling holds were syrnposium. Boxing has been called tolerated, it being rated good form to " the manly art of self-defense," but punish your antagonist by throwing we give preference to fighters who are him heavily with a cross-buttock grip motivated by a single track desire to to the sod. finish off their opponents. A power­ Knuckles were bare, of course, and ful attack may not always be the best nothing but British turf beneath your defense, but the presumption here fa­ feet. It was a rough, bruising game, vors the chap who personifies offense. demanding a world of courage. In the last analysis you can never John Broughton, protege of the dispose of a rival merely by warding merciless Duke of Cumberland, formu­ off or stopping his blows. At some lated the London prize ring rules, and stage of the encounter you must as­ was the first man to make fisticuffs a sume the aggressive. Say what you science. Graceful Dick Humphries; please, the knock-out is the crowning Dan Mendoza, the " Fighting Jew," a touch in any fight. Jim Corbett type; Sam Elias, other­ Defensive qualities will be given wise Dutch Sam, who, despite his one weight in this mythical battle only in hundred and thirty pounds, had a so far as they may contribute to a punch that would have felled an ox; fighter's ultimate chance of victory. It Henry Pearce, " the Game Chicken," is obvious that the man whose guard a two-fisted boxer-fighter who never is consistently penetrated is not any met defeat; Tom Cribb, "the Black the better for the blows he is com­ Diamond " — a nickname due to his pelled to assimilate. A weak defense, profession of coal miner, not to his therefore, must be offset by unusual color—whose right-hand blow to the ruggedness, plus a devastating punch. short ribs was the terror of its time; Let theorists and idealists prate Tom Spring, an artful jabber who PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED THE GREATEST PRIZE FIGHTER OF ALL TIME 11 could fight as well as box; Bill Thomp­ On April 17, i860, in a secluded son, called " Bendigo," the acrobatic meadow an hour's ride from London, puncher unfavorably known for his Sayers met John Heenan, the tower­ sly, ugly ring tricks; and Deaf Burke, ing Yankee champion, in a fight that the perfect type of bruiser, may be dis­ was to live as long as ring lore. Early missed from our calculations as falling in this no quarter asked or given mill, just a bit short of the " greatest fight­ Sayers broke his right forearm parry­ er " standard. ing Heenan's terrible right hook. Stalwart ringmen, all of these early Thereafter, the amazing little Briton, champions of England who flourished outweighed forty pounds, one arm between 1740 and i860, but not quite hanging limp at his side, stood off on a par with those who succeeded " the Benicia Boy " with a cobra-like them. left, and finally closed both the Ameri­ This brings us to Tom Sayers— can's eyes. 1826-1865—the first candidate for all- Sayers's recuperative powers were time laurels who is worthy of com­ amazing. He was knocked down four parison with the ring's immortals. times early in the go, only to arise and Sayers was a smallish chap, five feet swarm all over his gigantic foe. The eight inches in stature, and just over police broke into the ring when both one hundred and fifty pounds, yet this men were tottering woozily on punch- boxing David cut down such Goliaths sapped legs, Heenan blind as a bat, as William Perry and John Heenan, Sayers limp as a rag. It was called a using his sturdy fists as sling shots. draw, but the laurels remained with They called William Perry " the the undersized defending champion Tipton Slasher." There was two hun­ who had overcome such a tremendous dred pounds of him, spread over an weight handicap. even six feet. He laughed, a thunder­ Sayers was the Harry Greb of his clap of a laugh, when he learned he age—a human windmill, who clawed had been challenged by a middle­ and slashed his huge adversaries to weight. ribbons while weathering their lustiest The midget faced the giant on a punches. An unerring marksman with tiny island off the Thames estuary, either hand, a supreme ring general, a June 16, 1857. Alert police patrols gamester under punishment, an amaz­ refused to permit any bout on the ing judge of distance, Sayers needed mainland, but promoter and cash cus­ only reach and weight to have ranked tomers were as hard to discourage then with the all-time greats. Nature short­ as they are now, and a desolate islet changed him. offered sanctuary. Jem Mace was likewise hobbled by Dodging, ducking, sidestepping, lit­ his relatively puny size. Jem tipped tle Sayers cut his massive foe to shreds the beam at one hundred and fifty-four with left jabs and cross counters. It pounds, yet his body blows carried a was a forecast of the Corbett-Sullivan jolt that shook giant foes from top to bout, though in this instance Perry toe. Tom King, a fine figure of a big was in the prime of life and pink of man, couldn't survive Mace's rib- condition, while John L. was merely a roasters. hog-fat, dissipation-riddled hulk of his Next to Jim Corbett and Peter Jack­ former self. son, Jem Mace was the most scientific After one hour and forty-two min­ of the big fellows. His ducking, head utes of savage fighting the Tipton weaving, feinting, and dodging tactics Slasher, smeared with blood, dropped have rarely been equaled by a heavy­ from sheer exhaustion. Little Sayers weight and surpassed only by Young stood cockily above the fallen giant. Griffo, Abe Attell, Jim Driscoll, Pac- PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 12 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE key McFarland, and Joe Gans, among It is fair to add that Donovan was the smaller men. not an unbiased witness. He handled Ill Kilrain in the latter's battle with Sul­ livan, and disliked John L. for per­ WITH the transition from Mace to sonal reasons. John L. Sullivan, we enter the modern " I fought Sullivan twice in exhibi­ era of glove fighting under Marquis tion bouts, and handled him without of Queensberry rules. The blustering, any difficulty," said Donovan. " Those truculent Boston Strong Boy ~ vi^as a were grudge battles, too, with John very positive character. His intense trying for a K. O. His best punch likes and dislikes were reflected in the was the rabbit blow, a right hand chop equally strong emotions he aroused in to the base of a rival's brain that others. stunned its victims, but his left hand There was nothing lukewarm or was slow and easy to duck. halfway about John L.'s personality. " I saw skinny little Charley Mitch­ You either hated him cordially or ell, of England, knock Sullivan flat looked upon him as the salt of the with a cracking straight left to the earth. jaw. Sullivan sprang to his feet in Expert opinion on Sullivan shows a one of his crying rages and shoved his similar cleavage. His admirers insist scrawny adversary clear over the that there was and is " no king but ropes, a foul trick that he habitually Dodo." His detractors call him a resorted to when pressed. Mitchell crude. Pier Twenty slugger, an over­ wasn't hurt, but the police stopped the rated braggart who had nothing but a bout, claiming that the Englishman roundhouse right and a foghorn voice. might be killed." The truth about Sullivan probably Studied closely, Sullivan's record is lies somewhere between these violent far from impressive. His supporters extremes. Unquestionably, the pass­ find it hard to explain his thirty-nine ing years have invested his sonorous round, bare knuckle draw with Charley name with an aura of invincibility Mitchell at Chantilly, France. A dank which distorts recorded facts. rain spattered the turf as England's Legend has woven a fabulous cloak one hundred and sixty-four pounder about his dynamic person. His deeds checkmated the bovine rushes of burly have been magnified in the telling until John L. The Boston Strong Boy we have come to visualize a superman yammered with rage as slight-looking of the ring, a Homeric figure armed Mitchell glided phantomlike out of with Jovian thunderbolts in lieu of reach and stung him with a darning- fists. needle left. John L., the fire-eating swashbuck­ Mitchell was a foul-mouthed chap ler who loved to roar in that Big Ben himself, a master hand at pulling un­ voice of his " I can lick any blankety ethical tricks. At Chantilly, Charley blank in the house!" was a natural repeatedly fell to his knees to avoid showman, the sort of man about whom SulHvan's dreadful right hand. When legends accumulate and traditions that right missed your chin you felt as cluster. Let us tear aside the smoke if a hot brick had whizzed past. screen of fable and estimate his fight­ At the age of twenty-four, John L. ing quahties with impartial minds. Sullivan was the perfect picture of a Mike Donovan, renov/ned as a fight­ trained athlete. Up to that time he er, trainer, and conditioner of men, neither smoked nor drank. There was had no high opinion of Sullivan's then no trace of the puffy jowls, flab­ ability. Mike even questioned the by paunch, and bleary eyes, those tell­ Boston Strong Boy's courage. tale marks of self-indulgence, which PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED THE GREATEST PRIZE FIGHTER OF ALL TIME 13 marked him for defeat at Corbett's credit on Sullivan. Kilrain's second chain-lightning hands exactly ten finally threw up the sponge when his years later. man was faint from illness rather than A fine upstanding broth of a boy John L.'s blows. was John L. as he toed the mark Strength was Sullivan's chief ring against Paddy Ryan, champion of asset, and when he weakened his mar­ America, at Mississippi City, in 1882. velous physique by barroom training, Five feet ten, and one hundred and he had little left to ofirer. Jovial and ninety pounds, the statistics have it, generous to a fault when not rendered but cold figures don't picture for you morose by rum, John L. was his own that barrel of a chest, the prognathic worst enemy. jaw, the piercing gray eyes hidden be­ Sleek Jim Corbett, who hopped off neath shaggy brows, the close-cropped a bank clerk's high-legged stool to be­ hair, the bovine neck, the arrogant come the most scientific of all heavy­ look of him! weights, caught Sullivan hog fat and He could do eleven seconds for the wind short at New Orleans on Sep­ hundred yards in those days, but soft tember 7, 1892, and made a chopping living plus frequent bouts with John block of the once awesome slugger. Barleycorn soon transformed this Rapier conquered bludgeon that magnificent athlete into a blowzy cari­ memorable day as the scent of mag­ cature of his original self. nolia blossoms mingled incongruously Paddy Ryan was pretty far gone with the honest smell of sweating himself when Sullivan hammered him bodies. Sullivan had a thirty-pound down in nine rounds before a typical pull in the weights, but too much of it Dixie ci'owd, an odd mixture of pa­ was concentrated about hips and trician planters and " poor white stomach. trash." In the matter of physical di­ Lithe as a greyhound, sure-footed as mensions Ryan was fully a match for a Rocky Mountain ram, supple as an Sullivan, but years of roistering had otter, Jim Corbett circled about that undermined Paddy's Tipperary consti­ hulking, leaden legged target and pep­ tution. pered the shell of the Boston Strong John L. nailed the champion with a Boy with stinging jabs and lacerating poleax right flush in the jaw in the straight lefts. second round, the punch that really de­ A Spanish matador toying with an cided the fight. Ryan fell face down overfed, aged bull is a graphic simile —a sure indication that the victim has of this one-sided bout. Your silk clad been badly hurt. Paddy was revived idol of the bull pit might well have en­ in time to toe the scratch, but there­ vied " Gentleman Jim" his svelte, after the result was inevitable. Apollolike figure. Six feet, one inch Sullivan's career overlapped the he stood in his fighting shoes, one hun­ bare knuckles and glove eras, bridging dred and eighty-two pounds of agile, the gap between those contrasting tech­ rhythmic grace, airy as a ballet dancer nics. In 1889 he went seventy-five on his toes, quick as a fencer with his bare knuckle rounds with Jake Kilrain hands. under a sweltering sun at Richburg, Sullivan, grossly material, was fight­ Mississippi. ing a shadow, wasting what remained Poor Jake was a sick man when he of his stamina swinging at empty air. entered the ring, having failed to re­ The fastest boxer of all time with body gain his strength after a major opera­ and feet, Corbett was shrewd enough tion. That he lasted more than two not to close with the blustering bull hours in such humidity as only Mis­ who bellowed unprintable epithets, sissippi can serve up, reflects little daring the immaculately pompadoured PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 14 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE bank clerk to " stand up and fight like black Adonis's elusive chin, but Jack­ a man!" son would have made mince-meat of Wisely, Corbett refused to be taunt­ the " Noblest Roman's" features. ed into fighting Sullivan's way. As a John was proud of his profile. vivisectionist probes a helpless guinea You have seen a black leopard pad­ pig, so did Corbett stab ponderous ding softly to and fro in a zoo cage. John L. from long range, seldom tak­ Peter Jackson moved with that same ing a return blow. catlike tread, gliding sinuously in and Spectators hooted in derision as out as if shod with velvet. Corbett ducked, dodged, and some­ Jackson, six feet two inches tall, one times turned tail and ran from Sulli­ hundred and ninety pounds, was fash­ van's aimless swings, but Jim had a ioned on the flawlessly clean lines of a fine contempt for the rabble, and pur­ Tanagra statue. The ebony play of sued his prearranged campaign. his satiny muscles was beautiful to be­ Sensing that the fatted bull was ripe hold. He stood straight up in the clas­ for the coup de grace, Corbett sic posture, jabbing, upper cutting, and switched from defense to attack as the crossing his right with the grace of a tenth round opened, and wore the big minuet dancer. Jackson was rhythm man down with teeth-jolting uppercuts personified, the combination of a Na­ and harrowing straight lefts. poleon Lajoie and a Harry Vardon of Snorting and snarling, John L. fi­ the prize ring. nally sank to earth under the cumula­ National Sporting Club members tive effect of Corbett's machine gun rate Jackson's clean-cut victory over hail of blows. Frank Slavin as the most stirring mill IV ever staged in London. The square- jawed, ferocious fighter from Aus­ CORBI;TT himself believes that his tralia was famous for his right-hand sixty-one round draw with Peter Jack­ body blow, but Jackson's stiletto of a son, gifted West Indian negro, was left hand conquered Slavin's murder­ his greatest achievement in the ring. ous right. This supreme exhibition of blocking, Wearing the grave smile which was parrying, side-stepping, feinting and his fighting badge, Jackson stunned countering epitomized the literal mean­ the white man with a left to the stom­ ing of the phrase, " the manly art of ach, followed by a head rocking upper- self-defense." It brought together the cut. Jackson magnanimously stepped two most skillful boxers the heavy­ back from his helpless adversary, but weight division has yet produced. the referee ordered the kill to proceed. Corbett calls Jackson " the greatest A modest, generous sportsman, this of all time," a generous admission black panther of the hempen ring. when you recall that Gentleman Jim And now we come to the most pic­ held Peter, nicknamed " the first Black turesque character in pugilistic his­ Gentleman," absolutely even in that tory, a knock-kneed, pipestem-1 egged, amazing demonstration of sustained freckle-faced, barrel-chested physical glove science at San Francisco. In­ freak who weighed only one hundred deed, it was Jackson who asked to and fifty-six pounds, yet hit like the have the bout called a draw. Corbett hammer of Thor, the greatest fighting wanted a finish fight. man, pound for pound, ever to tread Despite the alibis of his partisans, the resined canvas. there isn't a doubt that John L. Sul­ That rough portrait could fit only livan drew the color line to avoid meet­ lanky Bob Fitzsimmons, a whimsical ing Jackson. John might never have mixture of sentimental softness and landed that haymaking right on the flinty hardness, gentle as a summer PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED THE GREATEST PRIZE FIGHTER OF ALL TIME 15 breeze with those he loved, vindictive Fitz was a killer at short range. His as an Apache Indian when stalking a sense of timing was intuitive, his de­ foe inside a twent3^-four foot ring. fensive tactics awkward but singular­ What a pity that Fitzsimmons ly effective. Ruby Robert didn't have wasn't thirty pounds heavier and ten a scar to show for his three hundred years younger when he challenged the and sixty ring fights! How many heavyweight monarchs! In that case fancy boxing masters can say as there would have been none to dispute much? his right to the greatest fighter of all What Fitzsimmons lacked in boxing time title. Ungainly Fitz was a ring finesse he made up in ring craft, guile­ phenomenon, who tweaked Father ful strategy, subtle surprise moves. He Time's flowing beard and sneered sar­ stalked his quarry as a jaguar shadows donically at his discomfiture. its prey. He feigned grogginess only Fitzsimmons was thirty-five when to ambush an unsuspecting foe with a he won the world's championship from lethal punch to the wind or the jaw. Jim Corbett at Carson City, Nevada, One never knew when Fitz was play­ on St. Patrick's Day, 1897. The de­ ing 'possum. fending champion was nearly five Brittle hands were Fitzsimmons's years younger than his prematurely soft spot. Those delicately modeled bald challenger. Youth usually pre­ bones were not fashioned for such vails in the prize ring, but Fitz was blows as Bob could deliver. They ever a smasher of precedent. The snapped like bits of chalk when they years rolled lightly oflf his grotesquely crashed against the oaken ribs and wide shoulders, shoulders which ta­ iron jaw of Jim Jeffries. pered down to a pinch-bottle waist, Fitz's recuperative power was the lean flanks, and ridiculously inadequate despair of rivals who saw him rise legs. Phoenixlike from punches that should Ruby Robert, a nickname derived have leveled him for keeps. What's from his reddish hair and lobster-like more, Bob came up fighting, arms complexion, was top-heavy, his weight poised for a retaliatory knock down. concentrated above the hips, the ideal He was as dangerous as a sorely build for a knock-out hitter. wounded lion when hurt. Years spent at the blacksmith's anvil had developed his punching muscles. V Born in Cornwall, bred in Australia, COMB, let us turn back the hands of Bob came to America at an age when the clock to 1897 ^i^d watch the gaunt most fighters are all " washed up." Cornishman double up Jim Corbett After crushing Dempsey, " the Non­ with that best advertised of all boxing pareil," in a bout for the middleweight blows—the solar plexus punch. title, Fitz looked around for more Barely seven thousand spectators worlds to conquer, and decided to pick sizzle like oysters in a chafing dish on on the mammoths. He did not say the pine boards of the crude wooden " the bigger they are the harder they Colosseum at Carson City. The bell fall," but he acted on Joe Wolcott's clangs for the first round. Fitzsim­ familiar epigram. mons scorns Corbett's proffered hand, _ Inordinately long arms, like the ten­ recalling Jim's insulting remarks at an tacles of an octopus, gave Fitzsim­ impromptu meeting while both were mons the leverage for his paralyzing doing road work. left shift to the wind and his devasta­ This makes the second time Pompa­ ting close-up blows which, reversing dour Jim has seen his hand rejected, the nursery precept, could be heard but Sullivan having scorned to shake at not seen. New Orleans. PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 16 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE What a study in contrasts the gladi­ permanent part of the ring's pungent ators present, Corbett dancing lightly vocabulary. It will outlive Corbett as on tiptoe, guard held high, buoyantly it has outlived the man whose punch alert, shifty as a sunbeam; Fitzsim- inspired it. mons shuffling to and fro in a clumsy _ Spectators gasp as Fitz's left arm shamble, an uncouth, spindle-legged sinks to the elbow in Corbett's midriff. chap with a superstructure too big for It is one of Bob's copyrighted " close his frail-looking underpinning. up " punches which travel an incredi­ For six rounds Corbett holds a de­ bly short distance, but do unbelievable cided lead on points, jab, tap, and get damage. Nobody sees Fitz raise that away; slash, smack and retreat. Pom­ same left glove to Corbett's jaw. padour Jim, the cool, collected boxing That second punch is superfluous. master, is giving Fitz a lesson in the His nerve centers paralyzed by the fine art of fisticuffs. solar plexus blow, Corbett falls upon To the uninitiated, it seems that hands and knees, his face twisted into Corbett is wearing down his man, that the semblance of a totem pole mask. Fitz is hanging on, groggy from the His mouth lolls open. He groans. His jabs that jar and jolt. This impres­ breath comes in sobbing, whistling sion deepens to conviction when Cor­ gasps. He is done. bett half punches, half wrestles Fitz to So passed as champion the fanciest the canvas in the sixth round. Fitz- of heavyweight boxers, but Corbett's simmons later claimed he merely conqueror did not long survive his vic­ slipped, and took the count of nine as tim. Fitzsimmons was thirty-eight a strategic ruse to lure Corbett into years old when he met his Nemesis in taking the aggressive. James J. Jeffries, the indestructible At all events, Fitz bobs up as fresh man of granite who could weather as ever. His pale blue eyes have a beatings that would kill the average steely glint. He is calculating, as cold­ fighter and then club to earth the au­ ly as any life insurance actuary, how thors of those beatings. long it will take him to slow up that What a man was this Jim Jeffries human shadow who hits and runs. His in his prime! If a veteran critic of face a blood smeared mask. Bob bides pugilism were asked to jot down the his time, stoically taking Jim's raking ideal physical attributes of a heavy­ lefts, until he sees an opening for that weight champion so that a sculptor terrible shift to the stomach. might recreate the mythical superman Radio has demonstrated that sound of the ring, the resulting statue would waves can penetrate a stone wall. not deviate in any major way from the There is a loophole even in Corbett's flesh and blood Jeffries of 1899-1902. fencer-like defense. California does things on a lavish Fitz sees his big chance in the four­ scale. Her redwoods dwarf the big­ teenth round. His face distorted by gest trees of lands less blessed with that ghastly, blood flecked smile which sunshine, and her big men are bigger rivals have learned to dread. Ruby bodied than giants reared in other Robert pivots and drives his trip-ham­ climes. Her football teams are a mer left into the pit of Corbett's shade better than the East or mid stomach. West can produce, her athletes sweep Old-timers called that vital nerve the Olympic field events, her greatest center "the mark." A publicity-wise fighter beat the stronge'st field of con­ doctor at the ring side coins the term tenders ever to struggle for the richest " solar plexus " to describe the nodal prize in sportdom. point of the diaphragmatic ganglia. After that eulogy the writer feels The phrase is destined to become a constrained to add that he is not a Na- PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED THE GREATEST PRIZE FIGHTER OF ALL TIME 17 tive Son, doesn't care for the vaunted Homer's own heart. His fighting Pacific coast climate, and is heartily weight oscillated between two hundred tired of hearing Californians ballyhoo and six and two hundred and twenty the Golden State. When we extol pounds, but he was best at the lower " the California brand" we do so figure. grudgingly, swayed by no partisan People have a false impression of loyalty to the sundown slope. Jeffries. He has been described so We repeat, Jim Jeffries bloomed at often by circus program synonyms for a time when there were more high colossal bulk that those who never saw grade title contenders than during any him in the ring picture a hulking man other similar span in ring history. mountain who couldn't get out of his What other champion had to beat such own way. That gross misrepresenta­ formidable rivals as Corbett, Fitzsim- tion was heightened by his sorry show­ mons, Sharkey, Ruhlin, Peter Jackson, ing in that travesty of a " comeback " Choyinsky, Maher, and Goddard? Fitz against Jack Johnson. and Corbett were admittedly over the That overworked, banal expression, peak when Jeff stopped them, but the "hollow shell" did, indeed, fit the same thing can be said of those who glassy-eyed, leaden-limbed middle-aged fell victim to the punches of all the caricature of the real Jeffries who tot­ other champions. tered into the ring against Jack John­ Tunney, Dempsey, Johnson, Wil- son at Reno one Fourth of July eight lard, Corbett, Sullivan, and most of years after he had " retired for good " the English prize ring belt holders won and had bequeathed his title to another their crowns from rivals who were white man. definitely on the down grade, so credit It was nothing short of a crime can't be withheld from Jeffries on that against nature to coax Jeffries back score. Fitzsimmons was the one and into action after eight enervating, only Marquis of Queensberry cham­ stamina sapping years of idleness. For pion who beat a younger man than a man physically sound such a lay off himself in winning the title. Corbett would have been disastrous, robbing and Fitzsimmons were probably near­ him of a sense of timing, judgment of er to their respective physical peaks distance, and muscular coordination, than any other two contenders for the the very " feel " of the ring, but Jef­ heavyweight championship. fries was ill, in the bargain, a pathetic The men Jeffries defeated may not sacrifice led to the slaughter. He need­ have been at their best when he beat ed the money, and got it at the expense them, but even as they stood, Fitz and of his reputation. Corbett were infinitely more accom­ As a fighting man, before the rust plished fighters than the motley assort­ of idleness corroded his physique, Jim ment of contenders which Tunney, Jeffries had the acrobatic springiness Dempsey, and Sullivan disposed of on of a tumbler in his massive although the way to their titles. Yes, huge Jeff shapely legs. He was no lumbering had the roughest road to ti'avel, iron " office safe," anchored to one spot, men bobbing up in his path as promis­ but a natural athlete, hardened by cuously as they once did for Jason, of tramping through the Sierra Madre Greek mythology, to bowl over. Mountains, a sprinter and broad jump­ " The Big Fellow," as Jeffries was er of no mean ability. Yes, back in called, towered six feet two inches, but 1899, when he battered Fitzsimmons never gave the impression of extreme from pillar to post, after first being height because of his Leviathanlike buffeted as only Ruby Rob could pun­ breadth of beam. Foursquare and solid ish a man, James J. Jeffries was in as Gibraltar he seemed, a man after very truth the " abysmal brute " which PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 18 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE Jack London thought he saw at the through the medium of a crouch. Reno training camp in 1910. The Jeffries crouch is familiar to all Jeffries could endure more punish­ boxing enthusiasts. Lesser man can­ ment than any prize fighter since the not imitate it with any degree of suc­ cruel days of the cestus. He was as cess, for they haven't his Samsonian stoical as Fitzsimmons under heavy physique. blows, and had a greater physical ca­ Tucking his chin behind that crag­ pacity for absorbing shocks. Jeff was like shoulder, Jeff would extend his tireless. Compared to his adversary, left arm after the fashion of a steam­ he grew relatively stronger after boat's walking beam, and, thus covered twenty rounds of fierce milling. as by a Roman shield, would crowd Because of his iceberg bulk, Jeffries his opponents and counter their leads didn't appear as fast as he actually with right hooks. It will be seen that was. He handled himself like a griz­ Jeffries's defense was militant in char­ zly, that apparently cumbersome crea­ acter. An adversary who collided with ture which in reality moves with a that rigid left shivered from truck to swiftness and dexterity totally at vari­ keel like a ship that strikes an iceberg. ance with popular belief. Study the Corbett's left hand was a lancinat­ denizens of the bear pit next time you ing rapier, darting in and out as visit the zoo and note with what quickly as an adder's tongue; Jeff's camouflaged nimbleness those bulky straight left was an oaken bludgeon, animals maneuver about. thrust like a battering-ram in the face Had you seen Jeffries step around of a foe. such lumbering plodders as " Box To get at Jeffries you had to get by Car" Dunkhorst or Van Buskirk— that massive left paw, and if you got counterparts of the Heeneys and the by that obstacle you were still stymied Paulinos of to-day—you would have by his beetling shoulder. Even sup­ been startled by his agility, his com­ posing you landed flush on his chin, parative lightness of foot. you were apt to shatter your hands, as Jeff had the brutal strength of Sul­ Fitzsimmons did, on that reenforced livan plus far greater agility, and a concrete jawbone. battery of punches as deadly if not as Ring siders could hear Fitz's spectacular. Big Jim lacked Sullivan's knuckles crack when the Cornishman fiery aggressiveness, his death or glory belted Jeff's jaw in the second of their charges. Jeffries was anything but a two memorable battles. Jim looked as blind rusher. He aimed to wear down if he had received the worst of an ar­ his rivals and finish them when they gument with a threshing machine after weakened. that 1902 return bout, but he nailed the VI freckled terror with a knock-out in the eighth round. IT has been said that " Great Britain Although Fitzsimmons was two loses every battle but the last one." years short of forty when he lost his This adage might be paraphrased to crown to Jeffries, and a year over the read: "Jeffries lost every round but middle age boundary when the second the last one." That would be an ex­ mill took place, it is the writer's opin­ aggeration, but you get the.idea. ion that Ruby Robert never saw the Lacking Corbett's boxing wizardry day that he could have beaten " the and Fitz's Machiavellian cunning, Jef­ big one." fries nevertheless had a defense which Pound for pound, the Cornishman baffled the flashiest of his rivals. was king of 'em all, but in the prize His trainer had taught him to capital­ ring, as on the battlefield, victory is ize his abnormal physical assets apt to be on the side of the heaviest PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED THE GREATEST PRIZE FIGHTER OF ALL TIME 19 battalions. Fitz could give forty is as if Bob were matching his mortal pounds and a thrashing to the average powers against the relentless flow of run of fighters, but not to a Jim Jef- a lava stream. ries. At close quarters Jeffries brings his Before you conclude that Fitzsim- abnormal strength into play. His mons vfzs merely a doddering old man short jolts and hooks carry a rib-crack­ when Jeff felled him at Coney Island, ing impact. His bowlderlike fists, in­ bear in mind that Ruby Robert knocked destructible engines of assault, bruise out Dunkhorst, Ruhlin, and Sharkey and batter Bob's pink flesh. —all in less than six rounds—the year For eleven fierce rounds, without after losing the championship. Evi­ mercy on either side, they cudgel one dently it Vi^as no kickless, fangless another, Fitz vainly trying for his fa­ graybeard from whom Jeffries took vorite solar plexus punch, until at last the title! Jeffries drives his terrible right to the I am satisfied that only one man in veteran's heart, follows with another ring history could have hammered to the stomach, and Ruby Robert is Ruby Rob to the resin that June eve­ down for the long count, a warrior ning in 1899, and his name, of course, without fear if not entirely without was James J. Jeffries. reproach. You can smell the surf and the pop­ Not quite convinced, Fitz tried corn that moonlit night on Coney's again in 1902 at San Francisco, but shores as Jeffries faces Fitzsimmons in lasted three rounds less against the a small, stuffy, indoor arena. The arc boilermaker. Big Jeff never dodged light above the plush-roped ring ac­ a return engagement. He was always centuates the stifling humidity. ready to give a beaten foe another As they square off, you see an in­ chance and another beating. The en­ congruous thing—the colossal Jeffries, core was usually more decisive than because of his venomous crouch, the original clash. stands no higher than Fitzsimmons's Coney Island, habitat of the hot freckled shoulder! It looks as if a dog, was the scene of Jeffries's three mastiff were pitted against a wolf­ hardest fights. You have just heard hound, although in reality Jim is near­ how he battered down Bob Fitzsim­ ly three inches taller than the freakish­ mons. Jim Corbett and iron-ribbed ly fashioned Cornishman. Sharkey gave the California giant Fitzsimmons consummate master of equally bitter fights on that sandy spit ring craft, feints, shifts, and pivots in of pleasure beach. a vain effort to break that clumsy yet Had Jim Corbett been less suscept­ efficient crouching guard which pro­ ible to the taunts of rival handlers and tects, at once, both jaw and stomach. bloodthirsty onlookers, he would have To the amazement of Fitz's followers, regained his title through a point de­ Jeff ducks and sidles out of reach with cision in that unforgetable fight at a nimbleness hard to reconcile in so Coney Island on May 11, 1900. The huge a chap. The patter of his pad­ bout was limited to twenty-five rounds. ded feet recalls Kipling's simile for Pompadour Jim won the first twenty- Russia—" the bear that walks like a two, harpooning Jeff with his unerring man." straight left and ghosting away from Always Jeffries advances. He is the champion's paralyzing hooks to really the aggressor even when defend­ body and chin. ing himself against his rival's blows. Corbett at thirty-three years of age That cold, implacable forward march boxed even more brilliantly than he disconcerts a champion accustomed to had against John L. Sullivan back in seeing his opponents break ground. It 1892. We have said that Jeffries was PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 20 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE fast. So he was, for a heavyweight, ready mauler with a brass bound sea but Corbett could step rings around chest of a torso and a rawhide consti­ the average bantam. Over a limited tution, Jeffries caught a tartar. Jefif stretch of rounds, Gentleman Jim won two decisions over this smaller could evade anything but his own edition of himself in twenty and svelte shadow. twenty-five rounds, but couldn't man­ During those twenty-two rounds age to put the hard-bitten sailor to Jeffries started one hundred and fifty- sleep. six left hooks in Corbett's general di­ Sharkey was leading on points at rection. The pompadoured dancing the end of fifteen rounds in the 1899 master slipped, ducked or parried them battle at Coney Island, but Jeff's Big all while the crowd hooted in derision. Bertha blows to the body told heavily It had come to see a fight, not a boxing during the last ten sessions. Half the lesson. It resented Corbett's clever­ crowd booed when George Siler, a ness and gave tongue to its resentment. courageous, square-shooting referee, Jeff's seconds added flames to the fuel gave the decision to the champion, but by calling Corbett a sissy, a weakling the aftermath of the battle proved that who didn't dare stand up and fight like Siler was right. a man. Sharkey spent weeks in the hospital The taunts and gibes got under Cor­ convalescing from the cruel body bett's skin. Sensitive, proud, impres­ bludgeoning which caved in four of sionable. Gentleman Jim was stung to his ribs. To his friends he admitted the quick by the jeers of those who put that he couldn't have lasted thirty force above finesse. rounds. " I'm going to mix with him this Given enough rope in the shape of time," Corbett warned his handlers time, Jeff would have hung a K. O. on while waiting for the twenty-third the best of 'em, yet, ironically enough, round to start. They pleaded with him the boilermaker might never have won in vain. " I'll show 'em I can fight as the title under the namby-pamby re­ well as box!" muttered, Sullivan's con­ strictions in force to-dav. calling for a queror. fifteen-round limit, with the decision Well, credit Jim Corbett with try­ to go automatically to the man win­ ing to make good his boast, and credit ning a majority of the rounds. What Jim Jeffries with a knock-out! As a travesty on the spirit of the ring such Corbett rushed to close grips, Jeff nonsense is! One can picture the ghosts bulled his slender tormentor against of Sayers, Cribb, and Fitzsimmons the ropes and caught Corbett flush on grinning sardonically at the apologies the chin with left hook number one for champions produced under this hundred and fifty-seven. wishy-washy code. Gentleman Jim never saw the thun­ VII derbolt that stretched him, limbs askew, in the resin dust. SOme folks, JACK JOHNSON, he of the teeth-flash­ it seems, don't know when they are ing smile and the tooth-smashing left well ofif! uppercut, was the only negro ever to Jeffries needed only ten rounds to hold the world's heavyweight cham­ flatten jig-stepping Corbett when they pionship. In justice to the pugilistic met for the second time August 14, caliber of the black man, it is fair to ig02. Jeff had then acquired the add that few white champions, despite polish, the savoir faire, which only ex­ their so-called pride of race, have ven­ perience can give, while Corbett was tured to meet a top-notch negro fighter feeling his thirty-four years. in the ring. In Sailor Tom Sharkey, a rough and Cribb, all honor to his memory, did PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED THE GREATEST PRIZE FIGHTER OF ALL TIME 21 not shun the issue when challenged by Grinning that famous " golden Molineaux, the negro giant from Vir­ smile," joshing and kidding as only a ginia. The colored fighter, built on Southern colored man can, Johnson the Langford model, was knocked out handled two-hundred-pounders as non­ by the stalwart Briton. chalantly as he flung sacks of flour into John L. Sullivan, less daring than a tramp steamer's hold when plying his Cribb, boasted of what he could do to stevedore trade on the water front. Peter Jackson, but Sully was smart His jab was a pippin, and his ferocious enough to give the black panther a uppercut threatened to tear an oppo­ wide berth. Jack Dempsey also found nent's head off. himself behind the color line—boxing It is difficult to rate Johnson, be­ commissions refusing to sanction a cause he never faced a first-class white mixed bout — when Harry Wills heavyweight. You can throw the Reno loomed up in his path. There's some­ " fight" into the ash can. That dull- thing about " a black menace" that eyed flabby man, who, led to the chills the heart of many a white slaughter pen, stood with legs astrad­ pugilist. dle to keep from toppling over, was Comparatively light little Tommy Jim Jeffries only in name. Johnson Burns was made of sterner stuff. He could have flattened him with a punch, had the grit to battle Jack Johnson, but, acting under instructions, pro­ the strongest if not the stiffest puncher longed the agony to give the crowd a among the ring's dusky warriors. run for its money. Jack Johnson was a reputation- For myself, I think that Jack John­ breaker. He could make almost any son would have given the real Jeffries opponent look bad, without looking in­ a harder, longer fight than any other vincible himself. I doubt if the ring pugilist past or present. In the end, I has known a more muscular champion feel that Jeff's superior punching than Johnson, although, for his size, power would have leveled the giant he did not compare with Fitzsimmons black. or Choyinski as a hitter. Johnson used Of all the heavyweight headliners, his colossal strength chiefly for defen­ Johnson most nearly approximated sive purposes. Jeffries in sheer strength and abnor­ Picture a bullet-headed, wide-faced mal stamina. When age had sapped negro six feet tall, two hundred and Jack's vitality, when roisterous habits twenty pounds in weight, with the tor­ of living had caused his exile from the so of a gorilla. " Lil Arthur," as he land of his birth, Johnson was knocked liked to call himself, gave the impres­ out by Jess Willard at Havana in a sion of fighting under wraps, of never fight that left an unwholesome odor extending himself to the limit. Always in its wake. one had a feeling that Johnson could " The knock-out" had a suspicious demolish his antagonist any time he flavor, the camera catching Johnson chose, an illusion which probably had composing himself in a comfortable no basis in fact. position on the ring floor, gloved hand Johnson was born with a defensive raised to shield his eyes from the Cu­ psychosis. He was content to twine ban sun. those simian arms of his about an op­ Before the concluding round began, ponent and smother the latter's blows Johnson signaled his white wife to at the source. At tying up a danger­ leave the arena. One may assume that ous adversary, Johnson has never had he didn't want her to see him fall be­ an equal. Enmeshed in those boa con­ fore a Caucasian second-rater. strictor arms, powerful rivals were as Many critics believe that Jack vol­ helpless as cradled babies. untarily relinquished a title which, be- PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 22 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE cause of the warrant issued for him in other man with a single punch as he America, no longer could be capital­ had killed " Bull " Young. After that ized. tragedy he rarely put his colossal body Aside from his fellow negroes— behind a blow. Langford, McVey, and Jeannette— Cut back to the furnacelike ring­ Johnson encountered no formidable side at Toledo, July 4, 1919, as Wil­ opponents. The heavyweight class was lard, a flabby mountain of flesh, soft a wretched lot when he ruled the roost. at the core, short of wind, smugly The few white fighters of any ability overconfident, obviously out of con­ drew the color line. Still, you can't dition, climbs through the ropes to blame Jack for the shabby caliber of defend for the last time a title that the opposition. he won under rather dubious circum­ Johnson's nerve reflexes his ring stances. reactions, were nearer to the jungle A midday sun, worthy of equatorial type than those of any other fighter. Africa, has transformed that wooden The savage was close to the surface in sweat box of an arena into an inferno this primitive black boy, a happy-go- such as only Dante could describe. The lucky, irresponsible child of nature stands are white rather than black with who loved to strum a banjo, flaunt humanity, for the customers have re­ garish diamonds, and drive flamboy­ moved their coats and stew in soppy ant roadsters at breakneck speed. shirt sleeves. We may dismiss Jess Willard by Willard's billowy paunch palpitates saying that he was a " biologic sport," significantly. He is close to collapse one of those freaks of nature who are before a blow has been struck. Too often exploited as circus skyscrapers. late he realizes he isn't fit for even a Aside from his Brobdingnagian size, sparring match under so merciless a Willard had little claim to ring great­ sun. ness. Yonder comes the challenger, lean Cowboy Jess stood six feet six as a timber wolf, hard as a marlin- inches in his socks, and weighed more spike, bronzed like a Seminole Indian. than two hundred and fifty pounds, It is William Harrison Dempsey—one figures which justify the sobriquet hundred and eighty-eight pounds of "man mountain." A Goliath of such fighting frenzy—aptly called " the proportions couldn't help having a stiff tiger of the ring." punch, and Willard's right uppercut Jack Dempsey is trained to the min­ was loaded with dynamite. ute, ardent, impetuous, rarin' to go. His stupendous reach harried short­ His hard-bitten hobo days are just be­ er rivals. They couldn't escape that hind him. Years of " riding the rods," bowsprit of a left hand. Cloud- of pick-up fights in mining camp and scraping height is a defense in itself. backwoods rings, have toughened him, Six-footers had to throw their punches bred rawhide stamina into every fiber upward to reach the giant's jaw. of his being. Willard lacked both the inclination This is not the logy, sluggish-footed and the instinct for fighting. He Dempsey who later became an easy frankly admitted that he hated the mark for Tunney's cold, calculating ring and all its works. None of the counter strokes —• Willard, worse luck zest, none of the atavistic lust for bat­ for him, faces the real Dempsey—a tle that animated Jack Dempsey, wild cat in human form, a living flame, burned in Willard's placid eyes. the spirit of attack incarnate. Jess found it distasteful to punish As a wolf circles a stolid ox, seek­ an adversary. He dreaded his own ing a vital point, so does the Dempsey strength, feared that he might kill an­ of Toledo glide around the hollow PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED THE GREATEST PRIZE FIGHTER OF ALL TIME 23 hulk that is Willard. Suddenly he sees Corbetts, and Fitzsimmonses of the his opening. Jeffries era. Georges Carpentier, a Wham! " Iron Mike," that terrible frail, orchidacious light heavyweight, left fist, thuds high on Willard's cheek. with a torso too small for his well- The bone cracks as if from a cestus developed legs and thighs, lacked the blow. Later it is whispered that ruggedness to survive a battle with big Dempsey wore plaster-hardened band­ men of genuine class. ages beneath his red-flecked gloves. " Carp" was regularly beaten by Bing! The Dempsey right wings Yankee middleweights. His spectacu­ home on that unmissable target. Wil­ lar overhand right, which flashed like lard sways like an Oregon pine under a sling shot to the point of a rival's the lumberjack's ax. His oxlike eyes jaw, prevailed only against England's take on a china-doll stare. His lips slow moving and slower thinking curl in an idiotic smile, a vapid, mean­ heavyweights. ingless grin. He crashes to the canvas, Luis Firpo, well named the "Wild shaking his wooden gallows to its Bull of the Pampas," was a crude, foundations. awkward rusher, with nothing but a Let us gloss over the ensuing sham­ roundhouse right and a vast willing­ bles. Never, since Marquis of Queens- ness to swap swings until something berry rules were introduced, has a box­ dropped. er been cut and lacerated about the Despite that limited armament, de­ face as Willard is by Dempsey's mur­ spite an utter lack of defense, Firpo all derous hooks. Surely no ordinary but knocked Dempsey out of time in gloves could wreak such crimson havoc that cyclonic go at the Polo Grounds— on the human countenance! the fiercest two rounds of milling the Even the savage noncombatants are prize ring has ever known. That whirl­ sickened by this butchery, and cry out wind battle, with Dempsey first to have it stopped. Before the round knocked to the floor, then pitched over ends, Willard is down seven times. the ropes, furnishes a significant com­ " Out on his feet," the champion mentary on what would have happened nevertheless almost destroys his execu­ to the " man mauler " in a finish battle tioner with a spine-snapping uppercut with Jeffries or Jack Johnson. in the second round. Billy Miske, dying of Bright's dis­ Dempsey never fully recuperates ease, and Bill Brennan, a " pork and from that dying blow. He is almost beaner " of no pretension to ring class, as groggy as his ponderous victim were adversaries scarcely calculated to when Willard's handlers toss in the enhance Dempsey's reputation. Shifty sponge. Tom Gibbons, clever with his hands VIII and deft of foot, stayed fifteen rounds with the so-called man killer in Shel­ THOSB who saw Jack punch himself by's half empty arena. out on the supine Willard may well It is significant, perhaps, that Demp­ question Dempsey's ability to survive sey lost to the first well-rounded a finish fight with Jeffries. The writer heavyweight he ever met—Gene Tun- is convinced that Jeff could have taken ney. Gene, no world beater on his " Iron Mike's" heaviest broadsides own account, would have been soft without crumpling, and worn down picking for Corbett, the wizard boxer; the Manassa Mauler somewhere be- Fitzsimmons, the crafty two-handed tvireen the twentieth and fortieth knocker-out, or Jeffries the indestruct­ rounds. ible, but Tunney was good enough to Dempsey's opponents were an unim­ stand off and cut to ribbons a Demp­ pressive lot compared to the Sharkeys, sey who had lost his speed. PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 24 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE

Derapsey personified whirlwind as­ Tunney's fists. His punches jarred, sault— perpetual motion forward. jolted, cut, and bruised their victims, Speed of foot was the key to his suc­ but lacked the wrist snap, the instinc­ cess. When his legs lost their resili­ tive timing, which stuns a top-notch ency, when his speed evaporated, he heavyweight for a count of ten. It is became a target for a counter fighter, impossible to pick a fighter totally be­ a cool, methodical marksman such as reft of a knock-out blow as " the Tunney. greatest of all time." No matter what side you take in Strength of mind and body were that controversy over the " long Tunney's chief assets. In him the count " at Chicago, you can't deny that mental qualities transcended the physi­ Tunney was stunned. I am dead sure cal, yet he was much stronger than is that the Dempsey of Toledo, moving generally supposed, and could tie up a on steel springs instead of tallow legs, rival's arms more effectively than any would have caught the back pedaling champion save Jack Johnson. Tunney and applied the " crusher." Tunney's morale mustn't be dis­ Dempsey will be remembered for counted, that abiding faith in his des­ his head-bobbing, weaving attack; his tiny, the cool, methodical way in which recoil technic in punching, one blow he carried through a predetermined cocking his body for the next wallop; campaign. The spiritual quality in his his swarthy, blue-bearded scowl; his make-up, the conviction that he occu­ relentless tactics as a finisher, but most pied a higher moral plane than did of all for his paralyzing left hook to rival exponents of a profession he jaw or wind, perhaps the best of its despised, was not a negligible factor in kind in prize ring history. his rise to the top. Contrary to general belief, however, Boxing critics began by underesti­ he wasn't a one punch knocker-out. mating Tunney, and ended by over­ His blows, devastating as they were, praising him. Actually, the handsome, lacked the shock effect, the " lights clear-eyed Marine was neither as bad out" quality of Fitzsimmons's nor as good as he was pictured in the punches. press. It is likewise a fallacy to picture Had he come up during the 1895- Jack as indestructible. Dempsey was 1910 era, Tunney wouldn't have made rugged enough, but his recuperative much of a splash in the boxing puddle. powers didn't match those of Fitzsim- Fitzsimmons's terrible left shift would mons, nor did his endurance or shock have spraddled Gene quicker than it absorbing qualities compare with those did Corbett; " Pompadour Jim" of Jeffries. Dempsey weakened badly would have outboxed the Greenwich at Toledo; he showed signs of exhaus­ Village boy; Rough Tom Sharkey tion against Brennan and Firpo while would have outfought Tunney, even still close to his prime. as little Harry Greb did. Knowing what we do of Dempsey, As for Jim Jeffries: Tunney's de­ it is hard to picture him weathering a tractors would indeed have enjoyed no-limit fight with Jeffries. Jack would themselves could they have seen the" have to nail Jim with a K. O. early in Gene of Sesquicentennial fame pitted the mill or not at all, for Dempsey against the Jeff of Coney Island mem­ lacked the stamina to outlast the Cali­ ory. Can you image Tunney's punches fornia grizzly. hurting the man who shook off Fitz's Gene Tunney owes his claim to haymakers as a Newfoundland shakes greatness to his two decision victories the water from his shaggy coat after a over Dempsey—then a man " without swim? legs." There was no dynamite in Even Georges Carpentier, never ro- PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED THE GREATEST PRIZE FIGHTER OK ALL TIME 25 bust and then on bis last legs, lasted For his ounces and inches, Bob Fitz- more than ten rounds against Tunney, simmons was the best man ever to step whereas Dempsey demolished an infi­ through the ropes. His feat of win­ nitely fitter Carpentier inside of four ning the world's heavyweight crown at rounds. thirty-five years of age, and at one As for the Tom Heeney affair, the hundred and fifty-six pounds, stands, boxing authorities should be ashamed unparalleled in ring history, but, even of themselves for permitting the in his prime, Fitz could not have sur­ world's title holder to pick on a fang- vived a finish battle with the mighty less second rater, such as the Austra­ Jeffries. lian plodder, who had no punch and Go down the line, take the outstand­ no defense. The so-called " artistic ing champions in order from Sayers to whittling down " of Heeney by Tun­ Tunney, picture each one in a survival ney could have been duplicated by any of the fittest—a fight to the finish with fighter worthy the name. Jeffries, and not in a single instance can you visualize defeat for the " big IX fellow." EMBARRASSED by the unlooked for Sure, accidents are apt to happen. outcome at Philadelphia, when Tun­ Sullivan or Dempsey might knock out ney blinded a logy Dempsey with jabs Jeffries with a fortunate punch, but and countering rights, the experts at­ match them in a series of battles with tempted to save their faces by lauding Jeff and he would beat John and Jack Tunney to the skies. Their confusion four times out of five. had its tap roots in the original as­ Jeffries knocked out Corbett and sumption that Dempsey was a super­ Fitzsimmons twice apiece. That's con­ man. clusive. Sayers would have been too Bob Fitzsimmons had exactly the little for the Californian. Mace was style and the punch to have leveled simply a slightly less skillful Corbett. Dempsey. Corbett holds no flattering Sullivan didn't have Jeff's speed, nor opinion of the " man mauler." his awkward but effective guard. " There is a popular delusion," says Excepting only the fencer-like Cor­ Gentleman Jim, " that Dempsey is the bett, adversaries experienced consider­ king-pin of heavyweights, but, in my able trouble reaching Jeffries solidly oipinion, he was far too open, too easi­ on a vulnerable spot. Sullivan had ly hit, to rank with the ring immortals. only one offensive hand against Jeff's " Dempsey's gameness, his dynamic two. John L.'s bower was his sturdy energy, his savage infighting, carried right, used as butcher's maul. Jeff's him to the top of a mediocre field. The ace in the hole was his bludgeon-like only scientific boxers he faced—Tun­ straight left. ney and Gibbons—evaded his knock­ A good left hand will beat a good out hooks, and those two were boxing right hand every time, other things be­ tyros compared with Peter Jackson." ing equal, but as between Jeff and Sul­ Modesty kept Jim from adding— ly they weren't equal—Jeffries having " and James J. Corbett." greater stamina, superior agility, and With Tunney, we complete this a more puzzling defense. roundup of the giants of ring history, Willard's lone asset — prodigious and from out the red welter of thud­ size—would be nullified by Jeff's im­ ding fists, straining bodies, and patter­ posing proportions. Boring in under ing feet, there emerges the Stone his ominous crouch, Jeff's clublike Mountain figure of James J. Jeffries— fists would beat a tattoo on Jess's ribs the greatest prize fighter of all time in and stomach. Jeff would soon cut a battle to the finish, weight no factor! VVillard down to jaw reaching range. PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 26 MUNSEY'S MAGAZINE Derapsey would give Jeffries a " bad like arms and his " tie up" tactics, quarter of an hour," as the French say, would have fallen before the Jeffries but Jim was inured to that berserk type of 1896-1902 — a Jeffries who never of unrelieved slugging, having weath­ knew defeat during that period, and ered the windmill flurries of pertina­ who, when given sufficient time, never cious Tom Sharkey and the cagy, failed to get his man. guileful assaults of Bob Fitzsimmons. Alone of all the heavyweight cham­ When Dempsey finally punched pions, Jeffries never looked like losing himself out on Jeff's oaken ribs, iron a finish fight during his active ring ca­ jaw, and whalebone forearms, the reer. Little Mitchell knocked Sullivan California bear Avould level the winded flat; Corbett cut the " Strong Boy " to Manassa Mauler with poleax lefts ribbons. Corbett in turn was leveled and rights. There wouldn't be much by Fitz and Jeffries. Langford made sitting down at a Dempsey-Jeffries Johnson run for cover. Firpo had scrap, given two such poisonous left Dempsey in distress before Tunney hooks inside the same ring! hashed the man killer's features. Tunney couldn't disable Jeffries in a Dempsey put Tunney on the floor for month of blue moons. Goaded by what really was a fourteen second Gene's rasping punches, Jeffries, fast count. Maybe Gene didn't have to as Tunney on his feet, would crowd take that count, but he did take it. the Marine and club the scholar to the And so it goes. Of James J. Jef­ canvas, giving a boomerang twist to fries alone can it be said—" Here is a the leatherneck slogan " Treat 'em man who at his crest would have rough!" beaten any other pugilist from 1750 to This leaves only the two pantherish 1929 in a fight to a finish, under either black giants to be considered — Peter London Prize Ring or Marquis of Jackson and Jack Johnson. Inasmuch Queensberry rules." as Corbett held Jackson even, and Sports reporters, gifted at painting twice fell before Jeffries, it follows word pictures, have described Jim that the clever colored fighter would Jeffries as he looked that sultry eve­ also succumb in a finish fight to Jeff's ning at Coney Island, his youth- inhuman endurance. Jeffries could flushed skin gleaming like creamy satin soak up punishment like a sponge under the blue-white arc lights, but I while retaliating with cruel, crushing think the simple simile, coined by an blows. army teamster who knew his mules If any one of the ring's champions and his Jeffries, is the most graphic of could have beaten Jeffries in his prime. the lot. Jack Johnson is the man. But John­ This tough-fibered Irish muleteer son's weak fights against Sam Lang- took a reflective chew of tobacco as ford, Joe Jeannette and Marvin Hart; he considered my query. the giant black's failure to dispose of "What do I think av the big fel­ game little Tommy Burns in clean-cut ler?" he said with a judicial air. fashion, as well as his knock down by " Faith, man, I'd sooner have wan av Ketchell and his knock-out at Joe thim mules lay his hoof to me jaw than Choyinskl's hands, raise the presump­ have James J. Jiffries hit me with that tion that Johnson, for all his python­ divil av a left hand!"

COMING—A new novel by HOMER CROY, author of " They Had to See Paris "

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QOMETHING TO THINK 9\BOLnr c) By Fred A.Walker

Fighting and Retreating GOOD many battles have been lost because the A commanding general, in learning how to fight,neg ­ lected to leam how to retreat. In the battle of life it is quite as necessary to know how to extricate yourself from a difficulty as it is to know the principles of getting ahead. The man who continues to attempt what has proved impossible of accomplishment may have admirable cour­ age but very poor judgment. The one thing that a good general does when he is retreating is to KEEP FIGHTING. If you keep fighting hard enough the retreat itself may be the means of eventual victory. j» A young man who has chosen the wrong occupa­ tion, who has undertaken a job for which he is not fitted, will gain in the end if he retreats and gets into a new and better position. Most of us are best fitted for ONE thing. If we try to be more than that or other than that we sacrifice results, and results are the only things that count.

J* Conduct your retreat in an orderly manner. Don't be in a hurry about changing your work. Don't be impetuous and throw down your tools, or your books, or whatever you work with and walk out with a "to hell with that job." Conduct your retreat in a safe, sane way, fighting as you go, fighting to find the right thing and the right place where you will be worth most to yourself and therefore most to everybody else.

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