Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-05-20
STUDY OLD RULES
OF QUEENSBERRY.
YOU WILL FIND, THAT AFTER ALL,
THEY ARE FAR BETTER
THAN ANY OF THE
NEyVV ONES

Bv John J.. Sullivan.

BY John l.. Sullivan.
WHAT'S the use of a lot OIL guys sit
ting down and writing sets of new
boxing rules? l fought all corners I'M
der the Marquis of Queensberry rules,
and they were good enough for me for
twelve years or more. The trouble
with most referees nowadays in Amer
lea is they do not understand Queens
berry rules in fact, l believe half of
these fellows never read ,-e rules as
Queensberry wrote them. You see a
lot of chaps have cut, hacked and re-
vised Queensberry rules until they are
now on the bum. The original rules
were quite long, anu are now II of
print. The last time I reau them Ed.
James, the old-time fighting writer,
who went bind, showed them to me.
mats about seventeen years ago.
God knows where you can get a copy
of Queensberry rules now. Perhaps
in England.
II would pay some of these young
referees % secure a copy and study
them up. In fact, the big clubs might
print the rules in full and present thir
patrons with a copy each, in order
that they might also understand the
boxing game as it should be under
stood.
l think Queensberry rules are the
best that ever happened. | cannot
suggest any very important improve
mems. They are all right, and the
one these guys sop monkeying
with rules the better and fairer boxing
will be. Many times people have
written and suggested to me the idea
of writing a set of rules, but It's
a dead cinch I'll never even attempt
anything of the kind.
| suppose I've uone more to do away
with bare-knuckle fighting than any
man who nas even been in or out of
tne ring. There never were any fights
for the championships w., gloves I'M
til l introduced them. | was always
in favor of gloves and offered to fight
Paddy Ryan with them -nstead of
bare knuckles until he called me a cur
and said | was afraid to face lin
under London rules with the knuckles.
perhaps it would have been more
pleasant for Paddy if We had fought
with gloves. I-en when 4 toured the
whole country knocking big fellows
out with big gloves it showed the tol-
lowers of the ring a new trick in the
game that made glove fighting so pop
ular that nowadays -Ie old London
rule with bare knuckles is a thing of
the past. It's | consider was the
greatest improvement made in prize
fighting for e 200 years at least.
With bare knuckles men used to
smash and cut each other up until they
looked like c~aricatures OF human be-
ings. | never took any satisfaction in
punching my opponents. When l
could lick 'em with a stiff punch on
the jaw that left no mark | was fully
satisfied, and often helped a good fell
low along after licking him.
l would have also fought Jake Kill
rain with gloves, but Mitchell and 9TH
er fellows hehind Kilrain thought they
had m AZ a disadvantage and called
me only a glover" They thought
Kilrain would chop me up to their lik-
ing, but Mitchell and his gang got left.
The Marquis of Queensberry made the
best glove rules ever written, and |,
in my way, introduced them, and made
glove fighting both here. in England
and Australia by knocking them out
within three rounds with big pillows.
Queensberry rules are simply an i'm
provement W. the revised rules of the
London prize ring. If you read the last
article in Q~ueensberry rules it says:
The contest in all other respects to
be governed by the revised rules Of the
London prize ring"
Now, the Queensberry rules, as they
are printed nowadays, do not say any
thing about a MAI quitting the ring
before a referees decision shall lose
the fight, nor do they say anything
about a seconds not being allowed in
the ring while the men are fighting.
and "a lot of other things that disqual-
ify a fighter. Then. where do these
rules come from? London rules. of
course. A referee should know Lon
don as we'll as Q~ueensberry in order to
know his business and find out where
he's at. You'll see a referee counting
4 man out when he's down when he's
got no right to do so. The clubs timer
is the man TO do the counting or keep
his eye on the clock and to
the referee at the end Of ten seconds
that the iaored fighter is out. When
a man kYcks his opponent down he
should bHordered to step back ten feet
or corner. This standing over