The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1905-12-26
COLI d cORNISHMAN HAVE EVER
REATEN O'BRIEN IN HIS
PALMY DAYS?
E;+z Was Like a Dray Horse Along
side Observation-Disclosures
Gives His Views.

SAN FHANCISNO, OdA' DoN. ~
was in San Francisco that F1tzsim-
mons the fighter. made his debut.
was in San Francisco that he made his
last stand and said goodbye to the ring.
Despite other retirements which ola
NOT stick. it is felt now that the sham
bling fellow with the tiger lilly
shoulders and forearms has answered
the gong for the last time.
A veteran referee once told me
humorous story Of an incident In his
experiences. While he was watching
with others, for the return to con-
seriousness of a pugilist who had been
knocked cold- an inquisitive specta-
tor butted into the ring and asked,
WAS it a fake?" eff he lives, we will
never know" murmured the referee.
IF he dies, it was on the square"
There were persons who doubted
the genuineness of the Fitzsimmons-
O'Brien contest. I did not meet them
face to face. They talked to me over
the phone the night o. The go. 1 sim
cerely trust they have reformed, for Ii
ever there was a bitter, brutal bout IL
was the affair in Mechanics pavilion.
1t was disgustingly sincere Now that
it is all over we are wondering what
it would have been like had the clock
been turned back 10 years in Fitz-
simmons case. He was certainly at
mis- best decade ago, whereas O'Brien
was at his best last Wednesday even
ing. Could battering ram Fitzsimmons
at his best, have defeated lightning
striker O'Brien at his best?
That's another thing well never
know" So far as 1 could see, it was
not that Fitzsimmons On the score of
old age and infirmity was a mark for
pity the other night. It was because
the man from Philadelphia was so
phenomenally tantaliztngly fast in
everything that enters into tie lighting
game. Fitzsimmons was not hamp-
cred with sore feet as ne was in the
match with George Gardner. He COW
cred ground quite rapidly.
Slow BY Comparison.
He was simply slow by comparison
for O'Brien when lodging was the
fastest trick ever seen on a Queens
berry platform. There was no chance
for the Cornishman to use his left
shift He started it o. or twice. but
before ne could reach the second po-
sition of his favorite attack O'Brien
was across the floor and out of range.
The full measure Of O'Brien's will
o-the- wispishness was impressed upon
us when Fitzsimmons fell to his knees
a time or two when making headlong
rushes at the evasive Philadelphia
help Fitzsimmons any, and there is no
doubt that continual wasting of heavy
the old un's condition. If you think
there is no discomfort in this kind of
thing just take a full strength smash
at nothing and see how it feels
In his fight Fitzsimmons lived up to
his work. He went Is rounds at top
speed with a man who set a heart
breaking pace. His age was against
him, Of course, but whether the differ
ence in years was the only difference
between Fitzsimmons and O'Brien
must remain unanswered. The freckl-
ed warrior was so thoroughly mastered
that the sports will continue to argue
as to whether a 10-year younger Fitz-
simmons could have taken O'Brien's
measure.
The seemingly peculiar shifts in the