River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1906-05-03
{ From \
Inside the |
Prize Ring |
INTERESTING LETTERS OF AN
EX-WCRLD'S CHAMPION
HEAVYWEIGHT
By BOB FITZSIMMONS
Copyright. by Joseph B. Bowies.,
n PLEA FOR PUGrLIsM.

among the legal Sports, ana IL is 10 Uo
hoped that some of them will go
through, at least. / want to say right
here that there was never any real rea-
son to begin with why pugilism should
have been debarred, had it not been
in most instances for the work OF
crooked sporting men, who used the
game as lever to Jimmy themselves
into some easy money. Perhaps that
statement sounds a little strong, but
/ believe it just the same.
Naturally l believe that the fighting
game is all right, because I've got a
good bunch of what money | have by
it, and know there are lot of people
who are going to rise up and call down
all kinds of hard things on me because
| think So A whole lot of them will
say right off Inc bat, that I'm brute,
that I'm naturally prejudiced and that
my opinions won't be of any value
anyway because I'm an interested
party, but think my word will go as
far as that of a minded man
or woman who doesn't know anything
about pugilism, never saw a fight, and
couldn't be dragged within hail of one
with a yoke of oxen.
Boxing is a good game, and / don't
care what those opposed to it may say.
The talk of brutality is tommy rot to
hurt in one year on the football field
than are or have been damaged in box
ing or sparring in 90 That is an alb
solutely fair statement, and it can be
proved up to the hilt. 1t is only nee
essary to read the papers to find out
just the average number of injuries
that occur on the football field, and to
notice how very seldom you hear
or see anything that goes wrong in the
prize ring.
To begin with, the men who fight
with their hands are men who know
exactly what they are doing and just
how many chances they are taking.
They know that a punch on the nose
won't do any harm, but sometimes will
do them a world of good; they know
that a sound walloping will leave them
stiff and sore for some days, perhaps,
but that they won't be any the worse
for it a week later. Another thing,
sparring makes a man keep his tenn
per as rule. I'll guarantee you never
saw a successful pugilist who had a
mean or quick disposition. He's got
to keep his head, or get knocked into
the middle of next week. It's great
training, too, the fighting game for it
does {. whole lot of things for a man.
I've generally noticed that it's the
anaemic, specialized, pale-faced, near
men who kick about the brutality of
the game, and they are assisted by a
few excellent delegates from the Old
Woman's Home, who think it I'M
christian to lift the hand to another
human being. I suppose their point of
view is all right, but if you'll show me
a country that can use it's fist, and
does use it to settle its petty quarrels,
I'll show you nation that comes pref
ty near to keeping itself on top of the
heap all the way around the circle.
The men who grab for a knife or
gun the minute they hit streak of
trouble are generally. towards, and they
are also the Kind that treat women
badly, and in addition they show de-
ceit, ill-breeding and p whole lot of
degenerate features that we don't
think SO much of over here. l think
that ever since man was put on this
earth he's had to do more or less fight
ing, and if all the old timers tell us
about the days gone by is true he usual
~ took mighty good care of himself
We've improved on his sword and his
dirk and his ak or club since those
times, and we've gone back to the
weapons that Nature handed out to us
In the first place, and when you see
man take off his coat and announce
that he's willing to abide by the who's
the best man" theory, you can come
pretty near being sure that you've got
fair specimen of the Anglo-Saxon to
deal with. We don't think so much
Of the Chinaman, the Italian, the Ger
man or the Frenchman these days, be-
cause we know they won't fight as
general rule, but we know it isn't safe
to stir up the Irishman, the Scotch
man, the Englishman or the Yankee
too far unless we can prove what we
say on his front teeth.
To me that's healthy spirit. To
the good folks who try to stop the
game it's rank degeneracy, but they're
wrong and they always will be wrong.
I'm for legalized boxing, principally
because / think it's the finest and
healthiest sport in the world, but only
just so long as it isn't degraded by a
lot of rank grafters, like those who
killed it in New York. Don't you let
anyone try to convince you that when
New York passed an anti boxing law
it was fine sentiment of decency or a
proper decision that brutality was Le-
ing carried too far, because it wasn't
anything of the kind There would be
boxing in a good many states to-day
if the crooks hadn't got in and tried
to run the thing on green goods prin-
ciples. You can't bunco the patrons of
any game all the time-with the ex-
ception, maybe, OF life insurance. and
expect them to stand for it, and it was
that way with the fighting game. The
grafters found they could make good
thing out of it, anu they couldn't be
satisfied with it on that basis, but had
to go and ut up piking little jobs to
steal the money little faster. They had
to dig around and get hold of a good
old fighter and stack him up against
l. ~sr@<1