Arizona weekly citizen., 1892-12-10
OUR WEEKLY LETTER.
The Greggains Costello Mill Not
 Fake.
Betting on the Goddard-Maker Bat
 tie to l on the Formea.

| tufDS Ludl uldhS5 pSI5Ou lSel WSdIg II
 is to hear some men give rent to theil feelings when it comes to expressing
 their views oh the merits of two .profes
 sional pugilists. By their remarks it is
 easy to tell just how long they have been
 in the business. A man who has spent upwards of twenty years of his life at the ring side is mere novice besides
 the youth who has been handling sports
 for at least a week. There are the young men who know it all and what
 they say is absolutely correct. Much
 has been said about the contest on
 Monday night last between Martin Cos tello land Alex Greggains, but when ii
 comes right down to hard Epan it is a question whether there has ever been a fight in this section of the country
 where the men have been so evenly matched. They were both framed down to the pink of perfection in regard to condition, each having worked with untiring energy to fit himself to outdo the other. They are both the same style of fighters and having fought a fifty round draw on previous occasion they, were perfectly familiar with each others tactics.
 With tue advanced stage that pugilism has reached at present 1t is utter folly to expect fighters who have the slightest pretentions of science to go at each other in the hammer and tongs ia shion, like two raw amateurs. Still our young and inexperienced sporting writers, fresh from the amateur ranks, call scientific pugilists "fakers" if they do not go at each other like two bull dogs. These men fight precisely on the order of Jlm Corbett, who won the championship of America by just such tactics. Had these same young writers, who are now slobberIng over Oorbett as the most scientific pugilist on earth, seen Jim run away from Sullivan in the first round in New Orleans, they would have burst a blood vessel yelling cur, coward, sprinter. Give either Greg gains or Costello as easy mark at from l58 to 165 pounds, and ] will warrant he will get moved down just as rapidly as Corbett vanquished Sullivan.
 Had Jim Corbett been fighting Char ley Mitchell instead of Sullivan, these young men "who know it all," would have had another fight, such as they saw between Costello and Greggains. When shIfty men come together, who are we'll matched in science, strength and agility, long and extremely cau- tlous battle may be looked for. As a rule these men do not fight for the amusement of few green reporters or even for the qualification of the public, but for the money there is in 1t. Their regulations are at stake and that alone Is their stock ia trade, for the moment 8 man losses his reputation as fighter, he might as we'll start into carrying the nod, as no one would give up nickle to see him fight. The pugilists all real iZe this fact and none of them who are bit clever will run hesdlong into danger, and throw himself open to be knocked out with a single punch. It is not like olden times as the cracker-jacks of the present day know too much about land ing on the pr.nt of the law with either hand the moment they get an opening. The old idea ot punching and opponents eyes until he IS as blind as a bat is not the eaper now. It is a common occur renee nowadays to see man knocked
 
 or received a single bruIse about either eye.
 For forty rounds Greggains and Cos tello gave as pretty an exhibition of | scientific fighting as any man would care to see. Each man fully appreciat- | ed the ability of the other. While each | the others right hand and fought shy of It, there were never the ixh% o&- but the cleverness shown by both in | 1ucking and evading right handed | swings was something remarkable. | There vera right handed blows struck | by each man that would have finished | he fight instantly had they landed. Still | because the men were quick enough to | get their heads out of the way, when it | looked almost impossible to do so, the | men are called 'fakers," and the contest | is "fasco." They get no credit for their | ,leveTneSs, but get abused out of all | character for evading the blow. The | ideal gladiator of some of these blood | thirsty young writers is the man who | steps up to another, soaks him on the | head with an axe, saying "Tag. you are | it."
 1 saw both Greggains and Costello in | their dressing rooms after the fight and they were both pretty well used up from l the punching they received, Costello | right hand was gone completely and his | left was badly battered and bruised. His l left ear was laid open and that side of | his head and face was badly swollen l and sore ao the touch. His chin and | right side of his jaw were black and blue and so sore that he could hardly talk, while his stomach and ribs were badly bruised and swollen. A physic- ian had Greggains in hand and was working with his broken nose. He com pleined of pain in the left side of his head and face and said it felt as though it was all caved ln. His stomach was also badly puffed and bruised. It was as sore as an infamed boil and was up in Jumps as blg as his fists. His hands were sore, but not broken. Greggains told the doctor that Costello could hut as hard as mule could kick. Still in the eyes of some people these pugilists were only ''faking" and fooling the public. Judging from their appearance they earned all the money they got.
 Two well matched and clever men is a rare sight, and even though the last forty rounds were somewhat tame. they were fighting all the time and each stoed ready to take advantage of the least opening offered him, but neither could afford to risk his reputation and chan ces of winning, iu order to gratify the taste of anybody who wanted to see plenty of slugging and lots of gore.
 The next big event in the pugilistic arena will be the fight between Peter Maher and Joe Goddard. Dec. s, before the Coney !Island Athletic Club. The Australian is the favorite in betting by large odds. as the sporting people in this vicinity do not take much stock in Maher since the throw down they got when Peter fought FltzsImmons. They all know that tue Irish lad is one of the hardest hitters on the face of the globe, but if be cannot land, what does his hit ting amount to? Peter is liable to get in chance blow early in the fight that will settle the whole business, but if he does succeed in winning early or late in the game, the New Workers will lose