Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-04
EXAMPLES FOR jim JEFFRlES
Many Pugilists Have Waited Too
Long Between Mills.
TOO MUCH REST Is OFTEN FATAL
DOwnfsn of ~ H., Jim Corbeft,
Jimmy Elliott, Joe GOus, Charley
MItcheII, FitEsSmmOns and Oth-
ers caused by Inactivity.

champion, Johnson said the old New
York sporting man TO his friends the other
evening. but 7 think Jeff is a wise guy
all right for not taking a chance while out
Of condition. Let us look back at the mis-
takes other great fighters have made after
retirement or a long rest between battles
and you'll agree with me that the boiler
maker is not a chump. Fighters in a way
are like musicians. artists and others who
have to keep in practice in order TO re-
main at the top OF the heap.
you all remember the sad fate Of John
L. Sullivan when he went up against Jim
Corbett In 1892. Sullivan for ten years
held the championship of America against
all corners and considered himself invinci-
bic. He had gone into the ring so often
when hog fat and out OF trim that he
thought he could get away with Corbett
without much training. In fact, his work
at Canoe Place Inn down on Long Island
was a perfect farce. He simply laid off
there and guzzled bottle after bottle OF ale
right under the nose of his patient trainer,
Phil Casey, the hand ball champion. When
S~ullivan's closest friends suggested a little
real training he sat back and declared that
Corbett was such a pipe that he didn't have
to be in first-class form to win in a few
punches. The night before he left here for
New Orleans I asked Sullivan how long he
expected the fight would last.
S~uIIivan's silly Boast.
oh. it may go eight rounds, but no
further replied John. who ooked the pic
ture Of confidence. He was lying In bed
in a room over Casey's hand ball court
over In Brooklyn at the time, and Hooked
him over carefully. He was as fat as a
prize OK and as slow as molasses. He had
a pronounced paunch and was in no shape
to fight boy. 1t dawned on one then that
John was up against 1t. and / told him then
and there that he was making a mistake
in taking chances with such a young, clever
boxer as Corbett. John didn't like my re-
marks one bit and, getting out of bed, he
offered to show any man in the room
whether ne could fight or not. OF course
nobody accepted, but Charley Johnston, his
hacker. said to him:
John, you may fool the American
public. but you can't fool me! You're not fit
sullivan, who had much respect for
Johnston, only laughed and replied:
" There's no fear, Charleyl III win In
a walk!
Still in his fat condition. we all thought
that Sullivan could win, as he had done
so many times before under similar ad-
verse conditions. We all know the result OF
the mill. Sullivan was too heavy and SOW
to get out of his own way. He never
landed a solid blow in the twenty-one
rounds. He became so tired that he
couldn't hold UP his arms in defence and
finally went down In sections, Corbet
continually raining blows on his jaws and
body. Finally the big brewery horse
dropped all in a heap, completely ex-
hausted, but practically uninjured. As soon
as he was counted out he got up slowly
and made a speech to the immense crowd
at the ringslde-an unusual thing for a
defeated champion to do.
what Jeff knows.
Jeff knows all about Sullivan's Water
loo. He has read it over and over again.
Billy Delaney, Jim Corbett and many
others have dinged 1t into his ears until
Jeff knows round by round by heart.
Sullivan's downfall is a sound lesson for
Jeff. He probably thinks 1t over nowadays
and says to himself:
Nix! Not for mine! I'll be right when
! get into the ring after four years
retirement. I'll take no chances!
There's where Jeff is wise. One Of the
reasons for Sullivan's defeat by Corbett
was a layoff of three years. After beating
Kilrain in 1889 John did not have a battle
until he met Corbett and by that time
he had gone way back. like many other
fighters who rave remained outside the
ropes too lonR
LET me cite a few other cases, There
was Jimmy Elliott, who gave Jim Dunno
of Brooklyn the fight of his life. Elliott
was taken out OF Sing Sing prison after
many years OF absence from the ring and
was pitted against that slashlng young
giant, Johnny Dwyer of Brooklyn. The
battle took place in Canada before as fine
a rang of cutthroats as ever held up a
train. Elliott was aged and slow and
Dwyer cut him to ribbons in eight rounds.
When they picked poor Elliott up and
washed the blood from his broken face
he turned TO ne and said:
1--WE been too long away from the game.
It's my own fault. I should have tried my
self out before I went up against such a
clever man
Jimmy EIIiOtt's Nerve.
"And yet Elliott had the nerve to go up
against John l.. Sullivan three years later,
in 1882, in this city. Sullivan was in his
prime then. just after winning the cham
pionship from Paddy Ryan. and the way
he knocked out poor Elliott in the third
round was a shame. II was a picnic and
a lot of easy coin for the champion. After
It was all over I asked Elliott why he
used such poor judgment in going on with
sully, whereupon the broken down pugilist
whispered TO me:
"I NEEDED the money. I'm getting 50 slow
that I can't break into banks any more,
so I'm willing to tak a knockout with
big gloves
with all his faults Elliott was dead
game. II was not long afterward that
he was killed by Jere Dunn in a fiercs
gun fight in a Chicago restaurant.
Charley Mitchell fell to the layoff mis-
take and got walloped by Corbett at Jack
sonville In 1894 as a result. Corbett was
as fast as a streak of lightning on that
occasion, while Mitchell was almost as slow
and stiff as Sullivan was two years be-
fore. Mitchell hadn't fought for six years
when he got into the ring with Corbett,
his previous battle being the famous thir-
ty-nine-round draw with Sullivan in
France. Mitchell was so fast in the Sulli-
van mill that John couldn't put the bee on
him. but the Englishmsn locked like a
selling platter when he faced Gentleman
Jim who knocked him out in three rounds.
When Charley woke up and began 20 think