Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-03-17

Continued from First Page.)
freedom that for twenty-five rounds he
made Jeffries look like clumsy amateur.
II was recorded by ring veteran out
side the ropes that In those rounds JEFF
fries tried TO land fifty-six left-hand
hooks for the Jaw and missed them ali.
Il was In the twenty-third round that
corbett. refusing to listen TO reason.
tried to mlx II TO prove that he could
slug. with the result that Jefrs fifty
seventh hook pun him 10 sleep. II corbett
had used his great footwork and stayed
to the end Of the twenty fifth. he would
have been declared the winner OF the
fight on points and jeff would have lost
thu championship.
corhott was not the only great foot
worker In these days for Kid Mccoy
was an adept. So was Tommy Ryan. the
former middleweight champion: Myster-
ious BILLY Smith, Joe Cans. Frank Erhe
and Jack MeAuliffe. former lightweight
champions: George Dixon. Billy rllmmcr,
Pediar Palmer. Cal Mccarthy and other
little fellows who knew all the fine points
Of the boxing gams
But all these men. barring corbett.
were outclsssed IN footwork by the Aus
tralian boxer. Young Critic When
Critic came here he proved a revelation.
He wasn't hard hitter. but that didn't
matter. because nobody could hit him.
He knew every trick In the game. partieu-
larry In defensive tactics, and great
crowds went 10 see him box. II It were
necessary TO use dazzling foot move
ments he vas there II he found that he
could nullify an attack by stepping a
few inches here and there. or by wagsing
his head from side to side, that was suf-
fiden,. He went up against Jack Nc
Auliffe. then lightweight champion. and
clearly won. although deprived Of the de-
cision. He boxed draws with the re-
doubtahle Kid Lavigne and Dixon with
out receiving a scratch Somebody asked
Critic one day how Il was that he never
received a black eye In these battles.
you see SIR" replied the Antipodean,
with q droIl smile. II fight with me feet
as well as with me bioomln' 'ands. and
that's wot fools EN-"
Critic once offered TO make a wager
Of $500 that he could stay six rounds
with corbett The latter was champion
at the time and. Of course. ridIeuIed the
Australians proposition. but many
shrewd followers Of pugilism were In
ciined to believe that Critic. II he had
been allowed to try. would have won the
bet. Critic saw Mcfarland beat owen
Moran and Tommy Murphy here last
year and he. waxed enthusiastic lie
praised MeFarland's footwork and said
II reminded him OF old days. Incidentally
the Australian deplored the ringsters OF
modern tines.
II has been a belief in some quarters
that England exeels America In clever
boxers. especially those who know what
swifsness OF foot means in a glove fight.
Whether this Is true or not cannot be
answered offhand. but the fact remains
that Great Britain has produced some
star performers. notably Charley
Mitchell Welsh. Matt Wells. Owen Mo-
ran. Jem Carney and Dick Burss. Aus
traha's best boxers and fighters cannot
be enumerated without emitting Peter
Jackson. the eolored heavyweight. who.
In the opinion Of some old-timers. was q
greater champion than Jack johnson.
Jackson knew what footwork meant and
50 did Mitchell. for II was MitcheIrs
agility that puzzled Sullivan at Chantllly.
France.