New Britain herald., 1916-12-28
The Fighting Test.

Les DaTCy IS pTOClal1leu ny lllahS
as the best piece of fighting machinery
for his weight, now in the game.
After ALL the only true measure of
fighting prowess should be determined
by just how good man is for his
weight and inches. That measure
ment alone is the only test.
What credit should willard, weigh
ing $50 pounds and standing six feet
six, get for beating a man 80 pounds
lighter and 6 inches shorter? What
! more credit than Jack Dillon should
get for beating Johnny Kilbane or
Johnny Coulon?
How much credit would Jim Corbett
have received for beating Terry NC
Govern. Yet Corbett, proportionate-
ly, was no larger than McGovern than
Willard is larger than Carpenter.
Willard is heavyweight champion
today mainly because Willard weighs
over $50 pounds and is a giant in
height and reach. Nature, more than
skill speed or aggressiveness, put him
on top.
The same, in a way, was true of
Jeffres. Jeffries was far better
boxer than Willard, but 1t was the ire
mendous power and bulk Of the man
that put him on top.
Pound for Pound and Inch for Inch.
This. then, calls for an argument as
ito best fighter for his pounds and
inches that boxing has ever known.
1t certainly isn't Willard and it GER
tain1y wasn't Jeffries or Johnson.
One answer might be Terry Nc
Govern at his best. Another would
be Joe Cans or Kid Lav1gne. But the
best bet in sight looks to be Bob
Fitzsimmons.
Fitzsimmons gave away more
weight and beat more good big men
than any other boxer in the game.
The average heavyweight displace-
ment is around 100 pounds. If one
takes the weights Of the heavyweights
for the last 25 years, including Sull1-
van Corbett, F'itzsimmons, Jeffries,
Johnson and Willard it would be zoo
pounds. Fitz won his cham pionship
at 1856 pounds, over 40 pounds below
the last average named. He was
forced to give away from 25 to SO
pounds at every start. This Is more,
, in proportion, than McGovern or Cans
ever gave away. McGovern Cans and
| Lavigne all won we'll beyond their
weight. But none Of them ever went
as far beyond as the Lanky One of
other years. Another entry not to be
overlooked is Stanley Ketchen. He
was another who could give away Is
or 20 pounds and still get by.
So, if the list had to be completed
from the last 25 years it would surely
include Fitzsimmons, McGovern, Ket-
chall, Cans and Lavigne-measured
not only in results, but from the view
point of so much fighting ability to
the pound Not forgetting Kid Mccoy,
ho1n entry
Today's Crop.
Darcy and Carpenter are now
registered as the two best fighting
machines, pound for pound, that the
present holds. The best man for his
weight in America isn't Willard,
Moran or any of the surviving White
Hopes. There might be an argument
planted for Dillon or Miske or Levin
sky. But none of these even class
with Fitzsimmons or Mccoy as pieces
of fighting machinery, pound for
pound.
The LightWeights.
Welsh, in the lightweight division,
is not to be classed as a fighter on
the pound-for-pound test with such
entries as McGovern or Cans. And no
one can tell just how good the rest of
blocking the game with his 10-round
no-decision big purse" barrier.
Smaller Stars.
We have always figured Frank
Hinkey as the greatest football
player of all time on the pound-for-
pound basis.
Hinkey was wonder, measured
from the results achieved by a 22O
FOUNDER. Whereas the Yale star
weighed under $50 pounds.
Hinkey had no vast bulk or abnor- |
NAL physical power to carry him
along He had great power for a light |
man, but nothing like the physical
power of Shevlin, Fitzpatrick Coy,
Heston and others. Yet no greater |
football player ever lived, to take the |
non-partisan Judgment Of those who
have seen most Of the great ones play.
In such games as football and box
ing where weight and strength are
vital factors, a small star competing
beyond his weight always deserves
more credit.
Hinkey, Of Yale: Stevenson, of Penn
sylvania; Tichenor of Auburn-these
are the types that deserve the crest.
Tichenor, of Auburn, and Brown, of
Sewanee, made the All-Southern for
two or more years when each weighed
less than 100 pounds.
Why shouldn't a man who is fast
and who weighs 100 pounds be great
football player? He has all the best
of it, where no great nerve is re-
CURED. But a Hinkey or Stevenson