The Washington herald., 1922-11-28

EN- bELChEh was an OiQ-
time fighter who was above
- the ordinary and the one
who gave the first indication Of
being above the usual run of pu-
gilists In those days. He was
considered very smart and through
good use of his nimble brain won
many a ring battle.
Belcher had skill, knowledge Of
boxing, and cool Judgment which
helped him rise to fame Jem was
Juite a sensation in his day and
he idol of the mobiles who patron
lied the game for the simple rea-
son that he used his thinking pow
ers.
When Belcher was at the
zenith Of his ability, his admirers
thought no man in the world could
beat him. But his agility and clev
erness would be overwhelmed by
any of our present day fighters. no
matter how slow they are. Belcher,
stood in the usual manner of
those days; legs far apart, both
arms stiff and upright and practi-
cally no defense for the body.
THEY'D wHANG HIM.
You can imagine how a fighter
OF the modern crop would dance
around Belcher and whang him
from every angle. In those days
they didn't know the first thing
about sidestepping or even back
ing out of danger.
The men of old would slowly
,
their best blow and then fall into
clinch. which turned the fight
into melee. The one that threw
the other down won the round.
Naturally there was no gentleness
shown when one of the fighters
was thrown TO the hard dirt In
fact. il was strictly proper to stun
your man in the fall.
There was none Of the feeling of
present-day good sportsmanship
shown at those shambles. Fighters
then were generally considered of
the lowest strata.
WERE JUST MAULERS.
Picture a pair of bullet headed
fighters, poorly trained. knowing
nothing of the points of the game,
mauling and punching away with
no regard for anything.
Then contrast them with two
well-conditioned athletes, moving
around with grace. hitting sharply,
parrying blows with great skill and
gliding out of danger without the
least effort.
Contrast the two spectacies and
you will agree with me that the
ring game has made wonderful
strides toward improvement in the
past century. And il is getting
better every day.
Getting back to Belch: One trait
that played an important part in
his success was his onderfully
even temper. As rule when the
match began each fighter would
hurl abuse at the other fellow.
with the intention of getting him
to lose his temper and therefore
lose his judgment.
That's one thing fighting teaches;
never lose your temper. for with
an excited brain a man is at q
terrible disadvantage.
This is shown in all walks Of
life. A little boy playing in the
street would grab the first i'm
plement handy to throw at a tor
mentor, and while an older per-
son would hardly become SO vicious
he would lose all sense of proper
ton.
HERE'S A LESSON.
Another lesson worth remembering
In the life OF Belcher was his con-
quest Of Joe Berks, bully, who was
seldom sober. Berks was a game
youth and when the fumes of alco-
hol were setting his brain on fire
he was a daredevil in the ring. Like
all drunken men. Berks possessed
the strength Of a dozen persons. and
this enabled him to thrash all op-
position.
Berks picked a fight with Belcher
at a ringside and to the surprise Of
all present Belcher's clear brain and
cleverness lowered the colors OF the
raging. drunken bully. They met
often after that and each time
Belcher left the ring a winner.
This parable OF a drunken fighter
always drop1ing off into oblivion was
never better illustrated than in the
present age. don't believe one per
cent of the professional fighters
touch liquor. They all know that IL
II -