The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1927-05-12

~ seems to be q tossup az to
whether sluggery or boxing skill Is
The greater asset in ring warfare
among the heavyweights.
f you peruse the records that en-
brace the Hist Of heavyweight cham
pions from Sullivan's day to mine,
you viii find this:
Sluggers- Sullivan, Fitzsimmons.
Dempsey. Boxers Corbett. John
son, Tunney.
Jeffries and willard do not seem
to come strictly under either CLASH
fication. They were mixture OF
both. jeff was great boxer when
he needed to be. Also. he was ter
rifle hitter. He won some of his
greatest battles because OF his skill
as a boxer, while he triumphed in
others by just going out, as Sulli-
van, Fitz and Dempsey did, and
making 1t toe-to-toe encounter with
tho slogan, may the better puncher
win"
willard was a terrific hitter in
those moments when he really went
out to slug. He was. because Of his
great size, and his powerful reach,
q good boxer, Inasmuch as his left
Jab enabled him to keep most of his
foemen at a very respectable dis
tance. So Wizards success was
achieved, like Jeff's, partly through
being a boxer and partly because,
when angered or goaded, he became
. vicious slugger.
Apparently the average pugi-
isttc devOtees rate slugger In
higher esteem than they do
boxer. This is reflected in the
fact that when Sullivan, q slug.
ger. met COrbett. the boxer,
that Sullivan was a 4 to | bet
ting favOrite. And when Demp-
sey and / met, the public made
Jack q to / faVOrite over me.
Not so long ago / talked to q
man who has lived for many years
in the shadows Of the prize rings,
and asked him why the public
usually favored a slugger over a
boxer, he answered:
well, boxer usually has to
travel the entire route to gain a
victory. The only way he can
figure to win against a slugger is
to keep out Of danger all through
the fight and. meanwhile, land his
taps and snaps and roll up his
points In that way.
but q slugger-well, he may lose
the first Ia rounds Of q 15-round
fight and he still can win by put
ting through paralyzing punch In
the fifteenth.
$50, you see, the public
fav0rs the sIugger because he
needs only one or two we'll
placed shots to win. whereas
the boxer must land few hun.
dred punches"
that they usually have trouble de-
feating men smaller than them
selves. John l.. had two chances
Mitchell--and couldn't put him
away. Fitz knocked out all the big
fellows through q four or five.year
against the smaller Joe Choynski,
when he was going at his superla-
tive best, was draw.
And Dempsey was no different.
He had three chances against the
midget Willie Meehan, and never
stopped him. Against other men,
smaller and lighter than himself.
Dempsey was not effective. Like
John L. and F'itz, Dempsey gained
his reputation for greatness only
against slow moving big men.
It was my opinion. long ago.
that q fast. clever boxer could
beat the greatest Of sluggers.
So / went in for boxing. rather
than smuggling. met mn one
day with the greatest slugger
Of this generation the result
II history.
A boxer is not as spectacular as
q slugger. but he plods along and
gets results-and results are the
only things that really count.
Gete Tunney will tell Times
readers tomorrow how he be-
came known as q user of high
brow speech.
Copyright 1877, by King Features
Syndicate, Inc.)
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