Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-22
z76sT'"o .zz1' '"e5,ze 65 ALL THE NEWS 81 aszz -
BODY BLOWS
EFFECTIVE
cHoYNskI TELLS HOW SULLIVAN
DID HIS BEST
Jeffries and Fitzsinmons Did Some
Fearful Execution on Ribs and
Stomach-5ob Excelled
with Solar Plexus

In the history of ring champions most
of the great battles are won with
blows OF the body. The usual idea of
a champion is a man who can deliver a
terrific knockout blow on the tip of the
other fellows chin. Every man who
finds himself unexpectedly forced into
a street fight tries to avoid blow on
the jaw.
That may be only the old instinct
that Caesar relied upon when he or
dered his Roman soldiers. just before
the famous battle, to use their snort
swords and ''strike at the enemys 8
faces" The enemy in this case didn
care TO lose any beauty and ran away
But it's fact, nevertheless, that most
of the noted knockers out have used
body blows to win their victories.
Joe Choynski, writing from Chicago,
has a few interesting things TO say
about John l.. Sullivan and Jim Jeffrles,
two of the greatest fighters OF the age
''As to the relative merits of Sullivan
and jeff" writes Joe, Il have spared
with them both and have seen both
fight. Jeff is stronger, much cleverer
and fully as game. In SulllVans S time
the big men he met were cowards-
Cardiff, Ryan. Slade and the rest Sui
livan had a hard time with the little
Hl6Il WilO WtlC NlCNtl -~1ibSA-NAAB A0AAN~
and Tug Wilson.
Jeff Boss of Bunch
"When Jeff went east on his first visit
he was coached wrong-bent overland
all he could do vas swing his left hand.
That STOPPING posture indulged in by
our present-day men is only good in
clinches for short-arm work. You can't
lead a straight punch.
"When Jeff fought Corbett in San
Francisco-also Fritz-he stood straight
up. and they didn't last long. When
Sullivan met Corbett at New Orleans,
had it been Jeffries, Sullivan could not
have lasted three rounds.
"Sullivan's favorite blow-though not
generally known-was right swing be-
tween the shoulder blades, on the back
lung, and not the jaw.
"The men he met were afraid of him
and resorted to clinching. and John
would reach over and punch them In
the back-a very effective blow.
"At New Orleans Corbett never struck
a blow until about the seventh round
"a left lab. Sullivan only hit him once
"a right swing TO the shoulder. In the
twenty-first round John dropped both
hands and allowed Corbett 10 puhch
him, whether to show that Corbett
could not punch-or to get put out
don't know, as he did not have a chance
TO win. | sat alongside the ring and
observed accurately.
Sullivan often used that back Junk
punch. In one of his fights in Boston
he rushed a Prof. Donovan and
dubbed him across the back so hard
that Donovan was knocked fiat to the
floor on his face, breaking his nose and
knocking him out.
Fitz Gets Body Punch
"Fitzsimmons probably was the
1x f,1t1pharS While
meeting all Corners, he was advised to
use body blows because he hit so hard
that he was apt to kill some unframed
man with a smash on the chin. lie de-
veloped the solar plexus' punch ana
was so pleased with 1t that he used II
to win all of his big fights. He knocked
Sharkey out with that in san fran-
cisco. He hit Rubin so hard with 1t
that Gus thought he'd never recover
He knocked Corbett out with it at car
son. He used il scores of times IN
smaller bouts. No other fighter ever
became so skillful as Fitz i'm using that
punch. 1t was his pet, and he had an
original knack of landing it. =,
"Tom Sharkey failed away in all
directions, but it was with body blow
that nearly broke Mccoy in two that
he knocked out the shfty Kid, after
being dropped twice himself
Jeff Killed of sharkey
"Jim Jeffries, through studying Fitz"
simmons, became a terrible BODY
puncher. He knocked Corbett out in
San Francisco with body blow. he
hammered Sharkey in the ribs until lie
cracked them, and Sharkey never en-
tirely recovered from the beating. He
was never able to take so much body
punishment afterWard. 1t was with a
long left, almost straight arm body
blow that Jeffries beat Ftz I'm their last
San Francisco fight. FitZ told me that
he saw the blow coming, but that jeff
gave it a peculiar curve and fooled
him. shooting it into his ribs instead
of against his jaw. Jeff is naturally
left handed, and can control that lett
arm of his like a fencer using foil.
Among the little fellows Terry Me-
Govern was the greatest body fighter.
Joe Cans wan his title by chipping
Frank Erne on the chin. but in his
hardest battle-the one against Bat
tling Nelson--le relied upon body
punches to wear the iron Dane down.
"It is well known fact that when
champions meet there is seldom a drop
of blood spilled or even black eye
received on either side, although one or
the other loses by the knockout route.
The reason is that skillful men know
where to place their blows"
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