Evening star., 1923-09-10

In the jungle was an old gray
monkey who had never fought any
body and who would never have been
able to fight. even had he had the
courage to try But all his life he
had sat in the tree tops in safety
and watched the other animals fight
and it was said OF him that he had
closely observed so many battles that
he was very wise. When the lion
jumped for the deer and missed, the
monkey could tell him what was
wrong with his spring; and when the
deer tried to dodge the lion and
deer's relatives what had been wrong
with the footwork This monkey who
could not fight became a. beast of
great reputation, and all those who
how to fight better went to him and
gave him cocoanuts to teach them
tricks.
The Fable Is Unfoided.
So when the tiger began to train
to- fight the elephant he went to the
monkey for advice. You might be
a greater fighter said the monkey.
"if you would only change your your
Do not use. your teeth In crushing
the life from them. If you kneel on
the elephant properly you viii surely
kill him."
Then the elephant came to the
monkey said, ~"Get some one to g1law
oft your toenails until they are sharp
like the tigers claws and make use
Of them to scratch and then too, IN
stead of elzneeling on your toes as
you have done in the past try bltlng
them and some day you may amount
to something as a fighter.
So the tiger practtced skneellng
and the elephant practfced biting.
i do not know what happened when
they fought, but ! am sure II must
have been a funny combat. Perhaps
If Dempsey were TO listen to mis-
critics and 1 were to listen to mine.
the fight out at the Polo grounds would
be very funny also. Who knows?
Maybe it is not a very good fable,
this one / have told you about. but
it teaches me one thing. That is
that it is better for the elephant TO
fight like the elephant and for the
tiger to fight like a tiger:
Me, | am Luis Anger Firpo, ana
IL / am to win, then l must fight
like myself and not try to do 1t IKE
some one who is not. Luis Angel
Firpo. If shall lose then 1t VIII
be because Luis Firpo at his fpest
cannot win and not because LUIS was
a person he is not. / may be LUIS
the elephant, or Luis the tiger, put
am not a Luis, who listens too long
to the chattering of gray monkeys
in the trees. -
"f think it always is best that a
man who fights for a living. should
use his fists in the ring to answer
the arguments of those who write
for a living. But they ask me that
1 say something In answer 10 tne
sure to meet defeat because l cannot
defend myself I will answer that
by asking the critics which man w&s
hit the most often by Willard. my self
or FLOYD Johnsen2 TY1,n Those ss wno at EdlS know
son more often than he hit Luis
Firpo. Johnson is fast man and
good bexer,sso they say. why then'
was willard able to hit him more
often than he hit me?
MAYBE the boxing critics forget
that when an army fights it is said
that the best defense Is good
offense. Even the men who admire
me the least admit that I have some
thing admirable In the way OF OF
fense. Who knows?
Cites Case of Corbett.
"I would ask, too, that my friends
remember the time long while saeo
when q slender young man from San
francisco was matched to meet the
great John L. Sullivan. The slender
young man-Corbett was the name-
did not box the way. critics OF that
time said a man should box II he
would defeat Sullivan No. He boxed
in the way he thought to be best for
him and every one said that il. was
funny to think he could defeat a
giant heavyweight with such soft,
tapping blows. But 4Cofbett won in
Mss.own way and became the found
er OF a new school of prize fighters.
Now come with my own way OF
fighting. which is perhaps the way
Sullivan fought.
do not say before hand that I
shall surely have the success that
Itwasfthes portion of Corbett, but If I
win by hard smashing blows and
make an offense my defense / do
say that the boxing world Will not
be more astonished than at that time.
long ago, when John l.. Sullivan sank