Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-12-07

FITZSIAMoNS' ALLEGED FOREARM BLOW
 mighty fist in each instance, but Hall and Creedon were both nearly as good as ever in n week. RiOrdan. however, was phys. ical wreck owing to overindulgence in drink, and light blow was sufficient to kill him.
 All this merely goes to show that box ing Is not a dangerous sport when the men who indulge in it are healthly and prop. erly trained If two elevcns composed of untrained men should play n modern game of football, several of them would doubt less be killed, but despite the roughncss of the play not single hcalthly, well trained collcgian has been killed on the football field in America in years
 Dan CreCClOn, who was knocked out by Fitzsimmons and who naturally does not lovo him, declares that in his belief Fitz. simmons killed RiOrdan by using what Is called the forearm blow, n blow that Is considered foul by all fair boxers. That forearm blow is an old Australian trick, '" Dan Creedon said recently to n St Louis reporter. II have used it in fights on the turf but it is even there considered foul, and a man is cautioned against it It should certainly not be permitted in n glove contest, because it gives tho man de livering it the advantage of striking with his barred arm. l sec that FitZ says that the blow he struck Con was just a tap with the back of his right hand on the jaw, not hard enough to knock his man out Fitz strikes a wonderfully hard blow | very easily. It is doubtful if he can gauge i the speed of his delivery so that he can I tap lightly or hit hard. You sec, he has | no muscles except those right over his ! shoulders. and it is thcro he gets his won | derful driving power. Now, of course, we | all know that the exact blow which knock | ed Riordan out will never be known Fitz- 1 simmons might have hit RiorJlan square | ly on the jaw ar 'fOTcarmed' him on the | jaw or head without itsrvcr being known | "Fitzs glove might easily have gone l over farther than he had intended, with | the result that he would have dealt Rior- l dan a fearful blow with the back or side 1 of his wrist right over the jaw. q blow that would knock almost any man out. | Riordan, not being in good condition, of | course was unable to recover from the 1 shock. When Eitz knocked me out. his glove passed my head. but his wrist solid | and hard as log, caught me on the tem- pie. I was stunned and would have gone | out then, but the bell sounded, and I stag ! gered back into my corner. The crowd, | of course, could not see that I was done for, for so quickly had Fitz delivered the foul blow that many thought had got | out of the way, seeing his gloved fist shoot past my head. That blow had done the work, and my seconds could not get | me in shape for the second round, and he easily put me out.
 Tt seemed to me for about a week after the fight that the top of my head was coming of. No man knocked out by a punch on the jaw could have such feel
 ings. have talked with Jim Hall nbout how he got knocked out and his sensa
 tions, and they were about the same as mine. Fitz undoubtedly whipped his fore arm into Halls head. I believe he was practicing the forearm blow on Riordar and unintentionally struck him harder than he meant to-
 The knockout blow, that crashing jolt of the fist which, coming suddenly against some bony section of a fighters head
 sends him into complete unconsciousncs:
 without damaging the vital functions, i:
 generally supposed to be of quite recent
 invention, says the Chicago Tribune i John l.. Sullivan is frequently credited i with the discovery of the blow, and Colo
 nel Monastery, a renowned teacher of box
 ing and athletics in his day, claims tC
 have invented the punch and taught it tc
 the great John l..
 Sullivan undoubtedly developed ant
 perfected the knockout blow and was tht
 first glove fighter to put it into practica
 usage. Before Sullivan's time the heroe,
 of the ring fought their great battles witt
 bare knuckles and usually won them b,
 wearing out the strength of a foe in |
 long, battering, bloody fight full of fall
 and wrestling clinches. John L. was tn,
 first one of the glove fighters, and Corbet
 and Fitzsimmons are the ideals, the per
 lection of the system which Sullivan
 brought into renown. But the knockout
 blow, largely accidental and seldom
 fought for and inflicted as part of a skill
 fully planned attack, was known age!
 ago. Virgil describes Entellus as knock
 ing out Dares by a straight punch on tn,
 cheek bone, and Homcr's hero, Epeos, pu
 pugilistic aspirant to sleep at the funcra
 of Achilles by a similar drive. In late,
 years the chronicles of England's priz,
 ring tell of numerous suddenly endet battles in which a smash on the jaw ter minated tho encounter When Jem Mac was defeated by Tom King, the papers O 3 the time say that tho deed was done by 7 straight right full in the mouth.
 ' There was O great difference, however
 between blows from tho bare fist, such z r Mace, King and Sayers gave, and tn glove swings of the present day. The ol { time pua fought with the straight uri ht1d ayuldsH nwines hs usheefuus tc tl
 ElYsF, A swinR with the hare hss' iaha.u