The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-04-24
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXERS
BIGGER THAN OlD-TIMERS
That This Is Fact Is Shown IN
the Case of Jim Jefrles, the
Champion.
BIG MEN NOT AWKWARD
Present-Day Fighters Are a Set of
Big Men Who Possess
Much Skill.

NEW YORK. April 23.-The advent of
Henri Placke. the big Holland fighter who
was whipped by Kid Mccoy at Philadei-
phfa the other day, has added to the I'M
preston that heavyweight pugilists OF the
present day are bigger and heavier than
those of twenty years ago.
That this is a fact IS shown in the case
of Jim Jeffries. our own wonderful cham
pion. Jeffries is feet IL inches In height
and weighs. in condition, 30 pounds.
Placke IS feet inches tall. and Is said
TO tip the beam at 29O in trim. or course
there is a wide gap between the two as
as far as skill is concerned
AS recently as 1850 il was a rare thing
for a really premier heavyweight to be
over or within a fraction of an inch OF
six feet Jim Corbett was the first cham
pion OF recent years who did not conform
10 this rule Corbett measured feet
inch and when his prowess as a fighter
resulted in a match being arranged be-
tween himself and John L. Sullivan, no
one realized or predicted then that Cor
belts appearance on the fstic horizon
opened the way for a new race of heavy
weights.
ID to that time John l., with his
mighty fists, coupled with his 5 feet lOl2
Inches. was looked upon with pride as
the ideal heavyweight OF the day. very
few I'm that era harbOred the thought that
in few years men of Drawn and muscle,
towering above six feet, would predoml-
nate in the ring and make IL appear neces-
sary for a man 10 be a giant TO be on the
top rung of the ladder in the heavyweight
division.
ing fellows massive i'm chest and limb.
who were above the old weight laws ana
who With their six feet or more could look
down upon their smaller brethren, would
soon become extinct. How can these big
men expect TO move with sufficient alacrlty
to avoid the little man with his active
right and left and his lesser weight; how
can they carry their immense avoirdupois
without stumbling from the force of their
own bulky bodies2 These were the ques-
lions i'm the minds of many. and 1t was
generally agreed that the big men would
be slow. cumbersome and awkward.
But as has since been shown, they We're
neither awkward cumbersome nor slow.
On the contrary, they were set of quick
men. made of real championship timber,
and in some instances capable or making
some of the tabled giants blush with shame
far skill and prowess are con-
ceTned.
BIGGER THAN JEFFRIES.
Jeffries was thought to have reached
the limit of height and usefulness, but soon
Gus Rubin appropriately called by his
friends the Akron Giant, came along. Ruiz
lin boasts of six feet two inches. Although
green in the art of self-defense. Rubin
soon became a pugilistic factor. Under
the coaching and tutelagc of Manager Billy
Madden, Rubin developed into a fighter of
the first water. He. moved about in the
ring as ii he were a mortal of ordinary
size. There was no indication in his move
ments that he weighed 220 pounds. or had
a reach almost equal to his height, that
he had a punch that could down an OK il
delivered properly. There was nothing slip
shod about Fuhlin's movements He was
eDry and rapid on his feet.
Little fighters, those from the bantam
class up to the well-built middlewieghts.
looked upon the new race OF heavyweights
in AFFECT wonder. And they still regard
them in the same light to-day. Folks who
admire perfect specimens of manhood, with
broad shoulders, huge chests and museu-
lar limbs and bodies. make deductions to
the origin of this new race Is IL the ell
mate. the food or the exercise? they ask.
But yet has been able to explain
the riddle with authority, and some are
even specializing as 10 whether the next
ten years will develop race of heavy
weights who will be taller than Placke and
who will possess the speed and fistic ability
of Jeffries.
Most of the big pugilists have come
from the West. Jeffries, although born
in Ohio. was brought up I'm Los Angeles.
Rubin first the light at Canton, but
did all OF his athletic work i'm the West.
jim Ccrbett is a native of California. Jack
MunrOe. another S1X-fOOter, has lived most
OF his twenty eight years in Montana. Cali
fornia has also produced some other heavy
weights OF lesser prominence In Hank Grit
nm nm, e9lorsd; s Toothp hd Kelly over six
McAuliffe. the Mission Boy" All these
men facetiously give credit to the climate
of California for their height and physical
development.
There was a time when Australia held
the palm in contributing big to the
ring. Frank Savin, Joe Goddard, Jim
I'LL Ll.t
for instance SIavin was the only one OF
this quartet who could boast of being a
shade over six feet When in his prime
Slavin was fine example of physical man
hood. strong, vigorous and a fighter to the
core The late Peter Jackson. a pugili5t
who knew his business, and who might
have been the heavyweight champion had
not John l.. declared that il was undigni-
ned TO meet colored man, was six feet
one inch. But Jackson never carried the
weight that Rubin and Jeffries do. Had
he done so there is question as to whether
his extra amount of weight would not have
been a handicap TO him.
LITTLE MEN IN ENGLAND.
England.s first heavyweight champion
who fiourished I'm 1719, was a little man
compared to the boxers of to-day Figs
was under six feet and weighed much below
200 pounds. Jack Broughton. who was
champion of that country from 174O to 1850
stood five feet eleven inches and only
SpOrted lt pounds. Zen Ryan, champion
Of England in 1870. came nearer the new
race of heavyweghts than any of the
other foreign millers. Ryan was 215 pounds
in condition. yet he was under six feet
Henry t'earce, who succeeded Jem Belcher
as the premier fighter of England only
weighed iS2 pounds in trim, and stood five
feet nine inches.
In looking back over the history OF Amer
lean prize-hght champions. John c. Heenar
stands foremost in the line of giants. Hee-
nan Is said 10 have been six feet two inches
IN height. yet the best he could do as &c
weight was $50 pounds Joe Coburn n prom
only five feet nine inches. while Jimmy
Elliott, who was born In Ireland measured
six feet one inch. Yet he reduced to IL
pounds without much trouble and fought
at that scale. Tom Allen, a native of Enr.
land. and in the first ranks among heavy.
weights I'm this country vas also a small
man. measuring five feet 9l5 inches Wher
In condition he could only bring the bean
TO 1s5 pounds. Joe Goss. who shone con.
sricuously in the squared circle in the lat,
'7O's, was only five feet So inches tall
honors, was half an inch above six feet
Ordinarily Ryan's weight was 22l pounds
but he could get to the aoo-pound mark
Jake kllrain. who succumbed to John /.
Sullivan. stood five feet l0la inches.
There time when little men were
all the rage In the ring. Heavyweights ii
course. attracted attention. but patrons o.
the sport thought that they would be bet
ter rewarded for their money by seeing tn,
tiny 'uns perform. They figured that tn,
small pugilists would fight and have it on
not disappointed. But as the years Wen
nv ~ ff1er had he coll nd a