The evening times., 1897-03-29
AL. SMITH A HARD LOSER
The Stakeholder Ayers That Corbett
Is the Best Man.
he States That Trainers White and
Delaney Disagreed Before
the Fight.

AlSmith, who acted as final stakeholderin
the -FitZsimmons contest. has re-
turned TO New York. Smith still believes
that Corbett is a great pugilist. and was
not Backward in declaring that Corbett
is stiH Bob Fitzsimmons master.
1t was dollars TO ioughnuts that Jim
would have won the fight said Smith,
''and 1 can't even imagine how he lost.
didn't see the punch, as his back was turned
toward me. However, saw him go down,
and, as i afterward ascertained, it was a
left-hand uppercut in the wind which di6
the trick Corbett was not out; he was per-
fectay conscious, but could not l,et up,
although he tried hard
Il must say that Fitz is the gamest man
l ever saw in the nng. Corbett literally
choked him with blood, but he stuck it out
and Won ON his merits. 1t looked like Cor
bett all the way through until he received
that fatal blow
do you think Corbett was overtrained?''
was asked.
No, 1 don't" was the reply; .,he was in
the best shape possible. / tell you frankly
when he took off mis- weater the day before
the mill and showed me the muscles of his
stomach and back / was staggered. L
couldn't believe my eyes, to tell you the
truth. He looked as fit as fiddle, and he
told me he never felt better n his life He
may have doae lot of work in his desire
10 getinto shape, andit may have hurt him.
But TO me he was in excellent trim, and
condition, let me tell you, did not whip
him.
Billy Delaney and Charley White fell out
over Jim and did not speak the last few
days. White wanted Corbett TO keep on
working, while Delaney insisted that he
let up somewhat in his labor. or course,
Jim naturally sided with White, and there
was little friction in the training quar-
ters after this. Perhaps this had some
thing to do with the termination of the
fight, but | must say that Fitz won hon
estly.
However, look upon Jim Corbett as the
best man of his weight in the world, and
will match him against Fitzsimmons to-
morrow for $1,000 side. However, /
think it Will be a hopeless task, for Fitz
wont take him on. The new champion
knows that Corbett can whip him and
doesn't want to lose his newly acquired
laurels i f he can help it,"
Many people want to know Just how
the deciding punch was delivered, whether
with right or left, and if Corbett was
knocked out. The stomachheart punch
which stopped Corbett was delivered with
the left hand at close quarters after a
half-shift. 1t was a very hard blow, but
had not Corbctt's body been in Just the
position il was, might not have been SO
damaging. CoTbett was not knocked out
aS lult ba H.
perfectly conscious. could see and hear
and he did not fall He sank slowly To
one knee, gasping for breath. with a
look Of agony on his face, and with his
left hand on his heart, and remained in
that position until he was counted out In
fifteen seconds he got up ana rushed at
Ftzsinmons like a wild man. FitZ did
not fight back in this after-fracas In
fact, he had no chance He was waving
a little American flag to the crowd and
did not see Corbett until jim was on top
of him Corlsctt hit him two or three
hard punches, and missed with twice as /,
many more before he was pulled off.
Upon arriving a New York W Brady. |
COrbett's hacker and manager, will imme- |
diatel Y issue Il challenge to Fitzsimnons for |
a second finishfight, and accompany il with |
a deposit OF 81 500 The program then |
VIII he Z theatrical tour OF thecontBent, |
ana a systematic bantering of the vic
torions Cornishman from every stopping
place.
Both FitzSimmons and his manager, Mar
tin Julian, took humorous view of Cor
bett latest move when informed of it.
That's all right: Jim has a right to do |
Fitzsimmonsiseo concerned, he has announced
his retirement from the ring, and | guess
he will stand by that declara ton