The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-11-24

At O'Clock Tuesday afternoon, eight
hours in advance Of the meeting be-
tween James ]. Corbett and Thomas
Sharkey IN The arena Of the Lenox
Athletic club, IN New York, Harry
Beecher, sporting editor Of the New
0rk Journal, gave utterance to the
following:
The fight tonight looks Ike a fake My
Investigations lead ne to believe thar there
Is q put-uD Job TO give the fight TO Sharkey
on foul in the ninth round. l make this
prediction now before witnesses to see
whether f. viii be justified"
f1T. Bsecher's remarks were address
ed u the city editor Of that newspaper
in the presence Of several members Of
the Journal STAFF In commenting
thereon, the Journal says:
The reaceTs Of the Journal need not be
told that there Is no weird coincidence here.
The entire affair is plain case OF mean
swindling; It cannot be lodged or evaded.
All concerned are permanently smrched and
dfshcnored as cheats and blackguards. When
they come before the public hereafter they
will come as swindlers. The dupes Of the
evening are advised % sue for the return OF
their money-if they object 70 being swindled
and the managers Of the steal are advised
TO get out Of his town for their future
money-making undertakings.
That AIcVey was instructed to do as
he did is almost a fOTegone conclusion.
He is too old at the business to have
forgotten what the penalty OF such ac-
ton would be. The ugly affair is as
plain as the lettering in an open book.
Corbett could not have gone the dis
taEce. Had he been in the lead at the
time il is possible that the affair would
have proceeded, and SfIarkey would
have been given what Is known as the
double Gloss" But Colbett was about
done when Money jumped into the
7.fu 10 on q
than TO be knocked out. Now the ex-
champion can assert that he was not
beaten when the fight was stopped. and
car even claim that he had the better
Of the sailor. And the most discourag-
ing part OF II all is hat a certain class
Of hero wOrshipers, who have blindly
followed Corbett through all his shady
career, Will believe him and continue
To assert that he is, what he never
was, a great fighter.
The time is opportune for a review
OF what Corbett has done to enttle him
to the high position he has assumed in
the ring To begin at the beginning:
After twenty-seven Iou2ds Of desperate
fighting Corbett was given decision
ever Joe Choynski. Dan Davis, who
was one Of the assistants at the bat
tie. Is authority for the statement that
IN he seventeen round of that battle
Corbett wanted TO quit. He said 1T was
no use. That Choymsk would wear
Kim out, and he could not hurt Choyn-
ski At that time ChoynEki's hands
were gone, and Corbetts handlers
knew It. They prevailed upon him TO
c0rtiEue, and in the twenty seventh
round Choynsk gave 1t up because he
could no longer strike a blow. Corbett
claims four victories over the Hebrew,
but that is the only one to which he
is justly entitled.
Next came his battle with Peter
jackson, terminating, after siXty-one
rounds. in no contest Jackson was
q great boxer at that time, and the
result gave Corbett fame. And yet
the truth is that Jackson was not
Jackson when he met Corbett- About
ten days prior 10 their fight the big
culored man was the victim Of a runa-
way accident in which he suffered
severe injury, including a sprained an
kle The management Of the Califor-
MIA club. before which the men met,
wanted To postpone the affair, but
Jackson said no. adding: You can
rest assured that. if find | cannot win.
! shall not lose CoIbett could not beat
me in a year" Jackson's bad ankle
went back on him, and Corbett got
draw. lie also got enough of Jackson,
and steadfastlv refused TO give the
big negro return match. That is
ring history.
AS boxer among big men COrbett
IS without a peer. AS a fighter, there
are a dozen men who can beat him.
No ore knows that TO be a fact better
than does Corbett And that is why
his record is as barren as the breast
bone of a wise turkey that has starved
for Thanksgiving. After outpOlnting
Jake hlrain, CoTbeJt lodged a finish
fight with the Baltimorean. He was
afraid Of KilTain where it was to a fin
ish and the best man win. He in
duced old John L. Sullivan to box with
him at san Francisco. after which he
decided that John was sufficiently
stale TO be taken on. The result is
known After twenty-one rounds Of
g8meness. the champion Of champions
could go no further His underpinning
would not support his massive frame,
and he sank down in his corner-not
knocked out-nOt whipped-but ex-
hausted by his own eXertions. And it
is significant that Sullivan never es-
sayed to again enter the ring. His sun
had set before he met Corbett. Corbett