The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-02-21

has been in my case. Whenever I
| take charge of a man and train him
| for a contest 1 let him keep at his
| natural weight. In order to put on
weight you have to do lot of things
| that you would not think of doing
| otherwise. In the first place, you have
| to indulge in exercise that will develop
| one muscle at the expense of another.
| In this way you run the chance of be-
| coming slow and slipshod. Sometimes
| you unconsciously become mechanical,
and in his way you cultivate defeat
Now, in my last match with Jack
Root was advised to take on weight.
was told that against a pugilist of
Roots calibre l ought to scale at least
| ten pounds above my regular limit,
| which is 165 pounds. l did SO and
! as a result 1 was whipped. Somehow
| l was not as strong as l would have
! been had 1 weighed 1855 pounds. After
the first couple of rounds l lost my
speed and cleverness, and although 1
had plenty of chances to score a de-
cisive blow the power in my punches
was not there. 1 think that if 1 had
remained at 165 pounds I would have
been able to whip Root.
ut is all right for persons to take
on weight when they desire to look
big and enjoy ordinary health. But in
the ring it is different The strain is
great and if one is of a nervous tenn
permanent the extra weight is a handi-
cap. A nervous man perspires more
freely than a strong-nerved person.
Precipitation reduces flesh, and if you
are able to stand constant sweating,
say for ten Or twenty rounds, your
strength must consequently suffer- If
you are at your normal weight the
loss of weight through perspiration
will not hurt you as it otherwise
for a few rounds, then they dry out.
Usually they battle best when in this
condition, for the muscles are flexible
and real vitality has a chance to as
sert itself.
There is another thing which pugi-
lists should avoid before a combat, and
that is overanxiety. Jack O'Brien of
Philadelphia came pretty near being
licked through it when he met Tommy
Ryan at Philadelphia the other night.
O'Brien did a lot of fretting before the
fight and naturally was subject to
high nervous tension during the COM
bat. After he knocked Ryan down in
the fifth round he was very anxious
to finish him. He made an awkward
attempt to land knockout blow with
d right hand swing, and in doing SO
left himself unguarded and received a
wicked smash on the jaw, which came
near resulting in his undoing. Had
not OBrien been nervous and over
anxious he might have whipped Ryan
by just stalling him off with a couple
of jabs. This would have helped to
keep Ryan dazed and in position
whereby O'Brien could put home the
blow that might have done the trick
One of the favorite mediums of some
pugilists to get to weight is the Turk
ish BATH Young Critic used to in
dulge in this frequently and many crit
les are inclined to think that this pro-
cess was more detrimental than bene-
fetal, and accounted for the fact that
he was unable to knock an opponent
out. Critic said that he never cared
to put rival away because he wished
to preserve his hands, but it cannot be
denied that his constant visits to the
baths Slapped his strength alone. Grif-
fo's cleverness alone, some think, Of
ten prevented him from being laid low
in a battle.
Joe Cans believes in natural methods
to get down to weight He adds that
sweaters and flannel cloth turned
around the abdomen is the best way
to take off superfiuous flesh. Cans has
often tasted the bitter effects of the
drying out" process and is inclined
to champion it, but thinks that a
weeks experience is too trying.
Young Corbett is probably the only
nghter VINO has been compelled to I'M
dergo the drying out process nearly
every time he trains for scrap. Cor
bett is compactly. built and when not
in training he, takes on weight at a
rapid rate. He is very fond of ale,
coffee and tea, and when he starts pre-
pairing for a mill he is usually ten
pounds heavier than his normal weight
In order to secure matches of late he
has been forced to tip the beam several
pounds below the lightweight limit
and several pounds above the feather
weight class. Consequently he has a
hard time of it getting to the required
scale. His opponents know of this,
and whenever they make match with
him insist that he post a good-sized
forfeit
Corbett has a resourceful and capa-
BILE trainer in Harry Tuthill. Tuthill
knows Corbett's constitution like a
book and is very strict with the cham
pion. During the final days of prepa-
ration for the last mill with Eddie
Hanlon, Tuthill would. not let Corbett
drink anything for nearly five days be-
fore the fight, and this fact alone aid
ed Corbett In keeping under the stipu-
lated scale. Corbett at times rebelied.
saying that drying out" was too much
of hardship. But Tuthill was obdu-
rate and as a result on the night of
the bout had Corbett in better condi-
ton than ever before in his fighting
career.