Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1910-02-12
coRBETT AND JEFFRIEs.
The Former insists That Jeffries Did
Not Outlook Him.

San Francisco, Feb. 11-Jim Corbett
will not have it that Jeffries outboxed
contest in San Francisco says a sport
ing man.
In a recently published article Jim
attempts to pull to pieces my article
ferred to, and, as is his wont when
dealing with adverse critics, tries to
quench me in the most gentlemanIy
manner possible
There is one thing I can say for
Corbett. 1t has been my privilege at
various times during the last quarter
of a century-anyhow, since 1886-to
criticfSe Jim-not always harshly, by
any means-and 1 cannot recall that
my bluntness ever brought me a scowl
from the fellow I saddied with the
fighting nickname of Pompadour jim
He was always pleasant to meet and
converse with; always ready to admit
that a sporting editor had a right to
an honest expression of opinion no
matter how unpleasant reading it
might make.
But, argument is argument, and
here's at you, Jim.
In dissecting my views. he says:
Now. I'll tell you what gave this
sporting writer an Idea that -Jeffries
outboxed me in that San Francisco
fight. In the second round of that
contest Jeffries caught me with hard
left swing in the short ribs that
knocked all he strength out of me and
consequently robbed me of my speed"
That will do for the present Jim
says a whole lot more, but it is too
long to quote, and I don't wish to
garble 1t. | think I can make my
point from the extract above given.
Corbett was trained to the minute
for that fight. He gave himself special
preparation, in fact. and hoped by the
use of crowbars, giant dumbbells and
other weighty apparatus to be able to
gather some of the Jeffries strength
on to the Corbett cleverness and thus
make combination that couldn't be
beat.
He had all the confidence that came
from the knowledge that the world
considered him paragon of pUgilistic
science. He had the self reliance that
came from having stood off Peter
Jackson, admittedly AustraIia's pre-
nier heavyweight. He had the further
self reliance that came to him from
the fact that he had made a monkey
of JeffrieS for over twenty rounds at
COney Island.
He started out on this second fight
clear-brained. stout-lunged, TIMBER
mescled and nimble-footed. He began
to fiddle and feint, to bewilder and
tangle the giant in front of him; yet
to take his own words for it Jeffries
upset all his plans and knocked all his
knowledge. confidence and experience
into a cooked hat with a hard left
knocked all the strength out of him
and robbed him of his speed.
Isn't that being outboxed? I think
So And what does being outboxed
mean, anyhow? Isn't it the winner
who outswims or outruns the other
man or other men? OF course it is
A little further, along Jim says:
NOW I'm simply using this explana-
ton to show my readers that Jeffries
is not clever boxer
All right, Jim. But pray what con-
stitutes cieverness Can any kind of
or performance that fails of
its object be considered clever?
When an army general, noted for
his brilliant manoeuvres, plans what
he considers will be a series of baf-
fling movements on a battlefield and
is led into a trap and smashed to a
pulp by the opposing general, which is
the clever man?