The evening times., 1898-04-18

stronger man than Mccoy in a general
! way, but his development OF this partic-
| ular muscle is far inferior. In McCoy's
| forearm the supinator longus sticks out
! like a big steel cable Coiled under the
skin. This is especially the case in tie
left forearm. which is more than an inch
| greater in girth than the right. do not
! think there is another forearm like IL in
existence
McCoy's use Of this muscle is unique
1t marks the latest development in the
gentle art of pugilism.
The whole growth Of pugilistic skill
has tended toward specification and away
| from the old style OF a hurly-burly mix
up After a time the fighters resorted to
the chopping style. Look at the old cuts
OF champions-Mendoza. Gully. Tom
Cribb. etc.-and you will see that they
stand with the left fist upheld so that Ii
could be used with a chopping effect.
Inventive fighters thought of a plan TO
beat this-namely, straight hitting Now
the arms flew like piston rods The fists
were lunged forward straight as sword
thrusts. Wrestling was still allowed un-
der the London rules, but it was not Of
much avail against swift. clean,
straight hitter. Probably Mike Donovan
and Billy Edwards. were and are the
finest examples of this dashing style OF
boxing.
When John l. Sullivan, the noblest Ro-
man of them ALL came to the ring he in
vented a new style. His game was to
rush al his enemy chop down his guard
with his left and swing the right at him
like "A baseball bat. This plan had the
grand simplicity of genius. James ]. Cor
bett improved on IL. though. He relied
on the hook blow. This was still
swing but much shorter than Sullivans
Corbett stood with his left fist held far
forward. He swung IL inward with
quick, hooking motion. The blow was not
so heavy and crushing as one of Sulli-
vans swings. but il travelled such
short distance that IL landed oftener
Mccoy apparently studied the history of
all these blows and then put his wits to
work. Sullivan's awful right had to trav-
el four or five feet before Il struck the
victim. Corbett's hook travelled less than
two feet. which was a saving in distance
and in time.
Could anything be evolved quicker than
Corbetts hook? Yes; a corkscrew blow
That was McCoys invention. His in
dustrious use of it has put him away up
in the front rank of pugilists and may
make him champion.
What is the corkscrew blow? Mccoy
advances, sparring nmbly and with
many fiourishes that conceal his plan and
his man until his left fist is within six
or eight inches of the victims jaw Sud-
denly the left fist twists inward and for
ward. If ii lands on the eye il closes
the eye. II 1t lands on the Jaw the jaw
bone is very apt 10 break. 1t was with
blow Of this sort that Mccoy broke Jim
Daly's Jaw in the first minute of their
bout before the Manhattan Athletic Club.
How does Mccoy get such crushing
force into the blow? From the supinator
longus alone. That. In my estimation.
is what makes his work so marvellous.
The old-tyle straight-hitters drove the
weight of their bodies in behind a blow
by sprinEing off the ground as they
punched. Sullivan and the other swing
ers hurled all their weight into the round
arm blow. Even Corbett swung from the
hips and got all the impetus of his body
into his hook blows.
But Mccoy is different from all these
He uses his long legs and long arms to
bring his fighting machinery up close to
his victim. AT the moment he discharges
the blow ne is rigid as far as his left ell
bow. He sends in the blow by making a
twisting motion of his fist. just as If he
were driving a corkscrew into a cork
The power comes from flexing the supi-
nator longus. Probably Mccoy gets a
little of his body-weight into the blow,
but this cannot be very much. Constant
use of this wonderful muscle in this way
is what has made it SO big i'm McCoy's
arm. BY relying on it he is able to do all
his fighting away out at his skirmish
line. 1t is certain that no one can beat
Mccoy fighting at long range.