The Anaconda standard., 1899-09-03
THE RING


ern. This much is apparent to those
who have seen the little English cham
pion at work at his quarters at Mama
roneck. The fact that he shifted his
quarters from a place too close to Sar-
atoga to the more quiet spot he now
occupies is enough to show that he does
rot court publicity, but wants to get
down to the serious business he has in
hand. Palmer doesn't like crowds. He
had plenty of them at Saratoga and SO
moved farther out into the country.
He is not much bothered in the place
he now occupies
Palmer's principal trainer is a rather
ancient fighter of the name of Sam
Blakelock. 1t will be remembered that
Mr.. Blakelock came to this country a
number of years ago and tried to wrest
the title of lightweight champion from
another Englishman, Jimmy Carroll
The title was Carroll's through tech
nicality, Jack McAulffe having forfeit
ed to him in peculiar manner. So
Blakelock was matched to fight Carroll
for the honor. Carroll defeated him
and that was the last ever heard of
Blakelock in a fighting sense. But he is
good trainer and will see that his
especial pet, Pedlar Palmer, is in good
condition for the coming fray, which
will decide who is the best man in the
world at the weight, 116 pounds
That Palmer will have to put forth
his best efforts to beat the little Amer
lean is attested by the preparation he is
receiving for the battle. At Mamaro-
neck his English idea of preparing for
a fight is being carried out faithfully.
The Opera hotel where Palmer is stay
...r l.,r A l,,zxy
Englishman and friend of the cham
pion, who is preparing Pedlar's food ac-
cording to the English method of cook
ing. Mr.. Caseley is familiar with the
merits of his pugilistic guest and there
is nothing too good for the foreigner.
Not only in his diet does Palmer fol-
low the English usage, but also in his
training. He has system of his own,
which succeeded in earning for him the
fistic supremacy of his class abroad.
Unlike American fighters and other for
eign pugilists who have visited this
country, Palmer does not do any spar
ring while in active training for fight.
Palmer has no use for sparring
partner and confines his exercises to
road work and bag punching. Although
boxing is considered the best exercise
in many ways, Palmer has no faith in
glove work with an opponent before he
enters the ring. This is to be wondered
at. 1t seems strange that a boxer can
become a champion without practicing
the art that wins him battles.
This little representative, of pugilis-
tic John Bull is a natural fighter. He
has no system in the ring. He fights
according to the style employed by his
opponent while in action and never
fights two men the same way. In his
bout he is guided by instinct. He is a
born fighter, not boxer.
Boxing while training, Palmer be-
iieves, has a tendency to make a man
slow in action, to say nothing of the
chances of injury to the, hands and
feet when trying, to desslop new blows
Palmer has no favorite blows and his
opponent may receive a swing from any
direction.
With sparring cut out, road work is
taken to fill in the gap, and Palmer
covers at least Is miles a day. He
makes two trips oves the, shore road
and each time is accompanied by his
trainer.
The schedule laid out by Blakelock
includes several hours of hard work
each day. From the time Palmer arises
in the morning he is active until it is
time for him to go to bed.
The Palmer party is up about $50
o'clock every morning, and preparation
for business Is begun at once. Dressed
in heavy wooden underwear and sweat
er, regular winter outfit, Palmer and
his trainer go for two mile walk, re-
turning in time for breakfast. A rest
is then taken until $3.50, when another
trip over the sound road is taken. This
time the distance is increased to eight
miles. The first two miles out and the
last two in are run at a fast clip. The
intermediate distance is covered at a
slow jog.
Y,,I- nd cIor
dinner is eaten. A half hour or so is
devoted to reading the morning papers.
In the afternoon Palmer Is on the
road again. He covers five miles more
and returns home on brisk run. The
intense heat in the sun of the last few
days has been hard on the little boxer,
but he says it is a good weight reducer.
After another rundown and massage
treatment Palmer takes the dumbbells
and tosses them about for two hours,
He finishes his gymnasium work with
a sponge bath and a rest until supper
time.
Palmer has just added the punching
bag and medicine ball in his gymna-
SUM exercises. Since his arrival from
Saratoga he has done no bag punching,
as he has been without the leather
sphere.
Palmer is a very interesting little
chap and is fast making friends at his
new quarters. He complains of the
great number of mosquitoes that bother
him daily. He says such things are
unknown at home and that when he
returns he will take back several Jer-
seyites as souvenirs.
Palmer has the greatest respect for
McGovern as a fighter. Speaking of
the Yankee yesterday Palmer said that
McGovern was unquestionably a Won
derful boxer.
"Of course l have never seen him
put up his hands, added the English
man. but any man who can defeat
the best men in his class in his own
country must naturally be a good fight
er. While l know this, l believe l can
beat him. l expect to get the decision
before the time expires"
When asked as to the style of fight
ing he would employ when he meets
McGovern he said he did not know.
That it would depend entirely upon
circumstances.
"A man can never tell how he is go
ing to fight until he feels his opponent
out. | never fight two men the same
way"
Palmer said he was thoroughly accli-