The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16

4 LoEicai ArEumont showing the Difference
lictyyeen RltE and COrhett.


To THE EDITOR OF THE sus-sir; The extremely
interesting Interview with John L. Sullivan, which
appeared this morning in your columns (where one
always It's the best Of everything, has determined
mc to orer to you n few ideas which have occurred
to me recently while Corbctt and "FltEsimmons have
been ~eEertlng themselves along the line OF their great
est strength. to wit, the use of their tongues. AZ the
present moment we hear much In a good many OF the
wilder ana less responsible newspapers about the
generosity OF Corbetts latest orer to F~itzs'mmons
80 much. indeed. that one who did not stop to reflect
would think that ~"Pompaiour JIM ia a very ILL
used Individual and that Fitzslmmons is really q very
bad character. Let us examine a bit.
Corbett, a practi ally unknown young man. chd'
lengcd Sullivan and got a tight with HIM In M
extraordinarily short time. sullivan was. as every
body knows, by that time very much played ont by
the twelve years of championship aud the Intense
dissipation To which he had yielded himself. So com
pletcly had this wrecked his physique that no could
not get down to anything nearly like good conditions
but. lest this be disputed, l win not dwell much on n,
but simply pass over to the fact that Corbctt did oeat
him. Now let us examine wnat he has done since
then.
Corbctt won the championship in 1899 and was
behIen by fitzsimmnns In 1877, n period OF nearly
fve years. During that time how many fights did he
one-.wlthl little Charley Mitchell. the smallest and
most Insignificant of All the hcavywti 1hts. n man
practically a middieweight. absurdly smaller than
Coruett in height. IN reach. In weight, and In every.
he was the only man that could get n fight with Cor.
bett. During this time Fitzsimmons challenged Cor.
meeting ut Hot Springs. 1t Ia absolutely impossible to
say whose fault tnat was, and so l will not discuss It.
CorbCtt, for some reason best known to himself. de.
olded TO Yield up the ,ehampionship. and the public
voice, as he very well knew Il would do In that
This Corbett disliked so much that he went through
sns futile Stiffness OF publicly p%roclaimlng Peter
following on this fitEsiniinons conquered the afore.
fighting, thereby having a double claim to the cham.
Iionshlp. because, Cortett having retired. evcrybody
Dett mad speclnca!ly given 1t to the man that Fitzsim.
mons conquered.
simmons the title ne had won so well and to use In
all their e|rrespondencs relative TO their recent fight
and dishonest piece of behavior.
After Corbett conquered sullivan one of the nrst
was more scornful on the subject than CorOett. who
utterly refused to listen to any such request. At the
than that F~itZsimmons should accord to him exactly
that privilege; in fact. so strong Is his feeling that
utterly urcalled for scene at the very conclusion of
the Former IN match: \, Now he seems to think Fit5si,m,
him with u match whenever and wherever he chooses.
ofI me SnG insiappnts i : p ns NC ts crPeee mas o1,au 9ee n, t ud.. o.
saries and IN the shape OF public brawling with them.
them, as In the instance Just mentioned OF withhold.
ing from f~itzsimmoDs the title of champion when
Now. what Is Fitzsimmons's? Coming here an utter
stranger. with hardly n friend In the land, he has won
his way by steady, persistent fighting with the very
best men. giving away much weight In almost every
contest and going up ont Of his class to get alversa.
ries when nobody In his own class seemcl capable OF
facing him. Having won the championship fairly from
Maher during Corbett's retirement. and having de.
Tended 1t against the latter. he seems to ME fully en-.
titled to take the same rest that has been customary
with all his predecessors and to devote the same
amount OF time in pursuing what our old friend, John
L. Sullivan, calls, with Boston culture, the :" good old
dough-"
Corbett seems to think that the privilege to rest
and acquire cash ended with him. He also seems to
think that. having retired formally and openly from
the championship, he has ut any time the right to
come baci aud take possession OF It again, either
with or without lighting. as suits him. as, according
to his view. the new champion only holds 1t by his
good permission. FltzsimmUns has defeated CorDett,
Creedon, Choynski, Maher, and various other men.
and IL Corbett has n perfect right to another chance
against him 80 have all the others. and there are a
great many people who fail to see any reason why
Corbett should receive the preference. With several
men clamoring for a fight with ~Fitzsimmons. It seems
about the most natural thing in the world that they
should as soon as possible settle which Of them is the
superior. and that Ftzsimmons should defend his
title against that one.
At any rate l humbly express. on behalf of q large
portion of the public. n hope that both OF these men
will talk very much less than they have been doing
Of late. as whether they choose to meet again or not
is more their business than anybody elses. 1. L. D..
NEW York, Jan. IL.