The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-15

,. obannnionship contest to be held IN
Daras. Tex, the last of October Of this
,.sar-in which Robert Fitzsimmons is
.-rirant and James ]. Corbett is holder
g the bonor-presents a puzzling aspect.
l. j. true enough that a lot of people see
-. outcome before the thing has hap
mod. but in spite Of the wiseacres there
Marcel of ifs" bristling up in divers
,,,ots and corners-ugly obstacles which
liable to give either man tumble
il, the heat and fury of practicable mill
,,1 A niece of advice founded, believe
GOOD. common sense, is that all sports
backing TO the Lone Star state lay enough sll
~, 70 get home on, no matter which way
the betting pictures shape up IN 'neii
heads.
p,,+ ~ II is hard to pick a winner per-
hans the next best thing can be done
- notice the respective fistic fashions
o,d tactics of the combatants as SHOWN
=, heir set-tos with other opponents from
,,.bicb probably wise prophets who are 10
.+.cl on their prophecies anyway, may De
wiser; or having CHANGED ana iost' may
s+,u say: I'VE wagered the only way II
oou,d be done scientifically; it was the
.e,xa. that knocked us" ought 10 De III
sood position as anybody TO sort out
a,d comment on what it striking IN each
NAN knowing both, having seen ll mem
=. MORE mills than one, ana having laiASN
- and photographed them in various Po-
sitions with a careful ear 10 IheAi "ioNS
and strategies of war. -,-,...s .D,r-
Fitzsimmons was born IN Ehslaiiu ~ IN
Zealand. with his parents when emu emu
Ne was brought up to the placksnlith
tradA leaving it only at such times az
he had a match on; when he had "hipPeu
his man he got back to the Iorse, mus
leeping always in a hardened condluon;
~ cernes of a gaunt hardy long-lived
s+ocL so that now at 33-a time that Is
usually counted pretty well along in pug
tistic old age-he is as nimble, uhh III
phvsioue and full of boxing frisklness as
2O-vear-old. He shows TINS spirit ~
dav as much as ever; he is full OF Tricks
of the skylarking order, always READY 10
tap and feint and jump about MS 1ainli-
lars. Every day for years, he mas nad
exercise in this manner and by punching
the fying bag whether there was match
TO prepare for or not. His mind is always
on the one thing and he has the Will power
10 make his body live up to its Dictates
The great fighting points that have oeen
brought to the front in Fitzsimmons' bat
Ties are unprecedented Knockout hitting,
feinting, and lightning erratic leg move
ment, which gives him an appearance or
grotesqueness. To one looking down from
the gallery, his amazing swiftness in play
about a twenty-four-f ring has the
appearance of the shadow of some gigan-
tic bird; in a glide he looks to cover the
length of the ring.
In the art of feinting or pretense, Fitz-
simmons is not equalled by any tighter in
the ring His opponents are mixed to
know what ne is going TO do next, and it
is from this more than from anything else,
that he is called eccentric. He has made
of feinting such a study, has brought 1t
to such PROJECTIONS in various ways, that,
in close connection with his fierce hitting,
it may be looked on as the foundation of
phenomenally quick successes in the ring.
The Knockout hitter must have an open
runway for his blow; he must have half
its force stopped by the opponents arm;
Fitz is an adept in getting that opening
and when it ocurs his crooked arm work,
his side jabs and uppercuts-are murder
Gus.
It is a maxim of the boxing arena that
the contestant who knocks out quickly
is liable to get knocked out quickly, the
reason being that in order to hit with
extra force, extra preparation. must be
made for delivery-the arms must be
drawn further away from guard position
and an openness must follow. But Fitz
has come closer to getting over this big
obstacle than any other fighter employ
ing such trip-hammer hits; he has not
kept clear altogether, however as the rap
with which Joe Choynsh brought him to
the floor in Boston once, nearly winning
from him attests, and as the Knockout by
Jim Hall in Australia, has demonstrated.
He has always been superior to Hall and
whipped him two or three times but in one
of their contests in the antipodes, Fitz
after having his man apparently well in
hand, was suddenly caught by his OPP
ponent and dropped to the floor like
log. 1t was the same thing that Choyniski
came to so near doing, and the same thing
that other, though less pronouncedly,
have shown some progress at. The say
ing still holds therefore, that a fighter
fierce at knocking-out is liable to get the
same medicine, though in the case of Fitz-
simmons, when it is remembered what
lot of men he has sent to sleep, the rule
has been pretty nearly set at defiance.
And this immunity comes from the fact
that the New Zealander is the most pol
ished breakup feinter for quick open
ing that the staked ropes ever cordoned.
Whereas, most boxers are satisfied with
feinting with the arms or hands, Fitzsim-
mons feints with the knees, the body,
peculiar swapping motion of the head and
most vigorously with the arms Knee or
leg feinting to bother an opponent was
first shown to American glove fighters
by Peter Jackson. On this style Fitz has
improved, or at least, changed in manner
better suited to him and more puzzlng
for the opposite man. 1t is a style of pre-
tense at which a dumpy fighter cuts
sorry figure, needing for a good worker,
lanky fellow with long stretch of terri
tory from the knees to the head. 1t means
the swing that a man gets by dropping
slightly by means of the knee joints, keep
ing his feet in one position-a dartinS
back and forth Fitzsimmons has in this
d play of about four feet, which he can
encompass with the velocity of a strik-
ing serpent and at any place along the
route he is good for a knockout if the
opening presents. He can hit hard from
almost any position, another little item
which has added to his eccentricity.
most singular thing in connection with
FitzsimmOn's puch-killing, is his weight.
Weight in matching men to battle is be-
coming more and more recognized among
the patrons of the ring, as standard to
be closely adhered to up to a point at
which a boxer is presumed to be handi-
capped with his bigness. This point
of txybfo fc m