BOXING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 266, 22 August 1936, Page 2

BOXING.

“THEY CANNOT COME BACK!” CORBETT AND JEFFERIES FAIL. The come-back road in the ring is a hard road to travel. History doesn’t record anyone who has made the grade. But as long as there are fighters who have gone down the grade, they will retain the notion that after a period of training they will be able to come back and be as good as they were before they began to slip, says an American writer.

Perhaps the best illustration of a great fighter who attempted to come back, and who came nearest to accom plishing the feat, was the late Jim Corbett. He didn’t go about the task by training for a few months, but he put in a whole year and he really did look fit when he pronounced himself in condition. Corbett had always led a careful life so far as his health was concerned, and he got the idea that he could defeat Jeffries. This was in 1900. They met in Coney Island. The fight was scheduled for 25 rounds. Of course no one expected that Corbett would knock Jeffries out, but they did have a sort of feeling that he might outpoint Jeffries and thereby reinstate himself at the top of the heavyweight class. For 20 rounds they battled and Corbett made a punching bag of Jeffries but the punches were not hard enough to have much effect on the giant boilermaker, who was at that time in firstclass condition and could take any amount of punishment such as Corbett could administer either to the head or to the body. It really began to look as if Corbett would be able to prevent Jeffries from landing the one punch that he had been trying to land through the fight. They came into the twenty-third round and now there were only two more rounds to go. The spectators that night were worked up into a frenzy of excitement rarely seen around the ringside. Everybody was “pulling” for Corbett as the only man who ever came back. But in the 23rd round Jeffries managed to land one punch and Jim Corbett took the count. That stopped his comeback, hut he came within two rounds of establishing a record. Ten years after that Jack Johnson, the big coloured giant, was the cliam-

pi on of the world. The coloured race swelled up with a good deal of pride when Johnson annexed the title and they became rather obnoxious in many ways, so much so that there was a general cry for some white man to come forth and knock the pride of the coloured race flat on his back.

Jim Jeffries seemed to be the choice to perform this task, and so Jim Jeffries went into training to make the grade to come back. ; Right uown in his heart it is doubtful if Jeffries felt very confident of being able to defeat Johnson. He, was rather pushed into the match. He went through with it to the best of liis ability. But when they met, Jim Jeffries acted as if he had stage .'right and after a round or so of fighting, when Johnson in a clinch actually picked up the big fellow and then set him down on his feet, Jeffries and everybody else around the ring knew it was only a question of time when Jeffries would go into d’V card like all of the others who had tried to come back, and in the 15th round he took the count. And now Louis Firpo is on the comeback trail. Will he really succeed in proving the rule by being the exception, or will he go the way of the rest? it remains to be sun SCHMELING DIDN’T FIGHT FOR MONEY. HIS BOUT WITHI LOUIS The best story of the JVlax SchmelingJoe Louis fight was written by Schmeling, himself before the bout. Schmeling told his readers that he had a beautiful wife and plenty of money and that he didn’t go to America just to fight. He went to win and win he did. Maxie said other fighters were licked before they stepped into the ring and did not take much stock in the class of fighters that Louis had been licking here in America—who did? Tom O’Rourke, who died in SchrceJing’s arms, just before the fight started. really gave Max the prescription to beat Louis.

O’Rourke told Schmeling that Lcuis always led his left twice and to sti-p in and throw his right after Louis led his first left. This really won the fight for Schmeling. They once called Schmeling the Dempsey of Germany, and it looks like he has earned that title. Having seen the bout (states an American writer) I am of the opinion that Joe; Louis will be heard of plenty yet. He is but 22 years of age and sliows plenty of class. I can hardly agree with Jack Dempsey that Louis has a glass chin.