The sun., 1916-09-17
TRUE TRAINING
FACTS RARELY
TOLD OF BOXERS
"pink Of Condition" Seldom
Means That Pugilist Is
Fit for Fight.
SULLIVAN FOOLED FANS
IN CORBETT CONTEST
~ THE VETERAN.

nc plUh VI COIlultloU IL q DilTdSe
tina, has been used 10 cover a multitude
Of pugilistic sins.
scores Of prominent boxers who a few
days previous to important contests
have been reported to be SO full Of ply ST.
cal vim they really had 10 be restrained
have crawled into the ring looking like
inyalids or candidates for a FAT mans
race.
And their performances In the ring
have not only saddened the ~onlockcrs.
but have been a fraud on the ticket
ruyc-s.
Take the case OF John l.. sullivan. who
IN lS9g went into training at Shlnnecock
Hills. AZ the easterly end OF Long Isle nd.
for n bout with james J. Corbett.
sullivan had Phil Casey. the handbail
cha npion. as chief trainer. and a large
stan OF helpers. who were supposed to
ne engaged in tho task of putting the
mighty John l.. in condition to knock
OIL, Corbett in shor order.
The reports that came from the train.
Ing quarters we're to the effect that
sullivan was working like a Trojan and
would he in the best condition OF his
lie when he faced P~ompadour Jim q.
New orleans.
He was pictured as being In the same
superb condition he exhibited on the
day ten years previously when he
Knocked Paddy Ryan out In nine rounds
md thus became the heavyweight cham
pion Of America.
No Corbett Money.
The delighted supporters of the Bos-
ION strong Boy. basing their action on
the reports from S~hinnecock, waGered 4
and 3 to 1 that Sullivan would be re-
turned the winner. And there was very
little Corbett money in view wen at
those figures.
Bu, It appears that the reports from
Sullivan's training quarters were all
c~lrefully censored and that the cham
r.on. far from training faithfully. spent
his days in idleness and his nights In
wsssail.
Phil Casey. utterly unable to control
ne champion or get him to DO any work.
Jesigned az chief trainer and withdrew
from the Camp fact that also wal
kept secret.
However, with execrable Judgment. or
else in a spirit; Of bravado. Sullivan de-
cided to give his supporters . view Of
bis physical condition the night before ne
started for New Orleans and he spared
Sfew rounds with one Of his trainers In
. hall in Brooklyn.
When the folks who went to that hall
10 cheer for sullivan got a look At his
a|ldernanic girth. his fiabby arms and
back and the unmistakable evidence of
lack of condition they were aghast and
looked TUNED.
But sullivan himself seemed uncon-
cerned and marched In and out Of the
ring with all the pride of a prize PEI
,neron at an agricultural show.
Corbett Worked Hard.
Some Of the more sanguine Of his ad-
mIrers affected to believe that Sullivan
would win. fat or no fat.
All he has to do In to hit that Call
'ornlau Just once they said. and went
along with undiminished confidence.
All the time nat Sullivan was david
Ing on Long Island Corbett was work.
ing ike a beaver at Asbury Park. In
The flower Of young manhood. full Of
ambition and the most skilful heavy
weight boxer America had ever pro-
ducod, he was at the close OF three
months Of conscientious work the most
perfect athlete that ever jumped into a
- foot ring.
Tic day before he started for the
battle ground Corbet went to Madison
square Garden and trained the entire
day in public. He went through every
conceivable form Of preparatory exer-
Use and wound up by running a mile.
sptinting the last hundre yards. And
he was nOt breathing hard when ne went
to his dressing room.
Even after the Sullivan adherents had
seen both Sullivan and Corbett in the
ring the betting was still 4 and : to !
tha; the champion would win.
u was not surprising that the mag
nifcent young athlete Corbett. fortified
as he was with superlativc boxing skill,
>noiid have beaten the fat. logy, mud
died sullivan. and that the champion did
not put a glove on his young opponent
Will telling force.
DO not desire to be understood as
a'iributing Corbett's victory to his SUI
perior physical condition.. for In my op!n-
.oi 'orhett, In the trim he showed at
Ne" Orleans September :. 1899. could
nave beaten John l.. Sullivan in the best
FORM the Boston Boy ever possessed.
corhett had proved in his sensational
hlAt> -onc round draw with the form
ddh'e Peter Jackson that he was too
clever 20 he hit by any Of the leading
AtavyN Fights. and az Jackson was a far
netter hoxer than sullivan. and a more
~l'ntihc puncher, II is evident that the
bos,orlan at his hest would have beer
unable TO bring Corbett down.
Test Against Jeffries.
sofu!srly enough Corbet,. with Tho
rrai iessOn of physical u~npreparednes.
q complied by Suliivan's condition
~ New Orleans before him. either failed
70 understand It or else thought his owl
rnis'''ution stronger than that OF Sui
.iN1" In any event as soon as Corbet
hdd acgun 10 bask in the glare OF cham
ndr,nlp popularity he neglected hi
h~h''l"al condition and deteriorated to
prorounccd degree.
"" discovered this when in 1897 h,
ven % Carson and was beaten by Fity
simmons, q man who never contracted
lHn|tS pilculated 10 lower his stamina
It' WONDERFUL vitality that enabled Cor
o'' - stand for sixty-One rounds befor,
Pe'"r Jackson. and to tantalize Sulliva,
ii tn"n'y -one rounds without getting
hard blow, was gone when the champion
FACED fitzsimmOns n he succeeded I
superior physical strength in fourteel
Iouud-.
SIN another test hat Corbett made O
hs endurance later on mus. have con
W'o'd him he was done as a hghtin
man In 1900 COrbett decided that II
'ol.i ,ako the title away from Jeffrie'
~" hsd captured the championship
from Eta.
Therefore Corbett decided to wor
'o'.-H"niiously for the event and h
"'adll, spent six months IN hrepara
l9H lh went to Lakewood and IA
ipu3 ruuths did little else but ride horse
hA ", take long walks and l0il about I
buId NJ mis- constitution.
Then IN the last two months he eel