The Washington times., 1905-12-24


other day 1 came across some pictures
of the fighters Of hundred years ago.
and they put me In mind Of the differ
ence there is between the fellows that
stepped into the squared circle in those
days and the lads that put the gloves
on now.
| When a fellow looks back that way
he sees a few changes that set him
thinking. I don't know how long It IS
since men got together in a personal
encounter to fight with their fists. but
1 should guess II was about the time
that the old swords and dirks went
out Of fashion. I've been told that the
tournament was about the closest thing
to modern prize fighting and there
hasn't been a tournament in n long
time. but the idea looks reasonable
OF course. men have fought ever
since they've been on the earth. but
the fights l am talking about are the
| ones where there was a purse held up.
/ and where the chaps that fought were
not settling some old grudge As far
as | know the first OF the regular box
ers was Tom Figg. and he did some
! tall work from 1719 on to 1730 when a
boy named Greeting took his measure.
Those were the days when a man stood
up against his adversary and did what
| things he could 10 him before the other
fellow knocked him into a cooked hat
There was mighty little footwork in
/ those days. and the science Of the biIsi-
ness was whole lot In the future.
Plain Slugging.
From all I've been able to find out
about they just used to pound away
at each other and a mans ability was
gauged by his staying quaiities-in OTTER
words. on his capacity to take punish
Inent- 1t was great game and a fell
low didn't go into 1t unless he could
stand the gaH- As the years went on I
believe some attention was paid to
guards and blows of a different order
but it wasn't until well along into the
fifties Of last century that the modern
fighter began TO sit up and take notice.
About this time the rules began TO
look up and ii got to be considered rude
10 whale a man over the head with a
club because you had your money on
the other lad. This used TO be a fav-
orite pastime when the fights were held
on the turf and I'm told it used to
breed some very neat and effective little
discussions on the side However. il was
Jem Mace who was the first man to in
vent real punches. sidesteps. and the
like. and he is to be credited with the
modern pugilism. one might say.
Rules Bred Skill.
The old-time champion was fellow
who would stand up with funny guard
and beat his man down by main strength
and awl1wardness. II used TO be a ia
vorite idea to catch a fellow in a wres-
Inc ri, 81
the mud. but that dropped out after a
while The rules began to provide that
skill was the thing that was needed
more than strength. and the bite and
chew. kck-in-the-stomachi idea was ask
ed 10 take a back seat. When certain
alleged noblemen used to keep a stable
Of fighters. just like they would horses.
things were a lot more brutal than was
necessary. because these folks seemed to
want blood and lots of IT,
Coming down to cases however in
the last fifteen years or SO the game
has gone through a lot OF changes and
perhaps the difference Is more 10 be
noticed during that time than during
any other. To go back to 1882 when
John J.. Sullivan beat Paddy Ryan down
in Mississippi, you might say that John
was about the last OF the old guard OF
fighters. He was the boy who would
stand up and fight 70 the last gasp. and
his greatest trouble was In getting the
men TO stay where he could hit them.
John L. Never Champion.
London prize ring rules were never
meant for John, and a lot of people
made the mistake Of thinking Sullivan
was champion Of the world. He never
was, for he failed 10 whip Charlie
Mitchell when they fought at Chantilly
in France for the championship. That
was the last time / think that the Lon
don prize ring rules were used, and it
was a good .hfng for Mitchell that he
fought under them then. for Sullivan
had him going a whole lot at different
times and If it hadn't been for the
rules and the crowd. that made 1t hot
for John. a different story might have
been told and Sullivan might have been
the worlds champion.
Wen. as ] was saying. Sullivan was
the last Of his style. lie used TO stand
up and pound away at his man until
he had him down and out, and he was
a shifty fighter at that, was John, but
there was a change coming along. Jim
Corbett wont after Sullivan down IN
New Orleans, and tried a new system
on him. n system that had been grow
ing fast 1t was the hit and get away
idea. that is said 10 be the acme Of
rcience. and COrbett. then likely lad,
was about as shifty on his feet as a cat
lie soaked Sullivan any time he wanted
to. but he was never on the spot when
Sullivan wanted 10 hit him. and poor
old John punched himself tired-at
nothing. That was the first Of the
modern changes. The gladiator. the
stolid man Of muscle, gave way 20 the
shifty man with the fair punch. who
could get in quick. strike quicker and
get away again before his man had
chance TO counter.
CorbeIt's Weak Punch
For some years that was the ideal
school. and then somebody found out
that Corbett didn't have any particu-
larly hard punch and that he mostly
wore his men down by letting them work
themselves out, putting in good jao
here and there TO help the work along.
think | can safely say that l was the
a ID