Norwich bulletin., 1914-03-07
PETER JACKSON THE
 KING OF THE PRIZE RING.

To the Sporting Editor; was great
 ly amused at the utterance of Jim
 Corbett in the interesting article re-
 gently published in The Bulletin in
 which he criticizes the present crop of
 white hopes and tells how he fought
 the famous Peter Jackson to a stand
 still,
 The men met In the ring at San
 purse of S10,000, and after fighting 61
 rounds. in four hours and three min
 utes, the referee declared 1t no con
 test, and the men were each given S2,-
 500, with the privilege of fighting 1t off
 at later date for purse of s7,50d.
 Now there was an interesting inside
 history of this fight which was well
 known to sport followers of that day.
 While training for this fight Jackson
 was thrown from the back of a spirited
 horse. of which he was very fond, while
 riding through the streets of San
 Francisco, and sprained his ankle so
 badly that his friends urged him to seek postpOnement of the fight.
 Jackson, who regarded Corbett as an amateur. declined to take their advice,
 and the willy Corbett,@ having learned
 Jackson's ring tactics perfectly, man
 aged by his remarkable cleverness to keep himself from being badly pun ished by the great black The sporting
 press of those days criticized Corbett for not attempting to knock out his op- ponent, but the clever Jim had un- doubtedly too great 8 respect for his adversary to attempt the dangerous feat.
 Shortly after this fight Corbett came | east and showed no inclination to ac- cept the many challenges of Jackson,
 whose manager, Sam Fitzpatrick. at last said in statement to the sport ing press: T don't believe @ pair of oxen could draw Corbett into a ring with Jackson again.
 Jim Kennedy, the great fight pro- moter Of New York; said to me on one ] occasion: 'I believe Peter Jackson to be the greatest fighter in the world, and. if he were white. he would be the most popular fighter that ever nved.'' Jackson, as well as George Godfrey and George Dixon, were such clean | fighters and so well behaved both in and out of the ring that the prejudice which now exists in the color line, | owing mainly to the conduct of Jack ] Johnson, was then almost unknown l At London. Eng, May 30, 1892, Jack l son defeated the famous FranK Slavln i, in 10 rounds for a purse of $10,000. The London Sporting Life said of this battle: There was more real fighting in those 10 rounds than was ever seen in fight in England, and though | Slavin was a strong favorite in the | betting and thought to be invincible, | he was clearly outclassed in all re- spects, and there is probably no man 1 living today who can defeat the great i black in the ring"
 1 When Bob Fitzsimmons was trying 1 to arrange his long sought for match | with Corbett he said: T will fight any | man in the world but Peter Jackson | He Is my maSteri"
 Now to prove the assertion that
 Jackson was king of the ring. let us | glance over little ring history. On | Dec. 1s, 1Ss7, Jake Kilrain fought a draw of 1O6 rounds with Jim Smith, | champion of England, in France. | July s. 1889. at Richburg, Miss, John
 L. Sullivan defeated Jake KilraIn in | 7k rounds.
 1 At Hoboken, N. J., June 27. 1891 i Frank Slavin defeated Jake Kilrain in
 nine rounds for a purse of s10,00o. At London, Eng, May 30, 1892, Jack
 son knocked out Slavin in 10 rounds 1 and also defeated Jim Smith, the
 English champion, in two rounds, al l London.
 A man does not need to be very pro- 1 f1cient in mathematics to figure this 1 out, and yet Gentleman Jim says he l fought him to a standstill.
 1 JOHN D. NOLAN.