New-York tribune., 1916-02-27
rvery Inch of His Six Feet
and More Looks Like a
Real Champion.
SHIINS SCALES, But
HAS TO SCALE THEM
Unofficial Report of His Weight
Fully Clad, Is 272 Pounds
Audience Small.
Bv W. o. MGEEHAN.

fNNNl
,,,terday afternoon he looked every
..,h the champion. And Mr.. Willard
number Of inches in area.
In the maroon tights he seemed
Great deal more portly than ne does
: his street clothes. He needs a lot
.. Conditioning. despite the optimistic
~ OF Tom Jones But at the same
tine he looms up as the most formlaa,
ble mass Of brawn that was ever pushed
IN through the ropes. ~,
An attempt was made 10 keep VIII
,s-5's weight dark and mysterious
se,-et Let them guess at that TIL
,is night Of the fight" he announced
,os.erdav. "Ill tell anything bur ;hat'
Whv This extreme sensitiveness on
,be ouestion Of tonnage even the ever
,ssdv. voluhle Tom Jones cannot eN-
rkir. Nr Willard is just as seeretive
sbout his weight as stouust lady
,sknc the rolling exercises. lhey
br,ueht a pair of scales into his room
vsstsrdav. but Jess covered his face
Win his hands. He would not even
look AZ the depraved instrument so
r-sat was the shock 20 his finer sensi-
bEtes g. The indecent suggestion thaf
he weigh iu that the scales had TO be
hidden.
Jess weighed about ten pounds over
quarter Of o. ton on the hoof. Persons
Of mathematical turn Of mind amused
themselves hy guessing at the gross.
Some Of t0c guessers went as h!gh as
half o ton.
Finally Willard submitted TO secret
Weighing by Dr. Crsmer. for the Box
Ing Comm ,s'ou. Fully clad, he Is said
70 have weighed 212ie pounds.
The audience for the FIRST days train
ing was small but select. The Barber
Of Kewanee. who stationed a collector
At the door did not take IN much more
than he did 90 the barber shop on
fair Saturday night The percentage
which was received by the Boxing Com
mission for permitting the exhibition
must have amounted to about SIPS net.
Willard Learned a Lot.
That Willard learned a whole lot
shout the boxing game during that
fght with Jack Johnson was shown
wnen he fddled two rounds with Jack
Hemple and a couple more with Walter
Monahan lie has about as good q left
hand as any of them. He can snap 1t
right 10 the head and ID has some force
behind it. OF course, he was pulling
the punches yesterday, but when ne
wants 20 shoot a straight left he can
land with force enough 20 jar any Of
the heavyweights.
Another thing that Willard seems to
lave learned is that II is not necessary
;Dr him to bring his right uppercut all
the way up from the cellar. lie can
work 10 now In an arc Of about six
inches, and when he wants TO put the
whole lifting force with it the blow
can be depended upon 10 furnish some
thing Of shock 10 his opponent
That long. straight left IS quite
defensive implement. With the alb
formal reach of Willard it can be re-
lied upon 90 keep most fighters away
e. ary rate for ten rounds. Again, on
the defensive Willard has a way OF
wrapping himself up with his long arms
and presenting little vulnerable sur
face lie did this with Monahan, not
because 10 was necessary, but by way
o. rehearsal.
For his enormous bulk Willard is
wonderfully fast on his feet He IS far
quicker in his movements than Jefrles
was al his best. He likes TO have the
ether man come 70 him, though, even
When be is spsrring.
His work yesterday impressed the
f-all but select gathering Even
though Willard did not look the lean
perfectly trained athlete he was when
is returned from Havana, nobody
seemed TO think that he had gone TO
seed. OF course, he Is much heavier
than he was then. but II would be hard
10 say that the champion was really
fat TO- his bout He could take on up
20 300 pounds and still 60 about with
out erlulating the waddle Of the duck.
Beside bis sparring partners Willard
loomed un like an animated Metropoli-
tan Tower. Monahan, who Is nearly
the size Of Frank Moran, looked puny
beside him. Hemple, who Is even
,horter, had 20 leap into the air Ike
Johnny Dundee in his attempt 70 reach
Wizards Jaw.
Danger IN His Left Hand.
Willard seems TO cling TO his char.
seieristic fghtiug posture, head ulted
slightly back and legs rather VIDE
apart. Iis theory seems TO be TO
catch them coming with the LETT, holu-
llg the right for the main drive Al
he moment timed for the catastrophe.
We hope for Frank Moran's sake that
he does not let himself believe that
Willard is one-handed fighter. He Is
,ust as likely 10 do the greater damage
With the left hand. In fact, II seems
70 be the more useful fist
Dumb Dan Morgan, manager or Bat
ling Leviusky, was one of those who
managed 10 crush the 25-cent gate. lie
Old the doortender that he was
iother barber Of Tom Jones and gave
2. eountersign: Next" Jack Curley
pad. "l can't take a shingle oh my
osn roof" he announced as he slipped
NE box Office a Canadian quarter.
i an going TO bring Bat Leyinsky
" 10 box with Willard Tuesday. The
salller can teach him lot about box
lng"
After the sparring was over Dumb
vsn still maintained that he would
asVe Leyinsky on deck Tuesday, but he
vas not quite so enthusiastic about II.
=, Why, Willard can box" marvelled
Aorgan. Gee, but he has learned
s'me since he fought Johnson. lie
@Su have learned even while he was
-ehting him"
lie might knock Levinsky out"
''ne one suggested.
\. Well, that wouldn't hurt me- said
ysntl with assumed cheerfulneSs. at
~ght inlure my feelings, though
'om Jones made desperate effort
keep the tonnage Of willard a Sc
uel But the rubber-soled emissaries
~ 'oe Boxing Commission insisted that
| r'spul had the right 90 know. They
,l'nialned that the inhabitants OF
ys civilized world from Kamchatka 10
,,vnNers would not sleep until the mys-
Wy vas cleared.
bs. .nSiiy Jones broke down and agreed
r,,v. ~ .he outrage be perpetrated, but IN
,,Ns. Behind locked doors Willard
,.lfped glngerLV nnon the scales. De