Omaha daily bee., 1897-02-21

VT nave bEE tAhNaNNh " NAAAA NAAN hN -
a wonderful fighter. He has had one pretty
good prize fght-that with ChOynskl. on the
barge-a bluff at another-that with Peter
Jackson. His fight with Sullivan was cold
turkey and that with Mitchell a fake and a
farce.
It is quite probable that none Of the red
hots have forgotten the historic battle that
was fought down IN the Molasses City on
that memorable September night in 1892.
The money that most Of them lost on John
l.. will serve as an everlasting reminder of
ttat great event. II one just goes over the
matter in his mind he will discover that
practically the same condition Of things ex-
listed then as now. Up to the very night OF
the battle Sullivan was a prohibitive favor
lite. and Corbett had not an hundredth part
Of the following Fitzsimmons has today. In
fact, with the masses % the people the coun-
try over in the big fgst which Is to be
pulled off three weeks from next "Wednesday,
FitZ has the call en- Jim so far as friends
go. The big moneyed gamblers and the
fighters are In a large measure in Corbett $
camp. But it was different at the other
fight. Then the only boxers Of note who
were on the Californian's side could be
counted on the fingers of one hand, In fact
| can recall but four who openly INDUCED in
the belief that Sullivan was about to meet
his master, and the loudest of these was one
Eyed Connolly. Dominick Mccartney, who Is
nON Nv INK Un u dut up ANN'i'' t'h~
Donovan and Tommy Ryan were the other
three. The only question with the balance
of the ''perfesh" was how many rounds could
the pompadoured youth from the auriteFou9
coast stand before the Bully Boston Boy. In
Lemroth'e, under the st. Charles, the betting
showed 800 to $2S on Sullivan at the open
ing. and Corbett's stock never reached a
higher notch in any of the pool rooms than
$50 to 500. In Omaha on the night or the
fight the Big Fellow was made as good es a
10 to / shot, and even while the hight was
being watched upon the bulletin boards
hundreds of dollars were staked at 2
to 1 and better. Down in New
Orleans it was different. There
was little or no betting at all. Everybody
wanted Sullivan, but few felt disposed to place
a fortune to win a meal ticket. Jack Morrison
was dow there with me that time and he
had a roll as big as a can of tomatoes. lie
was an enthusiastic Sullivan follower up to
the day before the fight, when we paid the
big fellow a call, and would have bet several
thousand dollars en- him had | not persuaded
him out of it. L will never forget that inter
view with the big fellow. Billy West. the
minstrel man, Morrison and | called on john
together. We found him busy punching tile
bag at the Olympic club rooms. He was
doing all his work with his left hand and
was 40 slow and careless and indifferent that
misgivings took possession of all three OF us
intuitively. Later, when we were ranged
along in front of the clubs bar, | said to
West: what do you think of him, Billy
mot much,' came the quick reply. Il did
think he would win in a jog. but my money
win now go on the other man. and West
probably won as much money as any man In
the country. Morrison, while dubious, stu
insisted that Cnrbett wasn't In 1t, but he
knew better and l noticed that the only
money he put up was a twenty dollar William
with the late lamented p. J. DCnohue of the
New York World, just before the gong
sounded, on the proposition that the fight
would not last fifteen rounds. He lost the
twenty, but he brought back home his thou
sands.
speak of this simply to show the
similarity between existing circumstances
then and now. OF course the burden of the
odds on Corbett at present is nothing what
it was on Sullivan, still he is a big favorite
with the sporting fraternity, and were he as
popular as John L. was in those days, the
lay OF general sentiment would be just as
great, Notwithstanding the knowledge of
Fitzsimmons' wonderful proves. But he is
not. Fitzsimmons stands just as. well with
the public as Corbett. The lattcr's domineer-
ing and overbearing character has
irretrievably alienated the sympathies of the
vast army which makes up the rank and file
of the lovers of boxing. All are willing to
concede that he Is a marvellous boxer, but
as a side-partner that is a different thing.
AS / have clearly shown in the quotation of
opinions above, the consensus of opinion
among the profession is that Jim will win,
yet. out of the mass Of predictions that
have been made there can be detected no
agreement as to the number Of rounds it will
take him to turn the trick. Some have
oyinced a hardlhood to place it at three or
four, but the NEST of them are prone to
string it out from a dozen to twenty-five.
To me it looks like a short fight. 1t will
prove a cyclopian task, l think, for Corbett
to tire Fitz out by his slaps and jabs, and
terpsichorean evolutions. The lanky boxer
will compel him to mix whether he wants
to or not, If he once demonstrates that the
long drawn-out business is his lay. Either
one or the other, | think, will win quickly.
If Fitzsimmons is there at the end of six
rounds ne will be there when Corbett is
out of it. Many good judges think, with
every round after six, Jim's chance will be
On the wane, and there are others who
believe the longer he goes the better he will
get. They have probably forgotten the little
fact that in his fight with Jackson there
was not a blow or even a feint in the last
tEirty-ive rounds. Distance probably didn't
count in that fight. AS to the
contingent. His friends are looking for him
to win in from four to eight rounds, but
have every faith in his capability to go the
route no matter how Icing the journey may
prove. They conCede nothing to Corbett but
might and quickness, and Offset this with
Fits terrific propulsive force and r~ingship,
Jim may tap the Australian and get away,
LuL lie cannot uTlNe III anu Smash MN WIFI
that utter immunity he employed with the
Big Fellow. He will find he has an entirely
different job on his hands on st, Patrick's
Day in the Morning than he did on the night
of September Z 1892, down in the Olympic's
classic arena.
But the biggest factor of all in the APP
preaching contest will be condition. With
such gigantic and scientific propositions
as Jim Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons, how
n u chic hn ptInpyyigao And VuInt &c
the true condition of the two men?. OF
course, | have no greater facilities at get
ting at this vital point than any of the rest
of you. But sports and sporting is my
livelihood, and l am expected to give greater
heed to such matters than the casual man
who picks up his paper and reads of the
various sporting events as a mere pastime
and pleasure. | am supposed to have an
opinion and would be a shabby sporting
editor had l not. Now. / think that Corbett