The San Francisco call., 1897-03-06

| tbe-wisp-like head of the Californian,
which was here and there, but not in the
spot where Sullivan wanted 1T to be at the
time and times he intended knocking 1T
! off its owners shoulders and out OF the
| ring.
Corbett as he had landed on other men.
/ Pompadour James would not have been
ENJOYING the sunshine OF his wife's smiles
in chilly Carson.
THE CALL was the only paper west OF
the Rocky Mountains that predicted sue
cess for Corbett and in column article
descriptive of the men its reasons for SO
doing were given.
Now, a man, FitZsimmons by name,
who is better general than Sullivan, and
! one who can strike probably as heavy
! blow as the Boston boy, Is auXiously look
ing forward to the 18th inst, for on that
day he is booked to meet in passage at
arms native son who has lived like a
prince and who has been hale fellow well
met ever since the time he conquered the
pet OF the pugilistic world.
| Will Fltz win ? All, there's where the
shoe pinches If the Cornishman can
land either of the sledge-hammer fists he
carries as self-defenders on Corbetts jaw
it is safe to say that he will be crowned
the facile princeps of the prize-rlng by
| the thousands of sport-lovers who will
| witness the battle.
But will Corbett give Robert the oppor-
tunisy OF bringing the contest to speedy
conclusion by exposing his jaw or any
other vulnerable spot as target to be
shot at is another very important question
| that must not be lost sight of.
| Corbett is unquestionably great ring
general and very close observer. He
will go at FltZsimmons as carefully as
cat when about to spring on mouse.
His maneuvers in front of the Cornish
man will be fashlike and puzzling. Fitz
will doubtless be on his guard, and will
wait for the attack which in all pro oba-
bility will come from the Cor bett battery,
then the game will be on, and if Co-bett
should conclude to enter into a give-and-
take proposition the ba tie will assuredly
have an early termination, as the Cornish
man will doubtless drop his game, as it is
in close-range fighting he inficts heavy
damage.
But Corbett will not cut out any such
line OF battle with F1tZsimmons. He Will
jab and get away and clinch when he is
cornered. Possibly FItzsimmons will take
the aggressive part. Should he do so,
then the spectators will see some very
pretty foot and head work on the part OF
Corbett.
The Californian will resort to all man.
ner Of tricks to arouse the ire of his oppo-
nent, who when ratified" is very wild
hitter and loses all control of his thinking
box. Certainly, if Corbett should succeed
in "rattlipg" Fitzsim mons the latter will
go down and out, and James can then
congratulate himself on the fact that there
are no further fields to conquer, as it is
acknowledged the world over that Filz-
simmons IS the only living man who
has any license to enter ring against
Jim Corbett.
1t is presumed that both men are in
good condition, or will be on the day of
the battle. Making that allowance for ar
gument sake the only true line that can
be drawn in figuring upon the result is
from the records of the men. The Ques-
ton now arises: Can Fitzsimmons whip
the men whom Corbett defeated-that is,
If they were physically as able to do battle
now as when they faced the victor? The
The same question can be reversed and
applied to Corbett, and 1t will be found
that, although the Cornishm an has to his
credit the greater number OF scalps, Cor
bett has achieved the greatest victories.
Here are the records OF important battles
the aspirants for the championship have
to their credit:
Corbett defeated Joe Choynski on June
5, 1889, at Benicia, in twenty-seven rounds.
The men used driving gloves ana Corbett
cut his opponent TO pieces. The contest
took place on barge. This was Corbett' g
first engagement of any note. He next
whipped Dave Campbell IN ten rounds.
He bes;ed Jake Kilrain at New Orleans in
six rounds. In 1891 be fought a draw with
Peter Jackson, the contest ending in the
sixty-tirst round. Then he had friendly
sparring four-round bout with Sullivan at
the Grand Opera-house, from which he
got line on the big fellow. After engag-
ing in sparring bouts with Jim Hall and
others he met and defeated Sullivan in
twenty-one rounds on September z 1892,
at New Orleans He next whipped Charley
Mitchell in Jacksonville, Fla, in three
rounds He was matched to fight Fitz-
simmons on October 81 1895, but the con-
test had to be declared off. His four
round contest with Tom Sharkey is too
well known for comment.
Fitzsmmons had several contests in
Australia before he arrived in this coun-
try, but he carried with him one blot on
his escutcheon which will always darken
his record as a prlZe-hghter. His defeat
by Jim Hall in four ROUNDS, on February
10, 1880, in Sydney will not soon be for
gotten by FiIZsim mons and his hackers
Fitz has intimated to his friends that he
could have whipped Hall, but being on
his uppers at the time he took licking
for cash. His principal fights in this
country were against Billy Mccarthy of
Australia, whom he defeated in nine
rounds in Nav, 1890, before the old Cali
fornia Club; Arthur Upham in New Or
leans who wasl slknocked out in five rounds;
Jack Dempsey, who lasted thirteen
rounds; Peter Maher in New Orleans, who
was knocked out in twelve rounds; Joe
Godfrey, who was knocked out in the first
round. i'm Hall and Fitz met again on
March 8, 1893, in New Orleans, and Hall
went to sleep in the fourth roupd. Filz
fought a fve-round draw with Choynski
June IT, 1894, in Boston, Mass. He
knocked Dan Creedon out in the second
round in New Orleans on Septem ber 26,
1894 He whipped Peter Maher in less
| than two minutes in Texas, and then he
met Tom Sharkey in Mechanics Pavilion
and was defeated by the referee.
1t will be seen that the hardest fights
| the Cornishman engaged in were against
Billy Mccarthy, Jack Dempsy, Joe Choyn-
ski, Peter Maher and Tom Sharkey.
Ii any of the above-named pugiists
were now booked to fight Corbett to fin
ish, the betting would be at least two to
one in favor of Corbett but because FItz-
simmons polished off his opponents with
such consummate ease the sporting fra
ternity are of the opinion that he will
prove hard game for Corbett, as the lat
ter is supposed to have been physically on
the reirograde for some years.
If Corbett is really in anything like the
form he was when he whipped Sullivan.
he should certainly defeat Fitzsimmons,
as the Cornishman would not be in the
race in a contest to a finish with such
men as Sullivan and Jackson when they
had seen better days.
In fact FitZsimmOns would not dream
of meeting Peter Jackson in contest 10 a
finish at the time that Corbett faced the
colored gladiator, although he was older