The sun., 1900-08-24
PITZ AND SHARKEY READY.
CORNIsHMAN PICKED ny TALENT TO
WIN TO-NI0HT's BATTLE.

| nRht his way TO the heavyweight champion
ship again, will meet the muscular Thomas
sharkey in the ring Of the Sea Side Sporting
Club az Conoy Island In 26-round glove
! contest tonight Those who believe In
| figuring out the winner Of q fight upon past
performances are convinced thht Fltzsim-
mons barring accidents, should win. and the
| form shows that sharkey. beaten decisively
| by Rubin In fifteen rounds. should prove In
ferior TO the Cornishmsn because OF tho lat
ters knock -out Of the Akron giant In SIX
rounds at Madison Square Garden two weeks
| ago tonight. 1t Is also recalled that when
FItzslmmons tackled Bharkey In San Fran
| cisco several years ago tho Sailor was COM
| paratlvely easy mark In eight rounds, although,
| by n much disputed decision on the part oi
| Referee wyatt carp. FiZsimmons was de-
| prived Of a well-earned victory. But there
| are reasons why In this battle Sharkey 8 chances
should not be held too cheaply. The Sailor
| put 10 his best fight against Champion james
| }. Jefrrles last fall. Sharkey stayed twenty
| five rounds with the man who stopped fltz-
simmons in eleven rounds, and though the ma
| jonty OF sporting men commended the rullns
| Of Referee George Sier. which declared Jei-
fries the winner. there was considerable dis
satisfaction on the part Of those who backed
| Sharkoy and thought he was entitled 70 draw
| at leNHt. In tnHl HkHN 'NNN''NN
pretty severe gruelling from which IL took
| him long time to recover lie did not appear
| publicly In the ring again until no faced Rub
| lin, whose career as a pugilist up TO that time
| had been somewhat dubious, especially In view
| of n quick knock -out received at the hands OF
| Sharkey year previous.
Those who had followed the Sailor In his
more recent encounters were convinced from
| his showing with Rubin that he was not at his
| best. Ii was maintained by hls Immediate
| supporters that he had not trained properly
| for that mill. and that because OF overwork
he was slightly stale, BE that as 1t may Sharkey
| proved the easiest kind Of mark for Ruhlin'
who outpointed him and beat him from gong to
| gong, and finally In the fifteenth round Knocked
the Sailor into a state Of helplessness which
warranted Intervention on the part OF the referee
| Sharkey's defeat was so decisive that Tor the
time being he appeared TO be out OF the pugills-
tic running. but since that time the Sailor has
gradually been preparing himself with the Idea
Of getting back into the front rank by defeating
Fitzslmmons. sharkey has been training dill
| gently for the past four weeks at Sheepshead
| Bay His mentor, Tom ORourke, has supern-
tended the work and has TAX en speclal care that
| the Sailor did not Oyerdo things and go slaIe
| again Sharkey has therefore streng thened
| himself In point Of physical stamina and he Is
| to-day as rugged AZ he was when he made
| his grand tlknt against JeHTleS. tihk
| he IN win for the reason that he has improved
| greatly in cleverness and ring tactics since the
time he met Fltzsimmons IN Frisco and u ne
| that he can land punch on the Cornshman
| that will win the money Tor him
1t cannot be said that Sharkey has been under
| strain In his preparation, for he has had plenty
OF time. Whereas, Fitzsimmons has had put
| two weeks 20 recover from his hard fight with
Ruhlln and also get back into proper condition
for this match. F1tzsimmons, however. says
that he will be In better shape than ever. ana
they do not think that II Fitz stood chance Of
losing the fight he would 90 on with IT, The
COrnishman's ambition Is 10 get another match
would be for the present out OF the question.
The only doubt that exists In regard to Fltz-
s!mmons condition + he shape ape hIs hands are
IL was when he put Rubin out with a hook on
the Jaw. while others declare that It Is just as
Rs OE. far a. physical strength and speed are con:
cerned. ,FitzsimmonS judging from his work
IN T SneE during Ss ten dny h9i 5erS
fore his supporters believe that he will out
general Sharkey because Of the various methods
cause sharkey in all bis contests has followed
out one line Of action, that OF rushing and swing
comparison between Titsimmons and the
Sailor. The Cor9ishmap has demonstrated
est puell!sts in the ring to-day. His, battle
with, Rubin showed this, FOR he not OILY out
fO1lgnt the AKRON bnt ne alsO com Irtpl
sSarrkey thinks that Il Fitzsimm9,ns iGhts him
the way he did Rubin there will be a chance
that he can take more punishment than Rubin
could and can exchange IN punches with the
There is no doubt that shsrEey l. a more rugged
nghter than Ruhlin both IN physi9pe snd IN
RHnohbng p0Tst has been has said Of him
a hitter. Against Jcfries sharkey showed
such strength and speed that i was naturally
fore re- tEe opinion Of good udses that i shaTkey
put T ghs S6rE agan, Sgnns 'Ps that
sst YIN be much S more interenS than tbat
between Rubin and the Corrishman.
,Sharkey. IS does Ices. Rubin, dopends consider
SiS' SS' manager. Tom O.R9grko, But ,shsrEey
80 GEmbsts tS S% srSdsd Gst B. R%hp that
structions lust as was the caso with the latter
pu gilist when Fit,slmmons knocked him down |
u the second round with punch In the stomach.
aggressive than Ruhln: IN that BE- is a con-
70 sS Sose SRa 10 S ssSa EhS
,hat sharEsy win force The neht from ths very
was compelled TO mix II up 10 the first round, |
shsrEsy can Do f @h aH
hitter and which % con take the > most nos pahisS-
FitzsimInons has never shown remarkable
form In getting away from opponents. That Is
not his style at all. From the nrst time that hs
appeared In the ring In this country Fits habit
hns been to go 20 man. mix II up and beat
him down as quickly as possible. lie relies
almost wholly upon his craftiness and his
heavy hitting, He oan take punishment and
a lot Of H. and still come back with blows that
cannot be resisted Sharkey, while not so
clever, Is Just as willing and just ~ gl.Ine
Against Rubin. ShaTkey could not get TO the
big man because the latter was too shifty on
his feet and too quick with his defence. Ruiz
lin also met the Sailors advances with remark
ably fast left hand. which had power enough
ia il TO not only shake the Sailor up, but put
him down when he had lost much OF his vitality,
Eitzsimmons has a better left hand than Ruh-
lin, but he does not use IL in the same manner.
Fitz seldom adopts a straight jab for the face
as an opponent comes Ia, but he hooks that
hand or swings II for the jaw or body with a
shift that has been widely talked about II
he has a change to Use his right 1t invariably
Jolt TO the head. Fitz Is one Of the qui, ,kest
fighters In the world Ia changing the course
Of his blows le may start left apparently
for the body and yet shift II so that IL will land
upon the jaw In the twinkling Of an eve. He
does not have 10 swing punch from behind
his back like some heayyweights, but he can
use a six -inch jolt with inst as much effect be-
cause Of the accuracy with which Il IL landed
titz has an eye for openings that cannot be
exceled. Let an opponent lower or raise
his guard and the lanky fighter will take