Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-01-11
BOB FITZs:NMoNs


 they have won the proud title of champion and sorralled she gold which that sitle brings them they shirk the duties and re- speosie!iitlcs of their position. They loft!ly ignore honest bsra 66e challenges from rivals whe have right tc battle for the pennspt and studlously ave!d 6 second oI third championship contest iu every pos, s!ble way This is unfair to the public as well 6; to rival aspirsuts for estio tame and lt Is with pleasure that record one luminous exception to this !gaoele prac- tiee That exception Is John ', Sullivan. ex.champion of .he world. No man breath. ing could play checkers OF hts eoattails when he was monarch Of the arena He fairly and mAnfully met every honorable challenge, were the challenger A American, Briton ST Maori wisk for the sake ot honest sport there were more NSs him So- day
 Now to revert to my original propost. ton I hold that tho success or failure ot the manly aT. in the immediate t-ture de pends greatly upon James J Cor5ett. He and I, as everybody knows. are matched te Ugh, for :he championship Of .he world at Jac&sonv...s Fla. some time after July | of the rresen; year 1 could not induce Certett when we met in New York to make an earlier date nor even set q sps- e!de date for 'he meeting Th:B Bcacssd ne seIpe mlsg:v.ngs as tc his honesty of pur. pose At the time although eaok of Us post ed 4 ws!ga:y :cr:e!t to appear In the ring It may Se asked why d:d rot insist upsn some SxeG date. My answer Is that eeuld not ] had Co submit to all of Csrhesrs s propositions or lose the opportunity ot meeting etm in the magic circle Tc in sure that opportunity waived every right to which Q principal is entitled. l wished to leave kim no loophole through which he esul1 escape a conflict. l permitted s'n. te es absolute dictator as to s!ma pace and amount of stake as We should sat. t.e Tor This did to show She public shat wAs ln earnest. For this received the oommendation of the press throughout the land My conduct had been such a str!k ing contrast to his. He, 1t will be reEien. bered dodged my challenge to h!ra to bat tic fer the worlds champ:onship-;s:s too. after he had publicly promised thro"gh the press that he would meet mo shoEli defeat hts old timo rival, Joe ChoyCsS!, and Dan Creedon. This dual task per. formed, and yet tho big Californian tried to shirk a battle. He essaysd tho trick that many bravo CD men did in the iasO war He attempted to send 0 ''subssi. tuts" to do battle with mo in tho person of Steve O'Donnell of Australia. It was
  Billy Brady calls strategic retreat that everybody saw through 1t. Such howl of indignation went up from press ard public that Corbett despite the utmost TO. luctance on his part, was driven into nAk' ing O match Visions of empty houses and depleted coffsrs in the box office terrified ''GentIeman Jim," who, unless general report does him gross injustice, loves gold far more than he does glory. This soul in spiring dread alone prompted him to final ly take the action he did.
 What causes me considerable uneasiness now is the way CoTbett has been talking ee late. He is philosophizing, and every body knows that philosophers don't fight He se.Ees upon tho late unfortunate incl dent at New Orleans. where Andy Bowen was accidentally killed in a contest with George Lavigne, as a fitting opportunity | to discourse upon "the discouraging out | look of boxing in the future" the "deatf blow of pugilism" and the like. In fact | he broadly intimates that he is not sorry | that such e state of affairs should bC | brought to pass. Upon my word, believe | him. do not think he wants to fight Ills heart was never in the game. Having | fulfilled his mission" and elevated" thu ring by carefully oulling his advsrsarle | onQ aSoluiuR tuo hnOdLs OA OauHoE LII tu' | pugillsslo sea, he can. he thinks, retir' prottably it net honorably with tho prouE tills oe worlds champion. Heaven saw the markl How did ho win 1t? By whip | ping two broken down. prematurely olC | msn-ons. John L. Sullivan, fat, slow cumbersome and paralyIed in hls lowe limbs by a combination of diseases; th ! other. Charles Mitchell, debilitated, shor l winded and equally siothtul from years O riecous living. The man he feared, Pete Jackson, after his memorable sprintini match with him at the California Athleti club some years ago-hy courtesy called draw-he studiously and persistentl avoided. Sandow and Samson, aided b . derrick, could not have dragged hin into a ring to meet the ebony fighter. H held him of for years. Finally, whel JAckson was . broken down man physical ly. aa corbsst know, and under the care c Dr. John Wilson Gibbs of New York, th cAliierAian became slAmorsus for fight
 Ne wAAssA e add third invalid to hi |