San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-03-31
CAVE MAN IS
GOOD ROLE IN
BOXING RING
Firpo Benefits Like Jeffries
Did, for Public Likes
Sensations.
THE "HEAVY" SIZE.UP
Edgren Inclined to Dis.
count Willard for Firpo
and Johnson.
BY ROBERT EDGREN.

BY ROBERT EDGREN.
The boxing world is always looking
for new sensation. There is FirpC
from the Argentine, huge. bear-like
brawny. enduring, and with the ele
mental hunger for combat and destruc.
ton strong in him.
Jim Jeffries a few days ago said
IF l started all over again I'd stick
to that cave man stuff. As long as
they called me a cave man crowds
came to see me and / made n lot OF
money out of fighting. When / be.
came more of a boxer and the papers
began to print pictures of me in good
clothes and tell what a nice fellow !
was to meet l lost half the public's
interest"
Firpo, hurting his bulk against Bren.
mans best punches, cut. smashed
bruised, and caring nothing for it.
tearing in to give blow for blow. final
ly battering Brennan down the way a
grizzly might batter down an OK. was
cave man. He was still a cave man
when he left the Garden after the
fight and went to a Greenwich Vii
lage party and danced all night. with
patches over his split eyebrow and
white teeth grinning. through lips
thickened by Brennan's stabbing left.
Firpo should take Jeffries' tip and
stay Gave man." He'll make money
out of it.
They used TO call Jeffries "the cave
man." and Jim looked the part. Ex-
cept for his friends he had gruff
manner and n short way of speaking
in monosyllables. In the ring he
looked the cave man, with skin burned
black by the sun, Ions black hair over
his body and arms, and his tremend-
Gus chest and arms and legs.
Built Different Way.
Firpo is big man. strong man.
game, confident. full of fighting spirit.
thick-set. rugged. heavy. Perhaps he
IS the nearest thing to Jeffries seen
since Jeff's time. But he isn't the
cave man Jeffries was. Firpo weighs
30 pounds and has thick, paunchy
body. Jeffries weighed as much and
had a 32-inch waist and a 4S-inch
chest, Jeffries could 60 out and run
ten miles and finish like a sprinter.
There were very few runners. and
no fighters. that Jeffres couldn't run
off their feet in anything from 100
yards to 10 miles. He'd have made o
cave man, all right, with his great
strength and fast legs. The cave man
must have had TO do quite bit of run
ming. in the days of the cave tiger and
the mammoth and the cave bear.
jess Willard says he'll be delighted
to box Firpo just as soon as he fin
ishes johnson. johnson says he'll take
firpo as soon as he's put Willard out
of it. Willard thinks he can easily
outmatch Firpo in strength. and that
outboxing him will be a joke. VIII
lard might have outmatched the wild
man from Argentine a few years ago.
There was time when Willard didn't
feel swinging punch on the Jaw. But
how he'lF go today we'll know bette
after May II.
Willard must be feeling good in
training. 10 talk of taking on another
fight before getting his promised
chance with Dempsey. 1t was tacitly
understood that if he could whip John
son, he'd be given his return match for
the championship. But if he could
stow away both Johnson and Firpo
there'd be no denying him right 10 a
championship match.
Ime. says dempsey.
Dempsey. at his Los Angeles home.
said when he had the Brennan news
from New York: Il knew Firpo could
wallop. / may have softened Bill a
bit. but he was still tough and Firpo
must be pretty good TO stop him. OF
course, I'd be delighted to accommo-
date Firpo If l had a chance. but
there's no hurry. Let him have time
to flatten few more of the boys and
when the public wants the match I'll
be there TO sign
Firpo, being a wise fellow. says that
he is in no hurry TO tackle Dempsey,
is willing to wait year and have
three or four more matches before go.
ing after the big title.
| / could name fifty boxers who might
have become champions il they hadn't
been rushed along by managers anx-
ious to grab the big gate money in
championship matches. Matching. a
half-developed boxer against q cham
pion is poor business. For one thing.
being outclassed and knocked out once
usually takes away youngsters conf
dence. Look over the list of cham
pions who suffered knockouts.
| Dempsey was knocked out "on the
handshake" by Jim Flynn. when he
was novice boxing four-round bouts.
He quit the ring for a year or more
and it took all of Jack Kearns' per.
suasiveness to induce him to try again.
I'm no good as a fighter, Mr.
Kearns," Dempsey insisted when
kearns went after him.
Sullivan. Jeffries. Corbett. Fitzsim-
mons. Burns and Willard never suf
fered knockout until they lost the
championship. Fitz had a knockout
scored against him by Jim Hall in
Australia. when he was n horseshoer
with fighting as a side line. but he al
ways claimed he didn't know the game
then and followed instructions when
he was told to 'lie down" in an exhi-
bition bout.
Jack johnson. as novice. was
Knocked out once. by Joe Choynski.
Being knocked out made him an ex-
tremely cautious boxer and he de-
veloped skill that made him champion.
Even as champion johnson never left
an opening through carelessness or
made a rash move in a fight. If he
had been little more reckless he'd
have been greater champion.
Firpo VS.. johnson.
! Stanley Eefehpl was midd weight