The evening times., 1897-02-23

| GIL 9TH st. NV. 1t
Grove this morning / stumbled across til,
strangest kind OF procession. II was g
beautifully clear day, and the sides of the
wheelmarked road were lined with hum
mocks OF SHOW, through the tops of which
| the sage brushes peeped. In the center OF
the glistcnng track before me appeared
FitZsimmons, the lanky pugilist. He wa
| coming at dog trot and bis face was
| dripping with perspiration, despite the
frosty air. AT his Eecls tTotted the big
! BLACK dog Yarrum. H also was on dog
| trot, but his gait suggested that he thought
! the speed Fitz was keeping was totally
uncallcd for. RoebeT, driving homemade
sled, brought up the rear The wrestler was
struggling with a slow horse, and his face
was red from his endeavors to keep the
animal within striking distance OF the
. fighter.
See you later" said Fitz and he pass
| ed us. /. therefore. kept right along to
the Grove and awaited the return Of Bob
| and his outfit. He was back at / O'Clock,
and while he was being rubbed down in
his bedroom he described his morning eXer-
| else.
I'VE left here about two hours ago." he
said. land drove as far as the prison. At
| that point / got out of the sled and ran
along in front, keeping up a good jog until
we reached Carson. The distance. under
stand. is about mile and half. Going
back / kept In front OF the sleigh. as be
fore. rode from the prison to the ranch.
| and here we are"
And how do you do?'
AZ have pretty bad cold, as you can see,
but otherwise 1 am feeling all right.
feel far better thanI did when was train
ing for Sharkey. l had cold at that time,
but it was different from tits. II affected
my bones and muscles, and every time
boxed with Hickey fancied / could hear
tie joints of my arm crack. This time the
cold only affects my chest
Fitz ceased taking for few seconds, as
Roeber pushed him rather unceremoniously
into a chair, the better TO handle the long
mans legs.
II like the way you fellows shove me
around said Fitz with a grin. did you
read what Corbett does to McVey when
he doesn't behave himself? Well. / will
do the same to you if you are not civil
You want to be sure you don I run up
against snag,r replied Roeber. The first
break you make I'll give you such licking
that you won't be able to win that cham
pionship on st. Patrick day" These and
kindred pleasantries convinced me that
Fitz and his men understood one another
thoroughly, and are on the best OF terms
"Going back to the time | was training
for sharkey,'' said Fitz, lit was good
thing for Hickey while we were prac-
ticing that l was so stiff and slow. He
used to get all over me, and l hadn't en-
ergy to smash back. Between the rounds
used to go back to my chair with a
band pla aying in my ears. II the band
wasn't pla wing knew that Hickey hadn't
hit me very hard that round. It's going
TO be different this time. Well start in
sparriug tomorrow morning and Mr.. Hickey
will get good humping every day.
"Do you know said Fitz, II don't feel
as big as when was training for Sharkey.
Ny legs seem smaller, and feel smaller
around the stomach Still l weigh 1T2
and that is as much as l weighed then.
No matter what weigh, though, / feel
as fine as silk, and I am thoroughly con-
fident that am going to win this fight"
1t is very evident that, apart from the
cold of which he complains, Fitzsimmons
is in good shape. Those big, frecklcd shout
ders of his and his massive arms and chest
make his hips and legs look light in ccm-
parison, but he is smooth of skin and firm
of flesh from forehead to heel. l know
that he, in common with most fighters, ro-
n.ances a bit in connection with his weight,
and, In my way of thinking, he does not
time. A remark that he dropped during
his conversation convinced me still further
that he is coed bit short of 1T2 pounds
in fighting ng.
when it comes down to bed rock"
said he, II am nothing but middleweight
Ihave been fighting heavyweights for years,
and on March II 1 will get away with
the fellow who is considered the boss
heavyweight OF them ALL
Pretty soon the subject of foul blows
came up. / asked Fitzsimmons what he
thought of Siler's scheme for having an
understanding as to what constituted fair
fighting before entering the ring.
Il have this to say said Bob. 81 al
ways fight fair and l will not depart from
the rule this time. Moreover, / have
always had the worst of it when it came I
to making agreements as to what we were
to do. II was my rule to let the other man
propose whatever he likes and 1 agree to
it, In nearly every case the other man
has broken his agreement and / have made
no complaint. This time it will be differ
ent. am the champion now, and 1 am
going to have say in this thing Siler
and Corbett may air their opinions of what
is a fair blow and what is not.
Il say we shall fight strictly according to
Queensberry rules, and the way those rules
have been interpreted through all the years
they have been in vogue is, that the men
shall step back after clinch without hit
ting at each other. l consider 1t will be
time enough to settle these points when
we step into the ring, and can't see how
there eau be any misunderstanding if the
Queensberry rules are properly construed.
II read somewhere that Corbettt thinks
i am likely to use my elbow. Now / claim
that l am as fair a fighter as ever lived.
Ny past fights will show this. When /
knocked sharkey down l stepped in and
helped him to his feet. I did the same |
when / fought a fellow named Hickey
not Dan Hickey. When / floored Choynski |
/ walked away from him. He was trying |
to get ur, and said: Take your time, Joe; |
you have got ten seconds When Cboynsh |
fioored me il was different, for he stood |
r;oxt oror ma ThinCe lilo that ha ve han