The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1907-01-04
.O'BRIEN DIDN'T TRY
TO DEFEAT BURNS
Philadelphia Critic Says
Pictures Clearly Show Re-
turn Bout Was Object.
WAS MUCH THE BETTER MAN
Appears to Have Intentionally Missed
Leads in First Fifteen Rounds,
Then Finished Strong.

PHILADELPHIA. Jan. 4-"Philadel-
plia Jack" o'Brien, In the pariance OF
the street. handed tho Los Angeles hght
followers lemon" when no fought
Tommy Burns on Thanksgiving eve.
such is the opinion or a philadelphia
writer who knows him well.
The motion pictures OF the O'Brien-
Burns night were shown at horticultural
Hall yesterday afternoon for the first
time. Many OF the most noted ring fol
lowers in this city turned out TO view
the exhibition. some Of whom are
o'Brien's stanchest friends and others
men who are not friendly to him.
Naturally. there was a division Of
opinion Many believed that Jeffries
was right in calling the night d-aw.
Others. and among them O'Brien' 3
warmest friends, expressed the opinion
that Burns should have got the decision
None, however. thought that o'Brien
deserved the verdict
The pictures are success.
Says O'Bnen Pulled.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said
OF the tight.
The uninltiated would say, after
watching the twenty rounds carefully,
that O'Brlen was afraid and that he
didn't get up courage 70 nght uhtl
near the finish. when he handed out
some severe punishment 20 Burns.
The initiated. that is, those who nave
seen O'Brien IN many matches IN this
city. recognized the handwriting OF
the master craftsman OF the ring. In
their opinion. O'Brien pulled; that Is.
he missed May blows ana let Burns
do the most leading In order 70 make make
the fight as close as possible ana mus
get return match.
How we'll o BTien calculated, and how
successful! his plan was, Is shown Ia the
decision OF a draw ana the ihct that
Burns and o Brien have been rematcheu
for a night for $4,000 purse as against
81, 90 IN their FIRST battle
Burns Fought Honestly.
The first impression that the pictures
makes is the desperate determine ton OF
Burns. Tommy was there 10 mat lrst.
last, and all the time. That was al he
knew. He kept after o Brien from bell
TO bell and never let up in his attempt
To score a knockout. Tommy fought all
the time Ia one way-With rush and
swing. Al close range he would Try 10
pound o Brien's body. or 10 wind ms
long arms upward against Jack 9 face
O'Brien. on the other hand varied MS
tactics. In the early rounds Referee
Jefiries, had he been a novice az the
business. would have been justified IN
throwing O'Brien out Of the ring But
Jeffries was apparently on to Jacks
game. Jack simply danced around the
ring and kept out OF Burns way as
much as possible. Burns never caught
up with him. for in speed Jack had
Tommy Outclassed. Occasionally. JACK
would shoot out hts left, which almost
invariably went over Burns head Then
there would follow q clinch. with JEFF
fries usually parting the fighters.
Missed Too Many Leads
II these early rounds the surprising
part was the many leads that o Brien
missed with his left. II was plain that
this was due more 10 O'Brien's desire
10 miss than 10 Burns cleverness Ia
avoiding the blow. As the fight pro-
gressed the wisdom OF O'BTien's tactics
could be seen. he was trying % tire
Burns out and 10 prOlong the battle.
The nth round was one OF the most
exciting OF the entire bout. Then Burns
broke O'Briens nose with q terrific
swing. Here was Tommy's chance, but
he failed 10 follow IL because of
o Brien's speed In running way.
At times Burns stood still IA the ring.
with his hands down. His lips could be
seen 70 move. and he was apparently
"a HA4AE " 4@1AtA " ADl44t 70 A4AL4s
Suspicious Rally Toward End.
Beginning with the fifteenth round
OBrien stopped his running away and
sailed in. IN those last six rounds IL
was apparent that OBrlen was the bet
tee man. II was noticeable that o Brien
didn't then miss so often with his left
leads and that IN the elinches. instead
OF holding on. no worked In short arm
punches TO Tommy's face and body.
In these rounds the wisdom OF
O'Brien's early running-aWay tactics
could be seen. In the early rounds he
sized Burns up. in the final rounds he
cut loose, made up his lost ground and
gave the crowd a chance 70 see what he
could do when IA earnest. Only twice
during the fight did the crowd at the
ringside get excited. That was in the
NTH round, when Burns broke O'Brien's
nose. and IN the twentieth when O'Brlen
drew blood from Tommy's face and
rocked the latter with hard swings.
o'Brien the Better Man.
IN trying TO form from the pictures
an estimate OF the merits OF the two