The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-08-27
BY WARREN w. BROWN.

Of the Giant from Argentina tn
single, decisive punch. Firpos pu
hitter, q sharpshooter.
Yet the results were as highly
satisfactory, as far as stopping his
man was concerned, as the most
accurate puncher could have de-
sired. The end came to Brennan,
willard and Weinert when they
sank TO the floor completely done
mp. But the closest observer could
not recall afterward any ONE punch
that sent them down.
Out in Indianapolis, Joe Downey,
E1rpo's last opponent before he be
gan training for his September IA
bout with Jack Dempsey. collapsed
AFTER the fight with Firpo and
was unconscious for several hours,
though the contest had been waged
with sixteen-ounce gloves.
Il was to satisfy the curiosity Of
my readers on the strange effect Of
the Firpo punching that DR.. Walker
was asked to explain the "Firpo
finish"
Before attempting the explana-
ton Of the cause Of the collapse
of FirpO's opponents II might be
wen to get an idea Of what takes
place when the ordinary knockout
punch to the Jaw is delivered.
DIR. Walker said. 'HThe effect Is
picked M and dashed against the
back Of the skull. The knockout
punch is delivered as the head
comes toward the punch. There
Is q resultant snap, . sudden stop
ping Of circulation, and your man
Is ont.
''One Of Firpo's peculiar punches
IL that which lands on the back OF
the head, at the base of the brain.
It's effect II the same as that Of
punch on the jaw, but 1t is next
to impossible to get q clean punch
ut the back of q mans head for
obvious reasons.
eft IL only when Firpo comes
along with his wide, sweeping swings
that actually curl around the head
that you find any sort Of eff
cheney In these baclk-of-the-ear and
rabbit punches. But at best their
effect depends upon their FIRE.
The Tirpo club.puneh that he
brings down on the back Of an oppo.
over has much the same effect as
kl1a4 the head 10 not COMING
TOWARD the blow, but rather
swing with IL. I might say that II
n this punch alone of all his back
ee-the-head assortment that might
aRuge q sudden knockout.
what say Of Firpo's curling
vund the head holds true of
those he starts toward the body.
Where Dempsey punches straight
out and makes his target the
FRONT Of the body, E1rpo's sweeps
carry his gloved fists AROUND
the body, 80 that they land on his
opponents sides. AS there is no
vulnerable spot at the sides Of -
man 10 stands TO reason that no
ONE punch landing there will stop
him.
Thus 70 q that Ffrpo's knock
outs. II such they can be called,
come after e series Of thudding
punches to the body, particularly
to the left side, the natural tar
get from the sweeping right fist
he waves through the air.
The collapse IL the result of con-
gegtion of the blood. The persistent
hanamering at this one spot on the
body brings this about. No single
punch, delivered as Firpo sends In
his, could accomplish this. That
II why Brennan and Willard and
Wetnert went down and could not
get up. though very few, If any,
could name the punch that sent
them to the floor.
while ] did not see the Downey
fight, from all accounts his collapse
was the result of the same steady
pounding. 1t was purely acciden-
tai that the collapse took place
AFTER the bout was over. The
stoned by the NUMBER of punches
that Ffrpo landed on Downey's
head and against his body.
There is really nothing more
unusual about Firpo's hitting Of
fects than there is about Dempsey's.
1t merely happens that Firpo ie
Q swinger and not a straight
puncher. I do not think he is as
hard a hitter as Dempsey, though
both hit hard enough for all prac-
deal purposes.
Il saw Firpo hit Brennan on the
arm and raise a blue mark larger
than silver dollar have never
seen that done by any other
puncher. But, then. I saw Demp-
sey hit Brennan on the BODY.
buckle him up and drive him to
the floor with a punch to the back
OF the head as deadly as ANYTHING
F1rpo ever delivered.
Afterward ] asked Brennan
about it. He told me the punch
TO the body was the one that
4loored him. To this day ne "a
convinced 1t was But it wasn't
It was that punch on the back of
the head. ] merely cite this to
show that there were back-of.the.
head punches that were ONE
punches before Firpo was ever
heard Of.
Really, there's no mystery about
The 'Firpo finish at ALL"
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