San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-03
Consequently, America
Stands Little Chance in
Olympic Boxing.
SOME BOXING STORIES
Edgren Passes on Yarns
Jim Jeffries' Brother,
s Jack, Told.
BY ROBERT EDGREN


boxers 10000 are amateurs. The
French are going to make great eff
fort to capture some of the Olympic
championships. They will have good
chance to win. We have many excel
lent amateur boxers, but as soon as an
amateur in this country shows any
real ability professional managers
camp on his trail with tempting
promises and offers. Few good boxers
stay in the amateur class. America
would have three lympic champions
without a rival if Frank GenarO and
Paul Berlenbach hadn't become pro-
fessionals. Both competed in the
Olympic games at Amsterdam ,Genaro
as a flyweight boxer and Berlenbach
as n wrestler. L: was after the
Olympics that Berlenbach, encouraged
by Dan Hickey. turned from wrestling
TO boxing. Genaro has twice beaten
Villa. the worlds flyweight champion.
and holds the American professional
flyweight title, Ber!enbach. as a pro-
fessional, is going right along adding
to his list of one and two round knock
, outs and is the most likely looking
youngster seen in professional boxing
circles in many years. 1t would not
be surprising to see him take both mid
dleweight and lightweight titles in an
other year. All he lacks is experience,
and he's acquiring that rapidly.
There are, of course, many other
amateurs in America. In the light
heavyweight class we still have Ed
ward Eagen. (now a Rhodes scholar at
Oxford. who won the Olympic light
heavyweight title last time.
Biggest Entry List Yet.
The coming Olympic games will at
tract the biggest list of contestants on
record. Teams will come from all
parts Of the earth. The original no.
ton in resurrecting the ancient Greek
games and making them open TO the
world was to encourage friendly COM
petition and mutual respect among
nations. There is no better way TO
make the stranger nations of the world
acquainted.
India. the Philippines, Japan. China,
Australia, Siam. Turkey. Mexico,
South Africa and many other places
will send athletic teams TO compete
against the veterans from America AMI
European countries. Athletic sports
are reaching out to all the world.
Down In the Argentine and Chile. as
well as other South American coun-
tries, they are training swimmers,
tennis players. fencers, boxers. polo
players, wrestlers and other athletes
for Olympic competition.
The official prediction from France
is that fifty-four nations will send
about six thousand athletes 10 COM
pete in the Olympic games of 1924, in
the summer sports alone.
Great Jump From 1906.
A great jump from the first re-
newal of the Olympic Games at Athens
in 1896. where a few athletes from
the Boston 4. A. and the y. y. a. L.
went over to represent America and
beat the English team that expected
TO have almost no competition. a
thousand athletes will compete now
for score that competed then
Twenty years from now all nations
will be sending tremendous teams to
the Olympic Games, and the nations
will be so well acquainted that the
spirit OF sportmanslike competition
may make the old war spirit seem
archaic.
Jack Jefferies tells a lot of funny
stories about the Old-time ring cham
pions. Jack was a pretty good heavy
weight himself when he was travelling
around the county with his brother
Jim. and he won lot of fights. Jacks
favorite topic. in talking over the old
timers, is Bob Fitzsimmons.
when Jim was training at Har-
bin Springs for the Corbett fight in
Frisco" Jack says, Bob came TO the
camp, bringing his new wife. He had
Just been married TO Julia Clifford. the
singer. Naturally Bob Syanted to show
his bride what n fighting man he was.
He became great friend of Jim's
after Jim had beaten him the second
time He thought jim was the great
est man in the world, and he wanted
10 teach Jim all his fighting tricks.
Bob and | did most of the boxing with
Jim at Hardin. One day Jim laid off
and didn't work. and Bob came around
10 me and asked me TO box. Jim kid
ded him and told him he'd have to
look out, as ] was pretty fast and
might land on him. but Bob said that
was all right. He wanted his wife
to see him box somebody.
$50 he went TO the gym and started
in. Bob was the greatest boxer in the
world. He could shuttle in close 10
you before you knew it, and then dig
in little short punches, and gee. they
were punches. And he could roll his
head around so that he was the hard
est man in the world to hit. We had
been boxing n few minutes when i let
20 hard lift and Bob stepped into
it. 1t drove his upper lip down so that
his teeth went nearly through it and
the lip stuck there. Bob was making
faces and trying to get his lip loose.
which he couldn't do because of the
gloves, and the blood ran over his
chin, and his wife screeched. oh my
Bob-oh, my Bob,' as if she thought
he was killed. Fitz pulled his lip
loose and washed his mouth out with
some water, and said: Come on Jack
that's nothing"
No More That Day.
But I'd pulled the gloves off.
didn't box any more with Fitz-not
that day. Can you imagine what he'd
have done to me. to make good with
the bride? He wasn't sore. Old Bob
never had any meanness in him and
he thought it was joke when any
one put anything over on him. But
didn't box any more that day. After
ward. of course. and old FitZ never
tried to get even for that punch. We
were great friends.
81 had another fuzny experience
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