The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-02-25
HOW JESS WILLARD
: COMPARES IN WEIGHT
WITH OTHER CHAMPIONS

New York, Feb. 25-Jess Willard
leaves his home in Chicago for New
York to begin preparations for his
battle with Frank Moran at the Gar
den on March rs. The big cham
p1on'S arrival here will set at rest the
various rumors concerning his phys
ical condition. He has sent word
ahead to fix up the Pioneer Sporting
Club with all the apparatus necessary
for training quarters, and local fans
will be able to, look him over, and see
for themselves how he shapes for this
his first bout since he won the title
The champion will have four weeks
to put his heart and lungs in good
working order and take off some of
the surplus flesh which has accun1-
nulated on his big frame during his
long absence from fistic pursuits.
This will be the first time Willard
has put in a long siege OF training in
this city. Before he won the title
for his bouts here In those days
he needed little preparation All he
required was a chance to stretch MS
long legs after stepping off the train
But now that has a title to de-
fend it is a different matter. A cham
pion always is supposed to devote
much time and attention to fitting
himself for a battle and boxing fol-
lowers would be shocked if Willard
neglected to go through an elaborate
for the fray.
Willard will have a little more than
four weeks, which should be ample
to. harden his muscles and regain his
eye for distance. So far weight is
concerned Willard probably will be
heavier for this bout than ever be-
fore. just what his exact poundage
may s5be remains secret, for like
most boxers he is coy when it comes
to stepping on the scales in public.
Willard says he will weigh about
$50 pounds and be hard and fit. In
that case he will weigh about twenty
pounds more than any other cham
pion ever did when in condition. Jim
Jeffries was the biggest title holder
until Wizards advent. and Jeffries
scaled over 230 pounds when in shape
to fight.
When Jeffries first made his ap-
pearance in New YORK IN an exhibit
ton affair in which he agreed to
stop both Bob Armstrong and Steve
O'Donnen in the same ring he scaled
240 pounds, but he was in poor form.
He was fat and soft and lacked the
speed whcih he later developed. Bob
Fitzsimrnons, who was in the house to
look him over, laughed at the clumsy
giants, absurd attempts to box. AS a
result of what Fitz saw that night he
became convinced that Jeffries was
nothing but slow moving, clumsy
dub, and he gladly accepted a match
i with the boilermaker.
! But Fitz was disagreeab1y surprised
on the night of the fight to find that
the 240 pound joke had dwind1ed
/ down to a synm critically built athlete.
Jeffries weighed but 2Os pounds that
night and was 50 fast that Fitzsirn-
| mons could not avoid his powerful
left hooks.
In his anxiety to win the title JEFF
| fries worked harder for that night
| than he did for any of those which
/ followed, and he never again scaled
as low as EOS. In subsequent battles
/ he averaged about 220 and occas-
ionally went as high as 23O, but at
| the latter figure he was not at his
best.
Jack johnson was next to Jeffries
| in weight. Johnson scaled 215
pounds when he defeated Jeffries at
| Reno. He was then at the top of
his form. Later on when loose living
had softened his muscles and added
| to the girth of his waist he went as
i high as 23O, but every ounce of the
added weight was just that much