The Washington herald., 1922-01-08

prefers work to idleness.
In spite of all these excellent
qualities Dempsey is slipping back.
And for only one reason. He can't
get matches to keep him Interested
in the ring and to keep his eye
sharp and his hitting judgment
keen.
talked this over with Dempsey
recently. 9
What did you think of me in
the Brennan fight?" asked Jack.
"Why-you weren't up to FORM"
said.
Huh" snorted Dempsey. Form!
l didn't have any such thing.
IF l had been the way l was at
Toledo, or when fought Fulton
and was full of ambition. Brennan
wouldn't have gone much past the
first round. The trouble was that
my ambition was dull. l had the
title and only had to hang on to
1t. had nothing to work for.
trained for the match three or four
times, and 1t was postponed.
got sick of training and didn't
care.
in the ring with Brennan / was
JaoN
with no pep-no drive. had to
drag myself instead of having to
hold myself back. I had to work
hard to finish him. / was a bum,
II you want to know what l think.
What did you think of the Carpen-
tier fight?"
Great fight" 1 said. You didn't
have the Toledo spirit but you had
speed and strength and skill"
Il had nothing" said Dempsey
gloomily. IF you want to know
what l think of that fight we were
pair of buns. l had to train
hard for two months for a fight !!
knew l could win. For the first
time in my life training was a
grind. I hated it. 1 had to do it.
but 1t made We weary. 1t wasn't
fun to fight Carpentier-it was a
Job.
How many times would Car
pentier have hit me on the jaw at
Toledo? And how many times did
he hit me at Jersey City? That's
the answer. l was strong and l
could take it, of course. but | felt
as il l was fighting like AN old
woman. II Carpenter had been a
Jess Willard that day I'd have
been up against it Now you know
what l think about myself.
Toe Much Success.
Some day some husky young fell
low will come along, just the way I
did" said Dempsey. "and then, per-
haps. I'll have my turn being hit on
the chin. No man is too good to be
licked. When / feel that I'm up
against 1t the old ambition Is GO
ing to rise up in me and you'll see
a fight while IL lasts.
But IL some good youngster gets
me I'm GO ,ng to be the first to con-
gratulate him. l don't know but
I'll thank him, becausel when that
happens I can get away from all
this stage stuff and showing off and
being held up by all kind of takers
who think up ways to sue me and
chance to get farm-an orange
grove-and settle down and live
quietly with my folks, like other
people. Gee! That'll be the life"
As to where Dempsey's rival is
coming from. that's hard to say.
Boxing has developed in the navy
until some great fighters are Seing
turned out on every battleship.
Good men may be developed in the
clubs around the country. But
heavyweight battles are not so
much in demand in the present day
of short bouts. Little men give
more action. Few big fellows ap-
pear even in the best arenas. The
public cares less for heavy hitting
and more for speed and skill.
1t isn't at all impossible that
Dempsey may have to retire. events
ually. an unbeaten champion, and
purely for lack Of an opponent good
enough to give him a real battle.
Jeffries was in that fix after knock
ing out Jack Monroe. and history
repeats itself in the ring as well as
anywhere else.