The Wichita daily eagle., 1896-03-03
FITZ APPEARS AS CHAMPION
How He Stacks Up With His New Found
Honors in the East.

| a born fighter and is. never 50 happy
as when actually engaged in a contest
The next best thing 10 fighting is talk
| ing about fight
After watching Fftzsimmons in bat
| tie and listening to MS conversation,
| which, although usually dealing largely
| with himself. savors nothing of brag-
| idacio. no one who is disposed 10 be
fair can doubt mis- sincerity or courage
| That he believes that he can whip any
man living is apparent and a good many
| good judges of the game Of hit and get
away. are of the same thinking. He is
not overstocked with discretion, how
! ever, and when he begins to talk does
not know when 10 stop. He is entirely
J lacking in those qualities which have
/ made Corbett a power out of the ring.
! With the gloves or bare fives." Fitz-
| simmons is second to no man, but when
/ it comes to a talking match he Will
never be placed. He is blunt and out
/ spoken, entirely lacking in diplomacy,
! and withal terribly suspicious, the lat
/ ter trait probably being due 10 the train
ing he has had in America. He almost
Invariably wants to fight before he gets
| through with an argument and IS just
as likely to make a proposition for bat
tie with a bantam-weight as he is with
pure and simple and yet withal is ten
der-hearted and has been known 10
burst into tears, sobbing like school
boy, at slight provocation. He is not
likely to ever become popular with the
public at large, for he makes enemies
Casually Intentionally faster than he
makes friends
How thoughtless he IS Of consequent
ces and lacking in dignity was illus
trated at the little Texas town of Del
Rio, where the train stopped for a few
minutes. Fitzsim1nons was in the par
lor car playing with his baby, Young
Fifty" now three months old. and for
sCme time refused TO show himself TO
crafty the crowd that had collected to
get glimpse of the champion. Just as
the train started, however, he raised the
window, not to satisfy the people, but
to take look at things himself A
crowd of girls were directly in front Of
the window, and one blonde beauty
said:
"Oh, there he is! What an ougly-
looking bruter'
Up jumped Fritz. red with passion.
and ,ebing unable to raise the double
window fast enough to suit his taste,
ran to the back end of the car, which
was the last on the train, leaned over
the brake and he shouted: "Frecklesi
freckles!' with all the power of his
lungs, grimaced horribly and went
throught various pantomime motions,
ending up with the remark:
Il got even with her, all right, didn't
I?'
There were probably 200 people in the
crowd and not more than half a dozen
could have known what Fitzsimmons
was driving at or at whom his remarks
of "freckleS" was directed.
FitZsimmons, when in one of his tai
kative moods, said that he was never
but on two occasions hit hard enough in
a fight to make him realize that he was
hurt. The bang on the ear which Ma
her gave him last Friday in breaking |
away from the very first clinch at the !
beginning of the contest made his head |
ring and later the punch he got over the |
heart Stomach, FitZ says caused him |
pain. He declares that those two blows |
hurt him more than all the blows he got |
which, by the way, was not a great
many more in number at New Orleans
in 1892
Fftz says all statements about his |
having been daZed by a face blow in the |
early rounds of that contest are wrong: |
that the blow which people thought doz- |
ed him was as harmless as a slap from |
a baby, since it caught him on the top OF |
the head. He was going backward at |
the time. and, partially from tripping. |
aided, Of course, by the blow. fell
against the ropes, which he clung to in
order to keep himself from going down. |
When the bell sounded his seconds half |
carried him to his corner, evidently |
thinking just as the other spectators. |
that Fftz had received a damaging |
punch. FitZsimmons declares that the /
dow neither hurt nor daZed him, and !
that he had quiet laugh to himself |
when he saw the CONSERVATION among |
his supporters.
A man who did hurt him. and hurt |
him bad, was Joe Chaynski. in the fight
at Boston, June IS. 1894 Fitzsimmons |
says he took the gaff in that fight and |
knew he was taking il, and that he was
very happy man when the tide of for |
tune finally turned in his favor. Choyn-
ski got through his guard somehow and |
knocked him down. 'T don't know how |
came to let him do it." said Fitz, ''but |
biff, 1 gets it on the jaw, and down I !
go. ! was dazed, but jumped to my feet.
when, biff, gets another, and down l |
fall once more. Up | come. and down
go for the third time. That knocked /
a little sense into me, and I took more |
time IN getting up, and, as a result. |
managed TO avoid Joe's swing for my +,
jaw. That put him out some. and when !
he came back at me I met him full in /
the face with straight one, and down /
he went Then the bell sounded. and I |
had minutes rest. Just before time |
was called for the ffht round the dazed |
feeling left me, and l went az ChovnsIxi !
for all there was in me. knocked him
down several times in rapid succession.
and then the police stopped the CON
test
Speaking Of the relative merits Of the
various pugilists, Fitzsimmons said:
''Maher is about the best big man in
the country today. If I could have him /
for three months l would make a cham |
pion of him. He has picked up some !
points about boxing since I fought him |
IN 1882, but he Is an easier man to whip |
now than he was when I first met him |
Before he knew anything he was a very |
dangerous man. for one could never tell |
what he was going 70 do. Now he boxes
very nicely. but leaves himself too open
and is not up 70 the tricks. Why if I
was 20 fight him again now 7 would /
Knock him out with the first bloody
punch. Anyone who thinks I was try
ing 10 hit him before l did last Friday |
don't know anything about boxing. Yes.
that's right; l was only leading him on /
20 make him fight free and open himself |
up. He is a powerful fellow and hits |
hard. but he isn't clever. However. any !