The St. Louis Republic., 1902-12-21

WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
Although the training IF pugilists has
heeu Resolved into s.i-uc. OF late years.
with generally accepted rules Of what is
right and what is harmful. many fighters
have pecular:ties in their work which are
IF interest 10 followers of the ring. From.
Kid Parker of Denver, who adopted vege-
tariauism gs a means To prepare himself for
Il fight. TO Bob r!tzs.~mons who probably
had more fads in his work than any other
serarp-r. many are Tho men who have TAX
"a radical departures from the beaten path
ut work
Jack N"Elellaui Of Pittsburg vino foue Et
o.. IN, West End club last Thursday. has
"ur idea ON the subject OF training which
wuGlt doubtless be indors.d by Young Cor
tt't and other fighters with C0nViyial ten
'rrc!rS. McCleliaud believes that strict adj
terence 10 a training regimen iS not neceS-
s@TH. and asserts that 10 king en- the beer
WREN it i amber i not necessarily hurtfu!
10 his yhauCeS IN the ring.
M"Clr!laul'S followers In this city spoke
"iih great d!sapproval of his condition
when he met Eddie Toy. and attributed his
lack Of speed on that occasion 1, the fact
lh't ne was said 10 have celebrated his vie
turE over Brooklyn Tommy Sullivan not
Wisely, but too well. Jack admitted that he
!iad visited several thirst pariOrs after thar
battle. hut denied vigorously that the "trip
had injured him at all
His theory ON the point is ingenious. even
II II cannot be indOrsed as beneficial 10 all
hShterS- Briefly stated. he believes that
oNcrtraining. with the attendant danger Cr
puSillst than relapse from the strict resl-
men of daily work. He thinks that 1t is
easier for man 10 recover from some slight
ConIiviallty which ttens him up than
from 4 dose of Uv-rwGrk which puts him off
edge and renders him stale.
He also thinks that this danger of becom-
ing stale Is greater than is generally be
lieved. and that it should be guarded
against; Ills method Of prevention is sim
from the stricter rules of training and to
indulge in whatever peases his fancy In the
way Of eating and drinking for a day or
Two.
In training for q fight" said Jimmy Ma
son who IS handling McClelland, "a pugi-
list ought TO work all the impurities out of
his system. If he prepares faithfully for one
contest he should he in the best of trim
when he enters the ring. 4 hard battle will
pun him down and will leave him worn and
tifed the next day If he keeps on training
for a subsequent go. he will simply over
train and grow stale. | believe that some
OF the hest men in the ring have injured
themselves by overwUrk rather than by dis
sipgticn.
In case a pugiist has a hard battle, I
believe in indulSlng him the same evening
or the next day. II he wants to drink a
few bottles of beer or a little wine il won't
hurt him. He may go out and have a good
lme. 50 long as he behaves with moGera-
ton. and the effects won't hurt him par
ucie. Such relaxation will simply give him
some matter in his system which will be
worked out without becoming stale
Trainer Murphy of the Yale team is said
10 follow this plan. and it has worked like a
charm. When one of his men would come
in looking tired ana worn. Murphy would
lake him out of training for a day, would
allow him some liberties in his diet and
would possibly serve him little cham
raGn" II never hurt his men: In fact the
laI" team condition has always been good.
-ANrphy merely realized that entertaining
Us the greatest danger in conditioning a
EuEiiiSt OF athlete. and provided against il.
''A hearty supper of material generally
al fp- raj fnip
make many persons hold up their hands if
suggested IS diet for pugilist But | be-
leNe such dinner after a hard fight will
40 man more good than keeping him
steadily al work. Cases NAV be furnished
where men of the highest class have trained
OF and lest thousands of dollars thereby.
jim Ccrbett was an instance. When he
met FitZsimmons at Carson City he was
overtrained. looked worn and drawn. ana
the sporting experts all commented on his
strained appearance. He put ii all over
Fitz al first, and looked to have an easy
thing. Then he reiapsed and the better CON
ditioned man hung ON long enough to land
q lucky punch and win the championship. /
have seen Corbett at work, and know how
desperately he goes at training when he
fas set his heart upon II. If he had eased
up in his work for Fitz, had takeh a little
champagne and had eaten some tasty food.
ne would have gone in the ring in better
saaPs, .aJheu .,, ,,.+ sr,,or =, Zoo, 49,.
generally considered suitable for pugilist
is not altogether injurious if man is train
ing off. 30 not mean that he should take
up a diet of mtnce pie pastry. / merely
refer TO vegetables of all sorts. meats OF
any kind that the fighter likes and diet in
general that il covered by the pugilists
wishes rather than by the noUrishment in
the food -
Abe Attell. who is now matched To meet
Ed Hanlon on the Pacific Coast. introduced
one specially in his work in the shape of
using tremendously heavy sand bag.
While working at the West End Club OF
this city for his fight with Yanger last
spring he had sand bag of at least sixty
pounds weight suspended from the ceiling
OF the club gymnasium. He used this in
place Ct punching bag.
Abe always asserted that the use of Il
heavy article of this sort made a man fast
rather than slow, and that II taught boxer
uGcl5ness Of eye. Once the bag got TO
swinging heavily ami rapidly. due to hard
punching. Abe stated that it was necessary
To hit it exactly right to stop it; otherwise
il would come on and land with unpleasant
force.
To protect his hands. Abe mixed the sand
with Hawdust and used light gloves while al
work. He put the sawdust in the bag first.
then filed the canvas with sand. The sand
would work down through the 81 wdust as Il
result of steady punching. and in time would
settle completely to the bottom, when ii be-
came necessary to shake the bag up or turn
it upside down.
Mike Tuths. who went down to such in
glorious defeat befCre Hugh McPadden. and
who ran away from Jack McKenna a day
or two later. trained Swathed in heavy
blankets. Tuths was probably the biggest
eater of his weight in the ring. and Nc
Konna. while handling him, would proudly
exhibit him to his friends while Mike was
at his meals. On several occasions Tuths
has disposed of two and one-half and three