The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-06-23
Jebnscfl $ Brotber,
BATTLE scARRED FIGHTERS.
4ii-4Is State St.. cor. Court

BATTLE SCAhRED flGhtEho.
 Not So Numerous as in Years Gone By
 -"Cauliflower' Ears Prevalent.
 Tn former years. say a decade or so
 ago, the pugilist- who did not wear the
 badge Of his profession in the shape of
 broken nose or an enlarged finger
 joint or a "caulifiower" car was
 rarity. A man was not considered the
 proper sort of a fighter unless his coun- tenance bore traces of the battles he
 had engaged in. Now, however very few of the prominent fighters are so
 conspicuously marked that their calling is recognizable to the casual observer.
 There are several reasons for this, one being that boxing has improved tenfold since the time when John l.. Sullivan,
 Jack Dempsey and Jack McAuliffe were the kingpins in their respective classes. Pugilists of the present day are admit tedly cleverer, quicker and better block CTS than their brethren of years ago.
 They have seconds who know just what to do when their charges receive a
 punch which is certain to leave an im- pression if 1t is not attended to at once. Yet it is not always the cleverest fighter who can retire from the ring without some telltale mark. Some of the most scientific boxers have quit with bulging ears, tilted noses and frowsy lips Take for instance George Dixon. Very few boxers in the business could compare with him in point of knowledge of the manly art Dixon at lone time could boast of never having re- received bloody nose during scrap. But in later years, when his vitality was sapped by indifferent living and too much training, Dixon was afflicted with a ..caulif1ower'' ear. which he will
 carry to the grave Dixon has num- Der of other marks, especially one over the left eye, to show that he had been lin the ring. But this scar was only re- ceived six years ago, in fight with
 Frank Erne. Up to that time the ex- feather weight champion had been ex- changing knocks with the best of 'ern for over ten years.
 Young Corbett has no marks from his many battles, yet he has figured in some stirring contests, where he exchanged punch for punch with his rivals. His face is as smooth as a seminary girls and his hands are as solid as sky
 scraper. Corbetts proboseis is as straight now as the day he was born. Yet he admits that he has received many good thump upon it.
 Jim Corbett to this day is always mis- taken for an an athletic clerk or com mercial man. Corbett has nose that is very prominent. In a fight it would appear the very point of attack. Yet through all the years that Jim has been in the ring none of his opponents has
 succeeded in putting it out of shape or
 smearing it over his visage so to speak. Corbett has also escaped any malforma- ton of the ears. He does not regard this as pure luck. He declares that l, close study and practice will keep any pugilist from being unnecessarily marked. That Corbett is honest in this
 assertion may be taken from the fact that most of his defeats were the direct results of being smashed on the body. Kid Mccoy is another bruiser who does not carry any traces of his profess sion. The Kids nose is just as intact to-day as when he went to school, both
 
 in perfect shape. Of course, Mccoy has suffered from bad hands. Most boxers are susceptible to this. Jim Jeffries
 says that although he has stopped several hard knocks on the bridge of his nose, this member is in as good l working order as ever. Until his last fight with Bob Fitzsimmons at San Francisco Jeffries never received a black eye in mill. Jeffries, for big
 man, who Is prone to receive a stiff blow on his face during battle, carries fewer scars than Bob Fitzimmons
 Tom Sharkey, or Gus Ruhlin. This trio of heavyweights have paid the penalty of their many engagements. Fitz has bad hands, Ruhlin has num- Der of wounds on his cheeks, while
 Sharkey possesses battered set of ribs, a "caulifiower' ear and a nose that is | much the worse for wear.
 Terry McGovern, Dave Sullivan, Billy Elmer, Spike Sullivan and Jack O'Brien are conspicuously battle scared. The last named fighters nose Is bent like an inverted comma and his face is dotted with scars and wounds. Yet O'Brien is as clever as any middleweight in the business.
 Elmer, the Sullivan brothers and Mo- Govern have undergone operations on their noses and have otherwise suffered from physical multilations. Joe cans the lightweight champion as well as his predecessor Frank E,rne, are less disfigured than any of their rivals. Cans protects his visage very adroitly and as a consequence his adversaries are hardly able to reach his face Jim my Britt this far has escaped the marks of his business but in the long run is likely to suffer, for he is satisfied to take blow to deliver one in return. The majority of the boxers of lesser prominence declare that most of the
 marks they bear were received while in training or in giving boxing instruc- tions. When giving lessons "pro-
 lessor" takes good cautions to duck his head and stop a swing on either ear. Constant punching injuries the cartilag l and if the member is not allowed to rest