The times., 1897-05-23

New York, May 22-That Fitzsimmons
fouled Corbett in the Nevada fight is prac-
tically proven by the verascope picture OF
the fight shown here today.
The most interesting detail in the pho
tographic record is the picture which shows
FitZsimmons striking Corbett with his
left fist on the point of the jaw when the
Californian had sunk to the floor
The blow, technically, was foul, but
1t wasdelivered withoutintentt too wrong,
so far as can be known. and it had Nd ma
terial effect upon the issue. But the rea-
son why no official notice was taken of 1T
was that not only the referee missed seeing
1t, but so did every one of the other
5000 persons present.
Up to the seventh round Corbett divided
his efforts impartally between punch
ing and uatroniZing FitZsimmOns. When
the red headed one, by chance, struck
him below the belt in one OF the early
rounds, Corbett smiled eood-naturedly,
like a fond teacher, correcting an error
his inferior, who couldn't help making
such a mistake; yet, as matter of duty,
be jolted him in tie jaw and prodded his
nose and banged him ia the ribs until the
poor Cornishman ought to have felt that
his last day had come.
Bob fought back gamely, never ceasng
the grins and winks TO his wife, by which
he signalled that he really didn't mind the
grueling he got. His moral courage in
fighting away under such heavy punish
ment is a fine example for every man In
this world who has To fight for his living.
But CoTbett's blows were fast weakening
the laaky fellow. In the fourth round he
began to be little slow. In the fifth he
was firing fast. In the sixth he was in
distress His battered nos, and mouth were
bleeding SO that his front was all smeared
with red from cheekbone TO waist. His
lower lip was so split that smiling must
have hurt sadly, yet the red-headed man
was always grinning.
At the end OF the sixth round, as shown
by the verascope, Corbett all but had the
Cornishman out The latter was down on
his knees, but rose before the referee Count
ed eight, and from this time on Corbett per
ceptihly weakened.
He was no longer on tiptoe spriuting
after his adversary. He appeared 10
have worn himself out furnishing FitZsim-
mons, who was now improving every min
ute and constantly Jaks.g more prominent
part in the fighting.
The fourteenth round began with no more
interesting features than the thirteenth or
any other since She sixth. 1t had progressed
FOR little more thaa a minute and a half
when Corbett ducked forward aad made a
long, low plum ge for Fitzsimmons' abdomen.
The verascope shows that at the moment
Corbett's fist came forward FitZsimmons
drew in and contracted his abdominal
muscles so that the blow, if it landed at all,
did practically no harm, and at the same
time he started to side-step toward the
right. The picture also shows tn at Corbett
ducked unhurt under FitZsimmons' ex-
tended left fist, sentforward in an attempt
ut a counter blow.
Quicker than the motion could be fol
lowed by any of the 5000 pairs Of eyes
focused on the ring, Fitzsimmons con-
tinued his side-step, thus placing himself
In a safe position dcfenslvely; and at the
same instant he drew his left fist back
ward and downward and then hurled 1t
upNdIu III lOHB' ucdN y shlhElhS upp'l-
cut He at the same moment hurled around
ell the weight of his body, using his right
foot as pivot, and thus every ounce of
his great frame was concentrated upon
driving home that awful punch
In the verascope picture Corbett is shak-
ing and tottering. Slowly, very slowly,
he begins to pitch forward end down
ward His left hand clutches at lbs
side, ana his right arm hangs swing
ing helplessly. In less than one-fifth of
a second the Cornishman's blow is carry
ing on its work of destruction.
When Corbett began to fall Fitzsimmons
made as though he would hit hin with his
right fist He reconsidered this, how
ever, and swung around so as to bring lis
left into range. He drew back that arm
and again swung the fist upw ard, throw
ing behind it all his great weight.
When that blow struck Corbett he was
technically down" He was resting on
his left knee and right foot and right hand.
The blow is d foul, technically, under the
@ Queensberry rules which governed the
contest But the rules are so interpreted
that intent is always considered by the
referee In deciding a foul. For example,
when Fitzsimmons hit Corbett below the
belt in one Of the early rounds it was
plain as day that he did not intend to
do SO, and therefore he was not even
warned by the referee.
The strangest thing in the whole history
OF the fight is that Referee Silers, a fight
ing man Of great experience, the highestin-
tegrity and excellent sight, should fail to
see the technical foul blow. He was near
est to it. His eyesight is easily excused,
however, by the fact that not one of the
thousands of spectators saw it. The vera
scope record cannot be denied
II the referee had seen Fitzsimmons'
blow while Corbett was down and decided
1t foul Corbett would still be champion Of
the world