The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-10-22

gone down before the greater De-
have Jeffries, Burns, Fitzsimmon:
rs did Carpenter, who never real
It may be noticed that one nal
supermen of the ring here named.
These opinions and memoirs OF
mine would be unworthy of your at
tention IL they were not carried out
with fun honesty and sincerity. That
. being the case must go on record
- saying that think the greatest
fight In ring history would have &C.
CURED II johnson had met Demp-
sey. OF course, time has prevented
such a match. johnson had bowed
10 years and 1oose-living before
Dempsey became uppermost.
But johnson Is the one heavy
weight champion Of all that have
known who was in his time COM
parable to Jack Dempsey al fight.
ing machine. In a trainers eye both
men owned Everything" They hit
ike piie-drivers, could take punish.
ment, had endurance and added to
dazzling speed the ability to strike
from any angle Of body position with
accuracy and force. Each had a
4ireless pair OF legs and nimble pair
p6 feet.
+; The popular conception Of Cham
zion Dempsey, as / find 1t, is that
{ he Is rough, tough, strong and q
@lugger. He has such qualities all
right. But the public does not
seem to understand what the ex-
perts do, which, is that he is q
master Of the art Of boxing in its
finest points and Is capable under
pressure Of showing flashes Of
speed equal to that Of the fastest
heavyweight champion I have ever
kn0Wn-Jfm COrbett. As well
Coy are the only men who could
ever touch Gentleman Jim's" best
speed. And that gees for Car
pentier.
What would have happened II
Dempsey and johnson, age and con-
0ition being equal, had met, not
Ill my experience Of the ring al
lows me positively to say. All in
eli, in such an event. think, ]
would have been inclined to give
Dempsey the shade for two rea.
sons: The first is, other things
being equal between a white and
q black man. I have noticed that
Invariably the white man could
exercise a psychological superiority
over his brother Of lesser civiliZa-
ton. Somehow the white man al
ways has managed to assume and
maintain the mastery.
The other reason is that Dempsey
always has shown a grimmer, more
determined will to win than John
son. There Is nothing the matter
with Johnson's courage. He had
the true fighters spirit and a
genuine liking for the game-reaI
Champion quality In that respect
as I'm others. But he could be
omiable to a fault. His good
nature could carry him to such
IN extent that once he was sure
he had his man going he would
be reluctant to finish the Job.
Dempsey can be good natured and
generous to an opponent, but only
after he has decisively beaten him.
Once he Is in the ring nothing
moves or stops him until he has
his man down for the count.
Nothing in tho ring will ever stop
him coming under any circum-
stances unless his opponent can
turn the tables and knock him fiat.
Once the sweater Is off and the
gloves fitted and lifted. once the
gong sets things going and you'll
never get smile out of Jack till
the job is done.
/ johnson was the greatest defen-
! sive fighter that ever lived. And
he knew just how far . punch
had to travel. In this respect he
! had no equal among thu other
heayieS and was as wonderful I'm
accuracy as doc Cans. He was
remarkable at recuperating him.
self while actually fighting in the
ring without betraying to his
opponent that he had been hurt.
IL has become the fashion almost
entirely now for a fighter when
himself slipping or dazed, iInmedi-
hang on till he gets back his
breath and steadies himself.
This is good enough strategy in
desperate circumstances but just the
same It is always an unmistakable
signal to your opponent that he has
started you going or, at least, has
hurt you badly.
Johnson's method was entirely
different. He was a great actor at
hiding any sign that he was in
distress. And instead of falling
into the arms OF his antagonist and
huggfng TO escape punishment, he
always could manage a marvellous