The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-14
DANGEROUS BLOWS.
John L. Sullivan Talks of the Solar
PIeXus and Others.
From the New York sur

From the New York Sun
Several sporting men INDUCED in dis
cusson at John l.. Sulllvan's cafe the
other night to which is the more harm
full blow, a smash on the point of the jaw
or a drive>in the pit of the stomach, call
ed the solar plexus punch nowadays The
former heavyweight champion, after lis
tening to various expressions of opinion
said convincingly:
Take II from me as dead straight that
the crack on the point of the jaw is the
most dangerous used in the prize ring
You'll find that what few men have been
killed in prizefghts have been hit on the
chin or jugular and have fallen over in
such a manner that their heads have hit
the floor with force enough to fracture
the skull. In the old days, while all the
puglists used stomach blows, they al
ways tried for the point of the jaw to
put man to sleep. That was my long suit
as you well know. l used to catch a fell
low on the chin with my right and it
was all off the first time / landed it.
Yet I never killed anybody. The blow
on the jaw generally hits a nerve and foe
the moment paralyzes the brain. That's
why a fellow goes down quick, because
he doesn't know where he's at. The jaw,
OF course is liable to be broken and as
/ have said before there's a chance for a
fractured skull But it's a dead-sure
Knockout punch just the same, provided
it lands. To show how tender the point
of the jaw must be, you've only got 20 see
Fitzsimmons hand in those little 3-lnch
hooks of his He DOESN'T swing his maw-
leys like a blacksmith, but he steps in
close and jolts the jawbone with a punch
which, though ii doesn't travel far, has
enough power in it to knock a man cold.
A big man with a thick neck and solid
shoulders can take a jaw breaker better
than d fellow with long thin neck and
a weak frame. A fighter with powerful
legs such as Jeffries can stand up under
smashes on the head better than thin
legged boxer of the Corbett and Fitzsim-
mons type. 1t stands to reason that
house with solid foundations will stand up
better i'm a cyclone than one with weak
under pinning
1.-THE stomach, or solar pleXus. blow Is
not so harmful in my estimation. When
IL is properly delivered II simply KNOCKS
the wind out of man just long enough
to make him unable to go on. That was
the case at Carson when Fitz stopped
Corbett The latter was getting along
finely until Bob got in his shift and filed
the left to the stomach 50 hard that Jim
didn't know what hit him. The wind was
knocked out of Corbett. That was all.
He wasn't unconscious while on all fours
and a few moments after he had been
counted out he was all right. II, however.
he had gotten up before the limit had
been reached Fitz, with blow on the
Jaw might have killed him, as Jim's
heart was probably affected for the time
being by the force of the punch in the
stomach Fitz practically licked Rubin
with a left hand body punch in the sec
oud round. but Gus had the stamina 10
take Il and get up inside of ten seconds.
After that however, he was no use and
Fitz won as he pleased, but was com
PEELED to land a smash on the jaw TO end
the mill. Few pugilists have been serious
ly injured with these body blows. II
mans stomach is in good condition he
can stand lots Of them. II he's not fl
in the bread basket he's a dead cock in
the pit Look at Dixon, for instance.
When McGovern started to hammer him
IN the body there was nothing to 1t.
Georges stomach was all gone and he
couldn't stand up under such a betting as
Terry handed to him. Yet Dixon was not
seriously injured and bore no marks after
the 20. I'll admit that latter-day pugil-
lists have made more Of study Of body
blows than they used 10 DO The heart
blow has been perfected, also the kidney
punch. The latter has been DEVELOPED
so that all fellow has to do Is to hold
on with one hand and hammer the kid
neys with the other. Referees allow the
rules to be violated when they permit
such business.
'The greatest amount of body punching
that I've seen In recent years was that
received by Gharkey from Jeffries. The
Sailor got IL good aud was laid up for
several days. but there were no III effects
These young fellows who die from the ef-
fects Of blows IN the ring are as rule
inexperienced and out of condition; nov
ices. in fact. You never hear Of a pugll-
list tit and strong dying In the ring But
If a man does happen to die in nine
cases out of ten us due to a blow on the
head somewhere and not on the body"
-s-a-e-