The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-04-20
IPRESENT-DAY BOXERS
FAIL TO TRAIN WELL.
Poorly Trained Fighter Loses Stamina and Tires Easyvg
Road Work and Workouts Are Needed by Athletes
Jim oorbett Punched Bag for Hours in Gymnasium
Take oldtimers Example.
By James J. Corbett.

Probably the most glaring fault
among present day boxers is their fall
ure to train faithfully for their con-
tests. Instead of spending many
weeks in conditioning themselves, most
of them go through spasmodtc train
ing for a few days before the fight is
to take place. AS result, they go
into the ring lacking in real stamina,
unequipped to travel a rapid pace and
slow. listless boua are the result.
A poorly trained fighter tires quick
ly. He usually goes out in an effort
to finish his foe in the first two or
three rounds If he fails TO do so
all of his real strength is gone To
save himself from being beaten down
before the fight comes to an end he
must resort to clinching. If his foe
is in the same unframed plight both
are leg and arm weary. SO they re-
sort to Sailing and clinching through
the remaining rounds. That is why
most battles OF the present day have
come to be nothing MORE nor less
than huggfng affairs.
A man who goes> into the ring to
box no matter If 1t is for six rounds
ten rounds, twenty rounds or to a nm
ish, should never make the error of
not training properly. The history
of the ring shows that most of the
Nhddi PApHS went op~H " dSiNal ply
because they didn't train to the ut
most of their ability. Many held their
foes too cheaply and entered the ring
with muscles softened by easy living
lacking in wind and in endurance
They were caught fiatfooted by a
superbiy trained foe, and the champ
ionship changed hands.
Vigorous Training Necessary
Back in the days when was a
pugilistic performer 1t was always my
thought that training of the most
vigorous kind was vitality necessary for
each and every bout in which I fgur-
ed. There were times in those days
when I took on foes OF the dub"
variety But 7 never held any of
them cheaply Whenever 7 fought.
no matter who was the opponent.
was In topnotch condition. And that
is good rule for every fighter 70
follow
Boxers of the present day who lack
perfection in one or another of the
divisions of the sport don't do Ike
the old timers. they don't devote hours
and days and weeks in an effort to
overcome it. n the boys of my time
had fault they spent weeks, months
and even years in trying to correct 1t.
They aimed for perfection
When / entered the professional
branch OF boxing my wrists and fore
arm were extremely slender. Some
experts felt that ] never would get
anywhere. They felt that my wrist
was too frail TO enable me to hit a
knockout punch without fracturing il,
Realizing that what those fellows said
was largely true and that my slender
wrists menaced my pugilistic future.
set a bout correction thai conditior-
For one solid year afterward 7 ce-
voted one hour every day to working
on the wrist machines and TO the per
Torrance of work and exercises in
tended TO develop the wrists Amy
man who has ever worked on the
wrist machines for ten minutes knows
what a tiresome and monotonous task
IT is 1t appealed to me the same way
il does to the others. But | kept at
II for sixty minutes each day, sixty
consecutive minutes and not i've min
utes now, ten minutes then and so on.
My pugilistic success depended largely
upon the Strengthening of my wrists.
and ] never ceased in my efforts to
build them up until the end had been
achieved.
Punched Bag for Hour,
made II practice 10 punch the
bag for one solid hour each day dur
ing my training periods, and | never
varied from that routine. Earlier
when l tried it l would become arm
weary after ten or fifteen minutes OF
violent punching. But I never would
quit. ] kept on. knowing that sooner