Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-20
Comment on the Proposed Battle
Between ]. |. Sullivan and
James ]. Corbett.
THE CHAMPIONS TALL TALK.
Pleasing Success Of the Local Dog Show
and the Amateur Athletic Contests.
ABOUT A 25-CENT BASEBALL RATE.
Features Of the General Outlook of the Rational
Game for This Season


the history of pugilism in this country
Without all signs fail, we are going to hav
the great John L. Sullivan in the ring agail
and with native born. Articles of agree
ment have been signed and each party ha
put up forfeit of s., 500. People who ar
interested in such matters will know al
about the conditions The latter, to sa,
the least, are remarkable because of the en-
ormous amount of money there is at stake
If the conditions are fully carried out there
will be S45, 900 at issue. The Olympic
Club gives s25, 900 and each fighter puts up
$4,000 as stake money. Just fancy that,
We old timers, who were accustomed to
stand on the turf and see champions fight
for 500 or $50 side. Just think of two
men going to contest with big gloves for the
fortune of nearly $4,000.
Surely we are leaving the past long way
behind. Our modern pugilist of a front
rank kind can spend more money in one
night than some of the old-time champions
fought for in a year. There must be tre-
mendous amount of money in the boxing
business in this country, because the S5 000
at issue must come out of the publics
pocket eventually. The Olympic Club di-
rectors must expect that they will receive
more than s25, 000 In fact, BY giving such
an amount they cannot do other than ex-
pect at least So, 900 in return. And all
that money to see glove fight!
Some Features of the Match.
1t is not surprising that almost everybody
interested in boxing and pugilism in this
country should think that Corbett won't be
Gin it" when he meets John L. S. Nor is
It very surprising to me to hear consider
able number of people stating that Corbett
will never meet the big fellow. am, in
deed, not surprised at this There never
was pugilist in any country who had such
a great hold of the public sentiment as John
/. has of the public sentiment of the United
States. Thousands who have never seen
Sullivan and who have little or no idea of
pugilism believe him to be the greatest man
that has ever lived. as far as fighting is
concerned. He has been the theme of ser
mons, the subject of pages and pages of
newspaper matter and the burden of talk and
conversation in every nook and corner of
the country. In short, the name of John L.
Sullivan is as much a freside name as any
name that | know Of
No wonder then that there should be such
popular notion of the mans prowess, and
such an implicit faith in his ability to de-
feat anything that is human. This patriotic
feeling is to a very great extent to be ad-
mired; personally, / am very glad of it. But
there is such thing as being too extrava-
CANT in our belief Our faith can De so
strong, and we nay hold it so blindly that
we NAV be led astray. There ought cer-
tainlv to be reason in this as in other things,
and if we Just reason the matter little
we'll find that there is no occasion to think
that Corhett will decline to fight Sullivan.
and that the latter will kill Corbett in
ten minutes if they do meet.
I remember very distinctly what
the popular opinion was when
Mitchell was matched to fight Sullivan
Why, some of the most prominent public
writers declared that Mitchell would never
go into the ring. Others stated that if he
did go into the ring that in two OF three
rounds Sullivan would literally kill him.
Sullivan himself talked very extravagantly
regarding what ne was going to do with
Mitchell. Well, L recall things to point
out that none of them happened. Mitchell
went into the ring and nobody was killed
And it is safe to say that matters will be
similar this time.
Chances of the Men
OF course Corbett will be in the ring if all
goes well, and 1 am inclined to believe that
he will stand much longer before Sullivan
than manv people think To be sure Sulli-
vans chances of victory are much better
than those of Corbett, but it is much too
soon to figure out results vet. There are,
however, two or three things that we might
say few words about. There are sure to
be many people who will bet that
Sullivan will not defeat Corbett; that J
is. a draw will win the money.
for them. Were to bet on the result and |
took the Corbett end this is the only way 1 |
would bet. 1 cannot get it into my head |
that Corbett is fighter, and certainly a |
fighter will be needed to knock Sullivan |
out Corbett's style of fighting or boxing |
is just that kind that will enable him dodg- |
ing round for two or three hours. If he can |
avoid Sullivan's rushes which he is sure TO |
do. then it is hard to say what the result |
viii be.
During the last few DAYS we have all, /,
doubtless, read of the very tall talk of John |
l. In one instance he is quoted as saying |
that it is just like going out on the street |
and picking up S35, 600 his fighting Corbett |
There is nothing like confidence, but talk of |
this kind is nothing more or less than "blow-
ing" Of the tallest kind, and had any body
else INDUCED in it he would have been
roundly called down for it 1t is
talk of this kind that leads to such
unpopular results. These trothy vauntings
lead the public to expect extraordinary
things, and when these extraordinary things |
donot come the public mind is disappointed
into disgust, and the man who has Jailed is
soon buried beneath public censure. As
result. therefore, if Corbett makes a draw
he will be winner, and a good one while
Sulliyan's stock will fall very low, and if
he cannot defeat Corbett he must not Law
claim to being the 'best man who has ever
lived
1t may also happen that Corbett will be
charged with foot racing, just as everybody
has whom Sullivan couldn't hit If Corbett
can either by jumping or running keep out
OF the big mans way, more power to him.
1t will be his business, 1 suppose, to Keep
out.of the way just as much as it may be
SuIfivan's to try and hit him. This notion
of calling Eian down because he is not
Sullivan or anybody else to knock him out
is the yeriest nonsense under the sun.
There is also another matter worthy of
remark. / hold that the contest is not for
the championship of the world. Sullivan
has not won the title nor has he defeated a
man who has. Corbett certainly has no
claim to it. The contest is if for anv title
at all, for the championship of the United
States.
A Few Probabilities.
But the winner of the Sullivan and
Corbett contest will have to fgat somebody
else Just as sure as we live. If he does not.
j fail to see how he can retain the title of
champion at all For instance, if Sullivan
defeats Corbett the winner of the Slavin
and jackson contest is sure to want to fight
Sullivan. And there may be difficulty on
this point if jackson is the winner Sui
liyan rigidly declines to meet a colored