Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-29
SULLIVAN STILL
PUBLIC FAvORITE
GRAND OLD MANS GENIAL PER-
S0NALlTY DRAWS
BLASE STAGE HANDS UNBEND
BEFORE JOHN L.
Says Present Day Methods of Train
ing Prize Fighter Are Joke,
and Lays Claim to Title as
Bare Fist Champion

and Lays Claim to Title as
Bare Fist Champion
Down in a dingy little dressing room,
surrounded by the paraphernalia of the
footlights, and filling the tiny apart
ment with his huge bulk and genial
personality big-voiced. clear-eyed
and gray-haired man has awakened all
the blase and frigid-manered stage
hands to wide-mouthed admiration and
staring interest. So seldom does this
ice bound specimen of stageland I'M
bend and assume personal interest In
the passing favorites that this of itself
commends the man to the public eye.
But aside from this recommendation,
there is a fascination about the man
himself which those who come in con-
tact with him cannot overcome, If they
would 1t Is partly for this reason that
John L. Sullivan, whose name is so
closely woven into every "reminiscences
of the game of might and skill, where
ever he goes draws every interested fol-
lower of pugilism. and has proved a
popular favorite. Years ago when the
present generation of fighters was UNI
known, but yet some time after Sulli-
van had seen the heyday of his tri-
umphs, John L. went to the stage, and
a few were inclined to prohpesy that
he would blossom and prosper for
time, but the public would grow tired
of him. Today as one wanders into the
little theater and watches this youthful
old man go about his work one wonders
IL these prophets were not blind to the
magic of a name, the mere mention Of
which would almost work miracles.
The world cannot and never Will for
get the grand old champion. His STIR
ring career and his victories and de-
feats. both in and out of the. ring, even
today are topics of never failing inter-
est, and that man or woman who mas
never heard of John L. can be placed In
the class of the Kentucky mountaineer
wro. brought down out of his native
crags, admitted he never had seen an
American flag and did not know lts
meaning and history.
John L. Sullivan's personality is a
deep study. He refused through all MS
career to contract the ''swell-head'-
that fatal disease of many fighters.
He has always been and always VIII
be good fellow" Strong In ms ilkes
and dislikes, forceful yet tactful, mod
est but appreciative of his famous past.
John L. is a type of American whom
it does one good to meet.
There have been columns and COL
umns of descriptive articles published
all over the country touching on every
phase of his character and life and 1t
is not the purpose here to repeat any
of it. But once in while on the
weary routine of life it is good to stop
and observe something about man
who has seen the golden and seamy
sides of life, whose horizon has been
somewhat limited by his environment.
but who has come through it all with
a whole-souled, vigorous and refresh
ing view of life as he sees it.
Contempt for Modern Methods
1.-THE grooming of prizefghter
nowadays comments John l.. Sulli-
van, lis something laughable to us old
chaps of the ring, who used to fight
our battles ourselves and not with the
aid of experienced trainers who map
out fight much as a general today
plans an attack on fortress.
I'm the old days the preparation for
fight occupied but little of mans
time. There was not much squabbling
about weight, referees, division of the
purse and the like. The principal
thing was to fight and win as soon as
possible. There were no limited con-
tests so that a man could figure closely
on his method of carrying the battle
or win a victory.on the slender thread
of points. 1t wAs a fight from gong
to gong and until one or the other
went down and out
1T was mighty seldom that / had
lot of towel wavers, oranges, lemons,
chunks of ice to rub over my neck and
back and the other props OF the ring
seen today. Some of my greatest
fights were fought under conditions
that present day fighters would scorn
to think of, and there was mighty
little of the present day jobbing either.
Training consisted principally in
keeping in good shape always, eating
good, nourishug food and leaving bad
habits for others. We did not usually
skip the rope, battle in the SURF climb
mountains, wrestle with cows and any
of the freaky methods that are accred-
tied to the present day ringsters. But
we generally were in pretty good form
when we entered the ring, and the man
with the punch, the stamina and the
skill won the fight. 1 have been
against a lot of good men in my day
and an awful lot of dubs, but I al
ways had to look for the fighter and
not the fancy boxer. It's the COM
that l lost out.
IT am still champion of the world.
I mean with the bare fists. These
other fellows who use gloves-Jeffries
included-are only exhibition artists"
So spoke John L. Sullivan while sit
ting in his dressing room at the En-
pire theater yesterday.
tied by the query as to what the
mighty John l.. thought of champion
Jeffries' retirement from the ring. The
big man who sixteen years ago went
down and out before James j. Corbett
didn't even finch as he made the
statement.
"Who is Jeffries, anyhow, and who
did he ever lick?" continued Sullivan.
"Why, old man Fitz had him going
when they last met and would have
knocked him out had his hands not
been crippled.
II will stay in the show business the
greater part of my life" continued
Sullivan.
II never fought for a sure thing"
Sullivan said. And what is the re-
suit? The people are cheering me
everywhere l go.
1.-The ring is changing. They dance
around more now and things last
longer. When a man wins fight he
hikes all over the country explaining
how it was he won. And the other
man he follows him explaining how it
was he lost. And the winner says he
amt going to fight an inferior man
any more and the loser says he's
afraid to-" he snorted in contempt.
'In my day we fought When l won
championship 1 fought every three
months at least to hold it. I've had
my faults, of course, but the public,