Evening star., 1926-08-09

n labeled a physical wreck" ;"
~ "hstic has been and few
n things OF the same sort. the
chance comes TO me to prove that
I'm in better condition today and a
better ringman than at any time i'll
my fighting lifetime.
And. after three long years of
training and training and training.
just to keep in shape and to hold
close to tip-top fighting form, I'm
training at last with fight ahead
as reward for the monotonous and
fought routine.
| knew that some time or other, Id
get the opportunity to fight. And l
also knew the folly of not keeping
in shape. ! remembered what hap
pened to Willard, Johnson. Jeff,
Sullivan and the others. l always
had the idea that lack of condition.
more than anything else, whipped
them. And | resolved that no matter
when my time came to have "ex"
written before my name, it
never would be followed by the alibi
of lack Of condition"
fought to keep in shape to jump
into a ring on +S hours notice. could
do 1t right now, despite the hundred
and one wild and inaccurate stories
that have been written about me. I'm
not. at this moment. tuned up TO
what's called concert pitch" That
can't come without q month OF the
strenuous grind that I'm mapping
out for myself. But I guess that II
I were called upon to defend my title
today, l could climb into a ring and
step along for IS rounds just about
as fast as any man in the world could
carry me.
Never Much Overweight.
II now IL three years since I've
battled in defense Of my title, but
never once, despite all the wild tales
that have been printed. have l been
more than seven pounds from my
fighting best. I've read, through those
years. a variety Of stories that con-
cerned by poundage. One writer had
he bulking around 225 less than a
year ago. Others put my poundage
between 210 and 220.
And then, just 10 vary the facts
bit. the boys swung in the other d.
rection. Three months ago I was
rather surprised to read that I weigh
ed only 1856. Two weeks after that
some Of the boys chopped me right
down to 176 while few took the
guess that I was scaling mo more
than ITO" and was losing pounds and
more pounds by the minute.
Cites the Real Facts.
The real facts are these:
In 1923. when I fought my last battle
against Luis Firpo-I weighed ex.
exactly 1914 pounds. At no time since
then have l weighed even as much
an an ounce less. And the most l
have ever weighed in the time since
that battle was 205 pounds with my
clothes on. My toys weigh at least
four pounds. that, my greatest
weight since 1928 has been 2Ol.
And that POI was immediately after
an ocean trip. during which l had
little chance for a workout. My aver
axe weight through the years since
the Firpo fight has been 1S7h--1ust
Al. pounds beyond what i weighed
when at the peak.
Jess Willard. after three years OF
inactivity as champion. was about ~
pounds overweight; Jack johnson was
about 35 pounds too heavy, and Jim
JefYries was nearly so pounds too
bulky, while John i. Sullivan had to
train of about 40 or so for Jim Cor
bett's fight in 1892.
How Jack Dopes 1t Out.
The contention on the part Of many
EXPERTS is that inactivity so far as
actual defense Of the title is con-
rerned lost the fights for that quartet.
7 decided long ago that It wasn't ex-
artlv Inactivity I came to conclude
that thev left their titles in the gym
narum: that their wild efforts to shear
of the mighty rolls OF fat they had
accumulated took the energy and the
real strength from them and that
when they climbed into the ring they
had nothing left.
So I concluded that whenever l was
idle Ia never let myself get very 1ar
away from perfection in phySicai !
WAY. Whenever ! climbed up around
tho zoo mark Ia go In Tor training
and keep at it until | was close 10 my
Firpo fight poundage. Then Ia gave
NV body "A little char to relax. oniE
to get busy again when weight began
to get back on my frane.
To Develop Workmanship.
The result Is that today I'm almost
at fighting weight. My muscles are
supple and as fun OF zip as OF ola.
won't need to burn up any energy
fighting off weight. nor in transform
ing fiahbv muscles into condition. All
that will need to do is to develop my
mark sma nship "A bit more. acquire
little more speed. get my legs in shape
and then I'm ready.
Many champions have been beaten
nv old Kid "Out of Condition but
lack Dempsey. no matter how long ne
holds the title never will be whipped
hy that enemy.