The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-12-25

Burns caught o 'Brien a terrible snorke
that opened up the latter's face al
over. If | remember rightly that wa
in the seventh round and it seemed
impossible for 0 'Brien to last anothe
round. Under the light of the Cooper
Hewitt lights everybody had the color
ing of a corpse and the effect, wher
o 'Brien was staggering round the rims
with great blObs of violet cOlored blood
falling from his agonized face, was
something to make one SILVER at the
thought.
For ten rounds O'Brien ran away
and then began to work back. He did
this with such effect that Jim Jeffries
called the go a draw. The second time
Burns had O'Brien very much at his
mercy because Jack had not been train
ing. When the bets were called of
by Charlie Eyton, a look of surprised
horror crossed the Philadelphia s face.
| He expected to merely have to dance
round the ring for a few rounds and
! then have Burns fall sweetly to the
floor. He was not in condition and
! he knew that Burns would come after
! him for all he was worth. Even at
) that Burns could not land the sleep
! producer and merely took the decision.
That, of course, was some time ago
and the Canadian has had much expert
ence since that time. But he is going
up against a man who is just about as
clever as Jack o 'Brien and twice the
latter's size. 1t is possible that he
may be able to throw himself into the
negro IS stomach and land knockout
blow there, but it is very doubtful,
judging by what 1 have seen the big
dinge do in the ring.
Johnson has always been very care
full fighter. He was always content to
get the better of his opponent and then
let things go without a knockout. He
has often said that man takes chances
when he is looking for an opening, and
he did not care to take those chances
when he was sure of a decision. This
method of his has got him disliked by
the fans to a great extent and has lost
him one or two fights, but it does not
take away from the fact that johnson
has big sleep-producer in either hand
and can surely land on Burns.
As to the yellow streak that the big
negro is supposed to have l cannot say
that | have seen it. 1t may be there
and it may be that he will grow so
discouraged when he finds that Burns
is an awfully hard man to put away
and that the Canadian comes back for
more after each wallOp, he will give up.
The money involved is so enormous
in amount that there should be enough
of it to fix johnson. The question is,
"Is it worth enough to Tommy Burns
to meet Johnson s demands for a lay
down2" 1t may be, but Tommy is very,
very fond of dollar and it seems to
me that he would think very seriously
before giving up the twenty thousand
that Johnson would probably demand.
Then again it is actually worth a good
deal more than twenty thousand to the
dinge to win the fight. There is no
doubt that he feels perfectly confident
of his own ability to whip Burns and
he must know that such a whipping
would open up endless possibilities of
theatrical and pugilistic engagements
for him. But, when one man is to
receive so huge an amount of money as
thirty thousand dollars for one appear
ance in the ring, there is no telling
what he can do in the way of fixing his
If there is no monkey business and
the fight is, as it should be, directly on
the square. johnson should surely win,
according to precedent. Precedent, of
course, is very unreliable at times, but
it does not seem reasonable that a man
weighing more than two hundred, built I,
for fighter, with a mighty |
reach and<a terrible punch, should be
by a man weighing some
twenty pounds less with much shorter
height and reach.
Burns has a way of launching him
self at an opponent that is very etfee-
i've with a man of his own height. He
stands off little way and then seems
% hurl himself through the air with
wonderful accuracy and such speed that
he other man has little chance to
counter. Then, once on the inside of
lis opponent s guard, he starts series
# pounding stomach and kidney blows
hat soon wear a man down.
With all this rush of his and all of !
is wonderful strength, | do not think
burns can find the negro s midsection.
f he does, he will soon worry Johnson,
or that is the vulnerable point of all
olored men. You might as well beat ,,
n anvil with a football as try to hurt
negro on the head, but their little
Id solar plexus has always got some
hing weak about it, and that is where
hey get theirs.
AS matter of fact, neither one of
he men has a record of any great class. '
t is true that Burns has beaten them I
II in the last few years, but they were i
one of them big men and none of them
18th any great reputation. Bill Squires
as the paper jaw, Gunner MOir made it T
ard for him, but was only the same
eight and with less reach, while he '
new nothing of boxing compared with i
he American-trained Canadian. He '
as beaten Jim Flynn, but then so has /
verybody else, and has also, by the t
ay, taken a rafting good wallopingl a