Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1910-05-28

training camp. running on the road
and punching "A bag and boxing. isn't
enough To produce the best effects.
As great man as James ]. Corbett
was when I FIRST knew him. I'm salts
fed that he would have been stronger
and would have had more endurance.
II he had done heavy work now and
then. He was an exception 10 the
rule. for he lived fairly easy life an
the time when not training o. fight.
only boxing for pleasure and PLAYING
handball.
Bob FttzSimmons was a horseshoer
and didn't begin lighting until he was
a full grown man. During his years
IN the ring he liked nothing better than
TO slip away somewhere every day or
two and turn out a lot OF horseshoes
Ruhlin was an ironworker ike myself
and strength helped him out more than
skill IN the ring. Sharkey was a great
hghter because working as a sailor for
several years made him strong as
bull Hard work and exposure 20 the
weather tOughened him and made him
dangerous man. Sharkey was at his
best when he began 20 fight. He never
learned mach about boxing and was
better OF when he didn't try 10 90
anything but rush IN and slug. For
his size he was a wonder. and in orr
two fights ! couldn't help admirlng his
gameness and toughueSs. He never
got that in training camps.
Other fighters that / never met In
the ring because they were OF lighter
class have told me that they never
Fought SO well as when they were
hard at work. Tommy West. for in
stance, was a great middleweight
when l was among the new cham
pions. West gave Tommy RYAN the
hardest fight OF his life and. although
beaten, battered Ryan up so badly
that be didn't get back into lighting
shape for more than a year. West
was plasterer. During all OF his
early fights he worked at his trade
I've always thought that a plaSterer's
overhead work. smearing on ceilings
ought TO DE great for the shoulders
and the muscles that drive a stiff
punch.
West told me once that when he was
working hard at his trade he never
felt tired in Il fight and that he could
always hit his hardest in the last
round as well as the first. When he
began getting big purses and lived in
a training camp all the time. running
and boxing instead OF handling a
troWel, he could feel the difference in
a short time Often he went back to 1
plaStering, doing overhead work. lust
for the good IL would do his fighting.
Working on a farm is very good be |
cause II is all out in the sun and wind. /
and there's nothing else like sunshine /
and fresh air for an athlete Of any /
kind. Farming interests me as a /
training proposition, for had lot Of /
1t myself as a boy, and later, on as
champion Of the world with no more /
men at the time fit to give me a fight /
I bought a big alfalfa farm and spent /
two Of the healthiest years Of my life /
doing a farmers work with nv own |
hands. II beat 40 the bag punching
and rope skipping and boxing IN the
world
But, although all OF these varieties
Of hard work are good. and any other
kind for that matter I'll have 70 say Il
that nothing really beats the iron
workers trade. The iron you handle
seems to get into your blood and your
bones and your muscle.
After winning my first battle was
urged by Billy Gallagher to go ON the
road and fight everybody. But 1 was
Just a seventeen-year-old boy and
didn't feel Ike leaving the old place
yet I'm glad 1 didn't, for the two
years OF hard work that followed help
I'd give me good level head, and II
anybody needs one it's the young fell
Oxr vUhn kao eror.7 A. 81