Evening star., 1909-03-07
In Their Prime Between
Twenty-Five and Thirty
Five Years.

to Marvin Hart at Reno. New. he was
thirty years old. and Is now thirty -four.
a comparatively young man. Should JEFF
fries suffer defeat at the hands of Jack
Johnson within the next year. therefore.
he could not give old age as an excuse
much older than Jeffries Is now won
worldwide fame In the ring.
Before Fitzsimmons was twenty years
old he was boxing for the fun OF the
was soon fighting for money. When Ffts
knocked out Jack Dempsey and won the
middleweight championship of the world
he was just thirty years old. Five years
later he knocked Corbett out at Carson
City and was hailed as the worlds heavy
weight champion. Robert beat George
Gardner for the light heavyweight title
when he was fory-one and when he
was forty-five he was stopped in two
rounds by Johnson in Philadelphia two
years ago.
The year he won the championship
from Paddy Ryan John l.. Sullivan was
twenty-four years old. He was thirty
one when he beat Jake Kilrain and was
thirty-four when Corbett stopped him
In twenty-one rounds In New Orleans
In September. 1892. That makes Sulli-
van just fifty years old now and he is
still hale and hearty In spite OF riotous
living for many years.
Jack johnson Thirty-One.
Jackson Johnson. the new heavyweight
champion with JEFF in retiremenO. is
thirty-one years old He is in his prime
now and cannot show much improve
ment. AS he is fond OF high living and
will have plenty of money to blow In he
may not be able to stand the pace and
retain his title for The next five years or
So Peter Maher. an old man now. In
point Of physique. though he is only
fyn 0ld nd IN hn
ring. beat Paddy Slavin and Joe Choyn-
ski when he was twenty-seven. Two
years later he knocked Steve O'DOnnell
out In a punch and was thirtysiX when
he treated. Joe Butler to the 'slumber
wallop.'
Tom Sharkey began his ring career
early, but it was not until he was twenty
six years old that he gave Jeffries the
hardest battle Of his life in twenty-five
at Coney Island. Though Sharkey
YVES very young at the game then he re-
ceived such terrific beating that he lost
much of his strength and vitality. and at
the age Of thirty-one he boxed a six
round draw with that pugilistic joke
Jack MunrOe.
Jim Corbett beat Sullivan when he was
twenty-six, lost to Fitz when he was
thirty-one. and was thirty-Seven when
JEFF put him away in Frisco. Corbett is
forty-one now and still thinks. for publi-
cation. that he can fight we'll enough
to beat Johnson.
Jake Kilrain, great fighter in his day.
was twenty-eight the year he fought Jim
Mace 1O6 rounds on French soil. He was
thirty when Sullivan beat him in seventy
five rounds, and was thirty-seven when
he met Slavin in bout at Baltimore.
Joe Goddard knocked Maher out in three
rounds at Coney Island when he was
thirty-one. He was fighting all comers In
South Africa at thirty-six and tackled
Sharkey three years later.
Peter Was Twenty-Five.
Peter Jackson won the Australian title
from Tom Lees in a battle at Sydney
when he was twenty-five. He beat Jem
Smith in two rounds in London at the age
Of twenty-eight. and was two years older
when he boxed a sixty-one round affair
with Corbett. which was declared mo
Jackson was thirty-seven years
old when Jeffries knocked him out in
three rounds. his first defeat in fifteen
years.
Paddy Slavin fought Jem Smith In Bel
gium when he was twenty-seven. and was
twenty-nine the year he beat Kilrain in
Hoboken. He was fOrty-f1ve when he re-
tired after being whipped by Nick Binley.
a third rater. in Victoria. British Colum-
bia. Philadelphia Jack O'Brien is thirty
one years old. hence he was twenty-nine
when Burns double crossed him and won
at Los Angeles George Godfrey met Pc
ter Jackson when he was thirty-five. beat
Cardiff and Ed Smith at thirtyseven, and
was forty-one when he boxed Maher at
Coney Island.
George Dixon. after a wonderful career
as featherweight champion. lost his title
to McGovern at the age of thirty, but four
years later in England be beat Spike
Robson in eleven rounds. Dan Creedon
fought FitZSimInOns for the middleweight
when he won from Al Weinig and was
thirty-five the year he defeated Bill
Doherty in Australia. Mysterious Billy
Smith was twenty-e;ght when he took
Kid Lavignes measure in California. thir
ty when he boxed Tom Tracy, and thirty
two when Walcott trimmed him in Frisco.
Burns Early Start.
Tommy Burns was nineteen when he
began his ring career. He is nearly
twenty-eight now. Joe Cans. who lost
the lightweight championship to Battling
Nelson last year. was thirtythree in No
vember, He was in the ring for nearly
fifteen years. and is still able to go some.
Kid Mccoy was twenty-five when he be-
gan fighting and was twenty-seven when
he indulGed in the memorable fake with
Corbett in the Garden. Mccoy retired in
1905, when he was thirty-two, but came
back to meet Jim Stewart last year at
the age of thirty-fve. Abe Attell. the
present featherweight champion of Amer
champion of England and Australia, who
wants to fight him for the worlds title.
is twenty-eight Terry McGOvern was
eighteen when he first entered the prize
ring. twenty when he knocked Peddler
Palmer out in a punch at Tuckahoe and
twenty-one when he defeated Dixon. He
was twenty-five when Young Corbett
knocked him out in two rounds at Hart
ford and is now thirty.
Stanley Ketchell, the middeweight
champion. who is willing to mix it UP
with johnson at COlma July I, will be
twenty three next September. SO that If
he takes care of himself and continues
to grow he will he a high class heavy
weight In a couple Of years Battling
twenty-seven in June. He entered the
ring in 1900 and won his title from Cans
last July. Young Corbett. fat and slow,
but still, trying to fight is just thirty
years old. He was eighteen when he took
part in his first battle and was twenty
two when he beat McGovern for the
featherweight championship.
Good Old Man.
Ben Jordan of England was thirty-three
when he defeated Peddler Palmer in Lon
middleweight champion, was thirty-four
when he knocked out Bilk Stiff in four
rounds. When Australian Billy Murphy
fought Young Griffo for the feather
weight championship Of Australia he was
twenty-seven. Murphy was thirty-three
when he beat Paddy Smith, middle
weight, in Cincinnati, and forty-four
when he put out Tom Toohey in one
round at New Plymouth Jimmy Barry,
former bantam champion. was twenty
seven when he took the measure of