The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-10
bMES J. CORBETT,
,-onuoAME WEDNESDAY MIGHT
oo-,vy-WEIGHr CHAMPION.

l. pECAME WEDNESDAY NIGHT
IgAvY-WBIGHr CHAMPION.
Ancestry and the Athletic Promise
u,. Boyhood-Before He Was
" crown He Spared Only With
-Weights-A List Of Victories
-. only By Draws-His Record.
r,on, the Nst0 York Recorder.
Corbett, who is now the cham
Ills, Of the world, was born In San
S,soo Sent, /, 1856, and was. therefore,
80 II age on Sept. l. Corbett stands
.st IL inches in his stockings and is as
10 nroportioned man as one could de-
sao His father, Patrick J. Corbett,
obout IS years of age, and quite as tall
- -, came from Tuam, Ireland, in
I'd settIed in New Orleans. He soon
.ar moved to San Francisco, where he
.rriad in 1855. The family consists Of
~ Harry, Thomas, Joseph. Esther,
.-os. Katie, Mary and James, the latter
inc the third Of the boys.
- Corbett was educated at Sacred
d.-t College. San Francisco, and at 10
1,'.tsd He then took a position In the
81 National Bank OF that city. He
80 had a taste for boxing, having put
~ cloves at the age OF IA. and while
- ~ in the bank he took part in many
lo.a,,r tournaments. and almost invaria-
u, nat heavy-weights. although he was at
H. lime barely middle-wetRht. AT lS
[osrs of age he fought Dave Eiseman and
famed bim in two rounds. At about that
ma he 1oined the Olympic Athletic Club,
nJ shortly after ward became boxing in
[trrctor Of that club.
His first real fight in the ring was with
- burke "the Irish lad, :" one Of SulH-
as early victims, who had also fought
'i,b Mitchell. Slavin and Jack Dempsey.
r. battled eight rounds to draw, Cor
ks,t attributing his ill-luck to lack of con-
fdence IN himself.
/ Corbett has fought four battles with Joe
|rhovnski. two while he was an amateur
r. two since he became professional. He
1 hinped him each time, at one time knock
no him out in four rounds.
His next battle was with Mikei Brennan,
4he Port Costa Giant, who had stood up
kgsiDst Joe McAuliffe for forty round, and
E?orbett was a victor in three rounds. knock
6ng out the giant completely, who out
weighed him more than twenty pounds.
6aly and Frank Smith Of Salt Lake City.
fhs former be finished in two rounds and
the latter in three.
s Corbest then met George Atkinson, who
went into the ring weighing go pounds.
md finished him in two rounds, although
IJorbett weighed only 165 pounds. He then
fested Frank Glover In two rounds.
1t was after this that he had his second
professional fight with Joe Choynski. who
Weighed in at 173 and Corbett at 1863. There
sas big money up in that fight, and the
Friends Of both had a great deal of money at
=taka The fight occurred on q barge in the
middle of the Sacramento river, and, as is
sEell known, was simply continuation of
fhe contest that had been stopped a week
before by the authorities. Corbett broke
toth hands in the third round, but beyond
thst bad hardly a scratch at the end OF the
u wenty seventh round, when Jack DemD-
boy, who was back Of Choynski. threw up
tbs sponge.
4 Shortly after that he resumed his position
as instructor in the Olympic Club, and left
BIT 10 meet Jake Kilrain before the Southern
Athletic Club In a Ground fight for points
sfF purse of 81, 500. He came out Of that
contest without a scratch, and could easily
have finished Kilraln.
Corbett then started out on q professional
|spsrring tour, and in the course of his trav-
.es came TO New York for the first time.
Here he had bout with Dominick MoCaffrey
and bested him in four rounds. This was In
April, 1890, the fight taking place In the
Fifth Avenue casino in Brooklyn. Corbett
did up the graceful Dominick In such short
order that the New York sports went into
estasies over him, and from that time his
stock began to be quoted at par with that of
John L. Sullivan.
Not long after this Corbett's friends ar
ranged a match between him and Peter
jackson, the negro, for a purse of $40, 900.
jackson went into the fight at 204 pounds
and Corbett at 17S. They fought for four
hours and finished sixty-one rounds, when
the battle was stopped and the referee de-
cided that it was a draw. 1t was one Of the
gamest fights on record, ana although Cor
bett was willing to go on and protested
Obliged to accept it as final.
This encounter increased the reputation
OF the Californian and made his friends all
the more eager to get on a match with Sui
Ivan or some other famous pugilist. They
tried Charley Mitchell, but the latter did
not respond, and then it was decided that
Corhett should continue his sparring tour.
he travelled all through the east, and 1t
was announced everywhere that he was
willing to meet any man who would move
forward, and he would agree TO stop hun in
four rounds In New York he met three
men in one evening, put two Of them out,
and bested the third. They were William
Spilllngs Of Muldoon's combination, Bob
Coffee Of Philadelphia, and Joe Lannon, a
Boston heavyweight. In his western tour
he met about twenty other men and de-
ieated them all within the limit of four
-FOUR rounds No one was found who could
stand up against him for the stipulated
time.
Then came the match with Sullivan, the
result of which is known.
MES. CORBE TT HEARS THE NEWS.