The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-12-16

By JAMES Editors Note; This is a continua-' ton of series of articles by Jim Cor bett which deal with the career of
 Bob Fitzsimmons. Few men knew Fitz
 as Corbett knew him and so these
 stories reveal some incidents in the ! life of Fitzsimmons that never before
 have been printed. The next chapter
 will appear tomorrow.)
 Oftentimes when I think back to | that sixth round in my fight with Bob l Fitzsimmons I feel that there are oc- l casions when it doesn't pay to be cau- i tious; when the better plan is to rush
 in and take a chance.
 1 When the bell brought us to the cen- 1 ter of the ring for the sixth round | Bob came in tired looking and seem- ! ingly weak. He feinted as an excuse l for falling into an Immediate clinch. I broke away quickly, knowing that i Bob was clinching only as a means of recuperation. As he broke away l led l for Bob but he rushed in and clinched again, Then l shot an uppereut to | his chin and his head bobbed back. Realizing my advantage, l followed l with swift right-hander flush to l Bobs nose The bloct came again in showers. Bob seemed to be in dis tress I then tried to left jab and Bob l clinched once more.
 When the break away was forced, | Bob tried a feeble left and I at once sent my own left crashing into his l face. That was followed by series of | lefts and rights to Bob's head and l body. Bob backed to the ropes and then clinched With the break away l he tried left for my head, but It went short and I immediately cut sn with a left hook-my favorite punch l which went crashing into Bob's jaw. I Fitz dropped under the impact of the blow
 1 As Bob went down he rested on one knee, flung his arms forward and 1 grabbed me around the legs. I shook 1 my body once in neffort to make Bob release his hold but failed and then l I turned in questioning way toward George Siler, the referee. and yelled: Make him let go of my legs; make l him let goi'
 As the words came out of my mouth Fitz released his hold and slipped down. Then Siler, insteaS of begin ming the count, put his hand on my chest and started to push me back, l saying:
 "Step back; step back"
 l I backed away about two steps un-' der pressure of Siler's hand, after which Siler strode over to where Fitz
  Siler began to chant off the fateful seconds the voice of Bob Fitzsimmons wife-Mrs. Rose Julian Fitzsimmons- l rose above the tumult:
 For Gods sake, get up, Bob; get 1 up, get upi'
 | She had jumped from her seat and 1 her hysterical voice, pleading to her husband to arise, was heard even above the Bedlam of the crowd. But poI Ave n l two, three, fourr The Cornishman made no move to rise and the plead- | ings of Mrs. Rose Julian Fit3simmons I reached a higher and ever higher pitch
 Five. six, seven" Bob began to l stir bit Eight! Bob made a moye which indicated that he was trying to l get to his feet. From the edge of the 1 ring came the voice of his wife. plead l ing beseeching, begging. And Bob must have heard. Miner Bob was on | his feet, staggering bit, webbing | bit, but there he was ready to go on. | I rushed at Bob intent upon smash | ing him with a succession of lefts and i rights, but Bob immediately fell into another clinch and continued to hold l until a break-away was forced. Nat l urally, I was much averse to clinch- ] ing at that time. There was still
 about one minute of fighting left in 1 that round and I figured that if I could get to him I could send over a i punch that would put him down ard ] out for the count. But Bob, too, real ized that his position was not at all an enviable one and he played the {, game in a beautiful way--from the viewpoint of any man who is forced | into defensive fighting owing to a l spell of grogginess.
 l During the first clinch that followed l Bob's knockdown I dealt a number Of 1 blows to his body When the break
 away came Bob put both arms before 1 his face. It was a clever bit of work because with the guard in such po-
 sition it was impossible for me to deliver a solid smash to the jaw There was but one thing for me to do-to feint him out of that protection. l made several bluff swings and suc- ceeded in causing Bob to open up a little But not enough. My left hook
 that was intended for the point ot
 his chin had been def1ected by Bob's
 arm and landed on the cheek.
 Bob at once went under cover again
 went Sin close and continued some