The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-02-18
FEW BOXERS IN RING
ARE POOR CUTTERS
Charges of Cowardice Are Often
Made Against Good Men
Without Cause.
TOMMY RYAN IN ACTION
indianapolis Men Will Have a
Chance to See His Cleverness
and GamenesS.
RYAN IN ACTION

Call a boxer a gutter and you touch
him in his most tender spot. There is
nothing the knight of the padded NIT re-
sents as much as the i%nsinuation that he
has a streak of yellow. The ability to
stand the most gruelling punishment is
part of the fighters stock in trade. in fact.
it is his greatest asset. Science is a sec
ondary requirement. A man may be an
expert boxer. but if he hasn't sand he
might as we'll give up pugilism as a pro-
fession. Without this he never can attain
a championship title.
The accusation has often been made
against Tommy Ryan that he is a quit
ter" However. those who have seen Tom
my in most of his contests will concede
that there is no pluckier fighter in the ring
to-day than the middleweight champion.
In none of his hard fights did Ryan ever
show the white feather. He never exhib-
tied a willingness to acknowledge defeat
under the most trying circumstances. Take
his recent fight with Jack O'Brien, for in
stance. According to reports of the fight
he was the recipient of several blows in
the fifth round that apparently had enough
punishment in them to break down most
any mans nerve. Yet Ryan took everything
that came his way without wincing even,
and gave a most marvellous display of his
gameness when, in the next round. he
came pack and nearly extinguished Mr..
O'Brien's light.
AS a matter of fact, very few fighters
finish their careers without having had the
charge of cowardice laid up against them
at some time or other. The slightest
grounds for such a charge will start a
rumor which in the nature of thing is ex-
aggerated with every telling. OF the fight
ers of to-day old Peter Maher is probably
oftener accused of being a gutter than
any OF his contemporaries. 1t is true, Peter
has never displayed any remarkable game
ness, but In justice to the Irishman 1T can
be said that he has been given much more
hard knocking than he deserves.
Attempts TO besmirch even Young Cor
bett's' reputation have been made. He, too,
has been accused of cowardice, when as a
matter of fact, there is not a fighter in the
business that possesses more sand than
the little champion. In his last fight with
Terry McGovern he showed that he was
game to the core when in the eighth round
he received that vicious blow in the stOm-
ach which those around the ring thought
would surely finish him. If he had had any
of the yellow in him he could have gone
down and waited for the count of ten.
None would have ever been the wiser.
Jim Corbett is another who is often said
TO be a gutter" Many believe even to
this day that Corbett was not really
knocked out by the solar plexus blow that
Fitzsimmons handed him at Carson City
in 1897. Yet there does not seem room for
reasonable doubt that the blow did not
entirely ~incapacitate COrbett. q His last
fight with Jeffries ought to be sufficient
proof of Corbett's gameness. To stand ten
slashing rounds before a man of Jeffries's
build and fighting powers is no mean
achievement.
indianapolis lovers of the boxing sport
will nave a chance to see Tommy Ryan's
cleverness and gameness when he meets
lack Beauscholte in a ten-round bout at
the Auditorium next Wednesday night.
There has been a larger demand for seats
for the bout than any contest ever held in
this city. Although seats will not be placed
on sale at Dallas Tyler's, IL West Market
street. until Saturday morning. many or
ders have been received from out-of-town
men.