Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-04
ray Fails to Hold Three run Lead and Loses to Athletics, to
LANGFORD BEL LEVIED TOBE
HARDEST HITTER OF THEM ALL
Punch Travels But Few Inches, But Has
Sleep-Producing Effect-Uses Bob
Fitzsimmons' Methods.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, September 4.-When
Sam I.angford knocked out Tony Ross
the 210-pound Italian, at the National
Sporting Club recently the finishing
blow was a left hook that did not
travel more than six inches before IT
collided with the point of the jaw.
Langford did not appear to ovcreNer'
himself when he shot this wonderful
punch to the mark. 1t was delivered
at close range and had so much speed
that probably less than fifty spectators
saw it land.
Langford had been blocking and side
stepping numerous swings when ne
suddenly saw the proper opening. Ihen
he tented with his right and moving
. closer with rapidity, he raised the left
hand, at the same time giving the
wrist n sudden twist. The punch did
not land underneath the jaw. but just
above the chin in the vicinity of the
back teeth, and Ross fell like log.
The Tar Baby knocked out Phila
dcIphia Jack O'Brien with left, but
it was an overland swing driven with
away at the time, looking back over
his left shoulder. Langford following
closely. threw his weight into an &C
clrate punch that caught OBrien
high up on the jaw just in front Of the
ear and put the ancient Quaker out OF
the mill.
Jim Smith was sent into dreamland
with a right uppercut. Langford
started it apparently for the pit OF
the stomach and then ripped 1t up, AT
the same time jumping clear on the
floor to increase the impact. The
punch reached a point directly under
the left jaw, and Smith collapsed.
These incidents showed that Langford,
like Robert F'itzsimmons, could score a
knockout without resorting TO swings at
long range delivered wildly with little
or no accuracy. The Tar Baby, for that
matter, has never shown to advantage at
long range. He can box with great skill.
feinting in the most puzzling manner
and using his feet with remarkable agility
in getting away from dangerous snlashes-
But when the time comes to do effective
work with his fists the Boston negro sell
dom fails to step in close. where he can
use hooks and uppercuts with little
chance Of wasting them. In short. he is
strictly an inside fighter who knows how
to hit scientifically and backs up his
blows with phenomenal strength.
MANY ring experts believe that Lang
ford is the hardest hitter in the world,
not exceeding Jack Johnson. This honor
was formerly enjoyed by FitZsimmons.
The Cornishman was one of the first
pugilists to demonstrate the effectiveness
of short hook. When he arrived here
from Australia nearly twenty years ago,
he was surprised to find that American
fighters knew practically nothing Of such
tactics. In those days John l.. Sullivan
was the heavyweight champion. and
fighters of all classes were copying his
fov, riot,f hop nd hah
knocked out many opponents with this
wallop and it was regarded as sure win
ner. Although he .'telegraphed' the
blow by setting himself firmly on both
feet and starting the swing from a point
behind his body he managed to land it
with telling frequency None of his VIC
TINS seemed to know how to guard
against the punch. which nowadays.
when similarly used. is generally blocked
or sidestepped
Jack Dempsey with blows delivered al
close range he opened the eyes of the
short haired fraternity. He occasioned
more surprise when he stopped Peter
Maher at Langtry. Tex, with a hook
on the jaw that covered a distance OF
less than five inches. There was increas-
ed wonderment when FftZsimmOns jolted
jim Corbett in the solar plexus at Car
son City and made the pompadour per-
son take the final count. Fits winning
driven in straight with terrific force.
Yet he stood so close to Corbett at the
time that many of the ringside spec
tators, for the moment, believed that Jim
had slipped down from half clinch.
Fitzsimmons also stopped Sharkey with
a short uppercut on the jaw, and slowed
Gus Rubin away with the same kind of
blow that whipped Corbett. But when
he tackled Jeffries "a Coney Island he
found that the big boilermaker had pre-
pared a style of fighting that made those
short punches ineffective.
Jeffries assumed his famous crouch and
met Fits ruSheS with IA straight left.
The Cornishman ran full tilt into this
hand and soon he was knocked over
backward upon the floor. For eight
rounds FitZsimmons tried vainly to get
close enough to land a, hook OF an mp
percut. Then he gave it up and re-
sorted to wild swings, one of which
reached the side of Jeff's head with
moment tottered to his chair in response
to the sound of the gong.
Jeffries Knocked jim Corbett out with
a left hook that wasn't started until the
boilermaker was In close. Corbett was
thrown into the ropes and as he bounded
Off .JeffIics coming in hooked short
punch to the jaw. He put all the
strength he had into the blow and Corbett
toppled over.
Corbett whipped Sullivan at New Or
leans by jabbing him in the face with
rapid lefts. Sullivan, out of condition,
was anchored and could not get out Of
his own way.
Tom Sharkey was a swinger until Tom
O'Rourke showed him what his left hand
was for. Then the sailor began jabbing,
but he couldn't do much with short hooks
and often gave up trying. Tommy Ryan
was a past master in following Fitzsim-
mons methods. But he was faster on
his feet and knew the value of left
hand lab. Ryan was able to hit effective
~ with both hands, whether at long or
short range. and was IA combination boxer
and slugger.
Kid Mccoy. another scientific man. had
the art of landing blows while in motion
down fine His most effective blow was a
left jab or hook, and by twisting the
wrist he invented what was called "the
corkscrew punch" 1t was an odd thing
about McCoy's punches that whenever
one of them landed blood was drawn
Some of his victims were badly cut up,
and at one time persons believed that he
had some hard substance inside of his
gloves.
Peter Maher had a Sullivan swing
that did great execution until he met
Fitzsimmons 1T is true that he almost
knocked F'itz out with a heavy right
hand swing the first time they met at
New Orleans. but the Cornishman