East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1922-01-17
lack BRITT()N REMAINS
|. CHAMPION At AGE WHEN
MOST MED ARE THROUGH
Clean Living, Regular Hours
Have Helped Him to be Best
of Welters at Sc, He Says.

international News Sporting Editor.
NEW YORK, Jan. 1I.-Ye sporting
scribe and We sporting fan may rant
and rave TO his hearts contest IN
praise of veterans who are still star
ring in various branches of sport.
Such wonder men as Ty Cobb, Wal
ter johnson, Frank Kramer. stan
Zbyszko and Al De Orc deserve oedles
of praise. And they get it.
| But to the notion of this writer the
peer of all the veterans today is none
other than our brilliant welterweight
/ champion. William j. Breslin, better
I known to all of us as Jack Britton.
/ For nineteen years Jack Britton has
been jousting in the squared circle
He has seen his thirty-sixth birthday
pass along and is well on the road to-
ward his thirty-seventh. Yet to look
at him today one might well discount
his age by five or six years and to see
him in ring togs, working diligently
for the coming defense of his title at
Madison Square Garden January 81
against young Dave Shade, is to mar
| vel at the manner of the man.
Britton in Fine Shape
| ! Jack is as cleaa-limbed and finely
conditioned in appearance today as
many boxer fully ten years his
| junior. He isn't carrying fatty tissue
around his waistline. He is as nimble
on his feet as a two-year-old colt ana
his speed and accuracy in propeliins
his gloves. the tools of his trade, are
inspiring. 5"
| When it is remembered that Jacl
Britton has been a star in the strenu
Gus game of give and take for nearly
n decade it is difficult to see where
any of the other veterans can claim
anything on him in the way of stand
ing off the ravages of time. BoMni
demands more physical endurance
than most sports. The best argu
ment in substantiation of this is thu
fact that in nearly all other lines o
sport the player is through before n
reaches the age of thirty. Baseball
is the one notable exception, ant
baseball cannot be compared to box
ing for the claims it makes on tn
players physique.
Had Jack Britton been an indlffer
ent boxer, prone to satisfy himsel
with few fights a year, the claim
this writer makes for him would nc
be worth while. But like the aggres
sive fellow he is in the ring, Britto
has fought hundreds of battles and h
is one champion who will not tur
down an opponent who wants action.
ii Jack Tells His Story
Let him tell you a little, somethin
about himself. He can best eXplai
why he has been able TO hold up a
these years
III Nineteen active years in the ring,
says Britton, is bound to teach i
boxer something about the value c
clean living, regular habits and con
II | stant activity. "
III "In hundreds of bouts | have foun
that by keeping myself up TO cci
tain standard of condition all tn
time ! could go along without feelin
the wear and tear of action to an
great extent.
III When Ted Lewis and I wei
matched for the bout in which l re
gained the welterweight champion
ship | had been working constant
for several months.
II have made it rule to do Gel
tain amount of road work and ais
work out in gymnasium nearly evel
day.
1T was this kind of work and do,
ems of exhibition bouts in which
III boxed for the soldiers that primed m
for my battle with Lewis. am thirt
odd years of age, and l have bee
through all the struggles that com
to boxer.
III Il have my little family and tn
fact that have always tried by bes
to take care of myself to thank fo
the fact that | am still champion
And my advice to every young boxe
is to remember first, last and all tn
time that the bright lights and sue
cess in the ring cannot be mixed.