Evening star., 1941-06-23

the crowd The same weight-the
same height-the same speed"
Who would have won?" was
asked.
Who can say?" Bill answered
"Conn is the better hitter and
much more aggressive. Corbett had
the edge in boxing skill and in
ring generalship. I'll take my hat
off to Conn.
Pound for Pound Rates Conn
As Good os They Ever Come
I've seen them all since Sulli-
van was in his prime. Pound for
pound, this Pittsburgh boy is as
good as they ever come. He has
heart, speed, skill, aggressiveness
and style. I always liked style,
And he also had his share of
head until the big temptation came.
He was smart until the love OF
fighting and the arrogance of youth
brought him down.
Louis has been badly over
worked. You can see he is a stale
and a worn man. He had to have
the heart and the fist to pull him
self out of the spot that Conn
handed him.
Il wonder if you know" Bill
Brady said, the influence Jim
Corbett still has on the modern
ring? l don't mean mere boxing
skill 1t was Corbett who gave
Gene Tunney the idea of treating
Dempsey just before the fight with
something almost approaching con-
tempt, just as Corbett treated the
great Sullivan 40 years ago in New
Orleans.
"Corbett, as he entered the ring
that long ago night, completely
ignored Sullivan. Jim was nod
ding and waving to friends around
the ring. He was either laughing
or smiling as John L. sat there and
scowled-and also wondered You
may recall that Gene followed the
same tactics in his first fight with
Dempsey in Philadelphia. Tunney
waved to his friends with a conf
dent smile. Dempsey might just as
well have been ringside post
Dempsey sat scowling at a fellow
who never even looked his way
and Dempsey also must have
wondered.
"No champion likes to see q
challenger who looks carefree, re-
laxed and confident-especially a
champion who has hunch that
he might be slipping
Just os Did Corbett, Conn
Laughs When He Is Hurt
"Corbett had another angle that
Conn uses to a certain extent Mr.
Brady continued. When Corbett
was hit and hurt he either laughed
or he put on a quick offensive
furry to show he hadn't been
stung. Conn does the same thing.
Il remember around the six
teenth round of the Corbett-Jeffries
fight at Coney Island that Jeffries
landed a left hook quite solidly
just before the bell rang. Corbett
laughed AS Jeffries came to his
corner I said, You've hurt him,
Jim. You've hurt him a lot. l
saw him laugh.
And don't forget, my friend that
James J. Jeffries was quite heavy
weight. The fellow johnson licked
wasn't Jim Jeffries.
What do you weigh, Jim?' I
asked jeff as he started training
for johnson. Three hundred and
fourteen pounds he told me. He
was exactly 102 pounds over his
old fighting weight, getting bald,
Etiffened up. I begged him not to
take the fight. I guess he needed
the money. Those blazing klieg
lights above the ring at Coney
years before made both Jeffries and
Sharkey bald"
At this point Mr. Brady turned
cold and challenging eye upon
your correspondent.
Where do you fellows get that
stuff that John L. Sullivan was a
worn-out booze hound when Cor
bett whipped him? How could a
fellow IS years old who had been
fighting for Is years be booze
hound and still travel 81 rounds
against the fastest boxer that ever
lived? Not only that but nearly
20 of those rounds it was Sullivan
who was the main aggresSor.
Sullivan Stolked Gentleman Jim
Just os Louis StoIked Conn
He was stalking Corbett as Louis
stalked Conn. Corbett was not q
big hitter, but he could hurt you
and he Socked Sullivan plenty.
happened to be there as Corbett's
manager and handler. Naturally
I kept close track of Sullivan's
condition. Sullivan drank. Sure,
but he did most of his drinking
when 1t didn't interfere with his
fights. He was just too slow tc
handle one of the greatest boxers
that ever lived.
THE same thing almost hap
pened to Corbett that did happen
to Conn. Corbett had been out
boxing Sullivan, but also keeping
out of reach. We all knew that
John L. could still hit. Along about
the seventh or eighth round Cor
bett told us that he was going out
to slug with Sullivan. I can knock
him out Jim said.
1--WE put crusher on that
thought quickly. We told Corbett to
keep on boxing, not to take any
chance or run any risk. Fortunately
Corbett obeyed. He might have
stopped Sullivan earlier. But why
take gamble he didn't have to
take?"
Brooklyn Recalls Franks