The Washington herald., 1906-12-03
FITz'S INJURED ARM
Fracture Has Put Old Bob
on Shelf for Good.
ACCIDENT IN STAGE BOUT
Kangaroo Was Always Rough In HIS
Work with Boxing Partners-Jef-
fries Also a Hard Man to stand
Before I'm Training Stunts-Jack
Munroe as slows as Cart Horse

The accident 10 Bob Fitzsimmons re-
Gently. in which he broke one of his arms
in an exhibition set-tO in a play IS
queer. commentary on the ups and downs
of the boxing business. 1t seems odd
after fighting in genuine contests Tor SO
many years, that in a light sparTlng Dout'
which was only an exhibition affair ana
not in earnest. the former blacksmith
should break his arm. and thus pracu-
cally put himself out of the fighting Dusl-
ness for good. II is pretty certain that
in a man OF his age the bones will not
knit well enough to give the arm strength
TO stand the strain of hard fight-
Fitzsimmons was almost always hunt
ing for boxing partners for his show
work. because he put so many out OF
business. He is not a very clever boxer
but an exceedingly hard hitter. and he
always boxed so earnestly that MS exhi-
bition set-tos were very often real fights
on his part.
This would be the case especially when
the boxing partner would get a little ap-
pIause from the spectators in case he
should land a clean blow on Lanky Bob.
Then the ex-blacksmith would cut loose
and smash his boxing partner hard
blow. and he would not be so frisky again
for a long time. Often in the spirit OF
rough fun Bob would soak his partner so
hard as to nearly knock him out, and
these punches soon sickened any man OF
travelling around as Fitz's punching bag.
Jefrfes Jnbbeh Partners Hard.
Jim Jeffries was another hard man TO
box with in exhibition work. When Jack
Munroe was earning easy money after his
set-to with Jeffries in Butte, Mont, he
had a boxing partner named Tom Carey
sometimes called "Jabber" Carey, from
his clever jabbing with his left hand
NIunroe could not box a little bit, and It
was funny 10 see his bout with Carey
Tom. owing to his position as sparring
partner % Munroe. was barred from dis
playing his own skill, although it was at
times almost impossible for him TO keep
from showing up Munroe's lack OF skill
Try as he would. Carey could not keep
his left out OF Jacks face. The latter
was as slow as a cart horse, and was
unable 10 stop a blow that had any speed
| TO il. and neither was he quick enough TO
dodge Il or get out Of the way. IL seem
ed that as soon as Carey doubled up his
/ fist Munroe would run his nose right into
/ II. Sometimes, however. good boxers Old
I not work we'll in exhibition set-tos.
/ On the other hand. some men seemed
especially gifted in this kind of boxing.
and gained great regulations for rough
bouts, in which they knocked each other
IAN around the ring. and yet so skillfully
timed were their blows and so fine was
I their Judgment Of distance that they
rarely inflicted any punishment on each
other, and they could box these rough
bouts night after night for weeks and
months One OF the earliest teams 10
make a success OF this kind Of boxing
were Jimmy Kelly and Jerry Murphy, OF
/ New York.
/ Kelly and Murphy.
/ Public boxing was not much IN vogue
then in that city. four-round bouts being
/ the custom Men who wanted to see
longer bout would raise a purse, and
Kelly and Murphy would be matched. and
they would fight as long as they felt like
il. and then. on a prearranged signal, one
or the other OF them would pretend to b'
knocked out. If 1t was Murphy whC
would be knocked out. he would claim
the blow which laid him low was
chance one, OF some other equally con
vincing reason for his defeat.
In case Kelly was the man who wen
down, he would put up the same roar, an'
then another match would follow. Thi
thing was kept up for a long time before
the sports began 10 get wise to thei
game When the private fighting dOdg'
could not be worked any longer, they be
gan to do ther exhibition bout in TN
theaters. and they would thump eaci
other good and hard for four rounds, anC
sometimes one OF them would pretend {
knockout, and so well was il acted Ou
that the spectators would go away feeling
that they had really seen one of the IA
mons team mt 10 sleen