New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-01-10
WILLARD MIGHT
HURT HIMSELF
IF He BOXED
Thus Jones Explains Alb.
senCe of Tryout Before
Match with Johnson.
HAS NOT FOUGHT
IN OVER A YEAR
Fans Not Overeager to Back
Newest White Hope With.
out Public Test.

Tom Jones was asked the other after.
noon why he did not allow jess vii.
lard % box 40 least one good man 10.
fore he sent MIN against Jack John.
son IN the much discussed heayywe IN.
match 20 take place DO Juarez n.
gave as his reason that he would h.
foolish 20 send Willard against any .,
the heavyweights with the champion.
ship battle now assured.
lie prattled glibly along 70 show how
the others wouldn't fight Willard whs,
the latter was "down and OUT AMI
how now. since Willard has risen on
the waves of popularity. the others are
Tot worthy Of consideration.
Perhaps, from a strictly commercial
side, Jones is right. There may be
much in his contention that ne would
be foolish 70 send Willard agsins.
these heavyweights. Perhaps he Nigh,
break one Of his hands. or mayhan
one Of the ordinary heayyweightK
might punch him on the jaw, or IL
the pit Of the stomach. or under M,
heart, or elsewhere, and topple him
over, even as old Kid Goliath took ,bs
count long. long ago in that battle
with Young David.
But there is a little angle o. Il.
coming match which Jones may have
overlooked. The boxing fans are the
ones who are going 10 pay their money
to see the fight. and they are from
Missouri. OF course, there may BE-
those who will attend championship
match just 10 get the atmosphere-to
say they were there but the vast ma.
jOrity has 10 be shown.
Now, Mr.. Jones, what has Willard
done 10 warrant the confidence OF the
boxing enthusiasts i'm this coming
match? Whom has he met since Ia
started 20 box who is worthy of the
mettle Of Jack Johnson? Ask the box.
ing fans. His record is thickly studded
with knockOuts, but the men he
knocked out are for the most part to-
tally unknown, and some few enjoyed
some slight local reputation. Victories
over men like Soldier" Kearns and
George ROdel are not calculated to add
to the prestige Of high grade boxer.
They are TO be expected. In fact, they
are demanded
According 10 the record books. VII.
Rodel at New Haven on December 2e
1913. Willard defeated the Diving
Venus in nine rounds. Since then VII
lard has gone on growing bigger until
ne looks like a giant redwood tree.
Likewise he has gone on learning to
box in the gymnasium, and 10 is said
that he has become quite proficient.
II has always been one of the watch
words of the boxing arena that a
fighter must train himself for great
deeds by actual fighting. The fancy
stuff picked up in the gymnasium with
a sparring partner is all very good. IN
there. without the influence OF the
cheering or booing crowds. a boxer may
work through his man9uvres perfectly.
He knows his sparring partners perfect
ly-knows every move they are capable
Of making, how they start the moves,
and when. He is prepared for anything
they have.
But in the ring il is different prop
osition. There the other man has few
tricks of his own, with an individual
style Of working them. There is the
mental hazard that a single punch may
result in a knockout, and that every
move means something. Against john
son Willard will realize that he is fac
ing the worlds champion the man who
beat down Jim Jeffries. II all reports
of men who have seen Johnson recently
be true, the Galveston negro is fast,
and who is there who doubts the eff
cacy of his ring science? There - not
an angle of the boxing game that john
son does not know backwards. There
is not a proposition which he has not
worked out.
Johnson has not boxed since he de-
feated Frank Moran in a twenty-round
bout in Paris last year. His case
however. is somewhat different, for he
is the champion.
There is one side 70 the match, and
how important 4 part 10 viii play re-
mains TO be seen. Willard has every
physical advantage. He IS wears
Younger than Johnson, some six inches
taller. with a reach that rs longer py
almost foot, and he is some twenty
pounds heavier His habits arc moder'
ate. and. altogether. the boxing enthU'
siasts have been led TO believe he IS an
exemplary man N every respect. Jonh-
son. so the story goes. has not been 20
careful, but there are the reports 0.
men who have seen him which give an
entirely different side of the story.
Those who have builded their hopes
upon the youth Of Willard may posi-,
Div have them dashed. As lntlmsted
IN a previous paragraph. willard mas
shown 10 good advantage IN ms
matches in the training quarters y
possible reason mas been ascribed. 10
quote a racing smile Willard has done
we'll against selling platers. but the
pace set by a stake horse may daLLle
him and leave him putting ard wonder