BOXING

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 7 August 1926, Page 13

BOXING

FIGHTING BONERS

THOSE AYHO PLAY THE DUAL ROLE,.

Grantland Rice, the foremost- sports writer in America., lias a most interesting article in Collier’s Weekly, on that rare product of the ring tlie boxer-fighter, the man who possesses the ability to fight or box, the man who can -successfully play the dual ao.e, the man who, a boxer one moment, m a fighter the next. ‘To students of boxing the article is extremely instructive. Those who read it will note Mr Rice s summing up of Jack Delaney, of Mho-111 he has th e liighe-st opinion as expressed .in many of his articles on champions and near champions. Delaney is now champion of the light-heavyweight cla-ss, he having recently gained , a, decision over Paul Berlinbach, bolder or the. title. Following are extracts from Mr Rice’s article: — . The job of finding some young fellow who can do just two. things box Mith first-class skill and hit lustily with two hands—is still discouraging, the promoters Mho desire to sail with t-li© golden tide. You can cliec-k back through most of the divisions to find how few there have been in ring history who were fast, scientific boxers and Mho, in addition, had a. knock-out wallop in either list. This is ©spec 1 a I.V true of heavyweights, or those- bordering the lieavyn-eight- division. John- L. Sullivan wa-s- a slashing hitter with a rare ring spirit, but only a fair boxer. .James J. Corbett was a brilliant boxer, but lie lacked the killing punch. Rob Fitzsimmons oould hit and. box, and lie is still regarded by many as the greatest fighting mail, pound tor pound, the- ga,in e has ever seen. I 1 or lie mu.s only a. bit more than a .middleweight, between thirty-live and forty years old. wlie-n he got Ills big chance. Jeffries was big, -strong and tough, with a, great- ’oft hand, but only a fair boxer, as his meetings with Corbett and Fitzsimmons proved. Jack Johnson was a. good boxer, with a- first-cl-ass punch, but his main skill lav in his fine- defence-. 'Willard was just big. Dempsev has been a hard hitter, with a- M-orkl of ring spirit in assault, but no marvel as a- boxer. Georges Canpentier was a gcod boxer who could hit with his -i-ioht hand, but the combination of skillful boxers' able to hit with either hand lias -always been about as rare as the footprint of a. ghost. There is, of course, a reason for all this. The export, as a rule, must focus his concentration on .on© definite line. To- be a great defensive- boxer, ono must specialise in defence,, o-ni speed, and skill and quickness on the art- of flitting and getting a May. On©, mustthink largely along defensive lines, To he a- fine offensive- boxer, one must specialise. iu quick, hard, hitting a.n-d concentrate- along lines of attack. It is difficult to mix the- two arts or practice both at the -same time-. Harry Grc-b, a lighter hitter, usually accomplished his purpose by the speed and fury of his attack, not by its poMer. If Jim: Corbett had gone in for, harder hitting, he n'ould -have lost -some of his defensive skill. H© preferred to bank upon his -speed of foot and the quickness of his tu r o hands. The heavy hitter must crowd in at closer range and get -set to apply the full -power of las punch. One reason why Dempsey failed to stop Tom Gibbons- at Shelby was that Gibbons refused lx> let the champion get sot for auv killing blow. Gibbons, a good boxer, kept Dempsey off balance. About the t ime- Dempsey got set Gibbons uas dv.iicing out ol range.

AY hat a chance there is for someone who can break down the. double- barrier and -do both tilings u’©H! Suppose another man lilc© Joe Guns came along, • weighing ISO pounds. Gails was a great boxer, and no man near his weight could hit as hard. He was a- master of feet and ha-lids, a, black ghost who knew when, whore and how to- strike.

“\A r ho hurt you most?” I asked Bat Nelson; one day. "Ca 11s.” lie said. “It was just a little, while before he died, and he was weak at the time. But lie hit me; in the side with a. right- and L thought he had torn me- in two. I never felt pe.in like that before. 1 thought every rib I had in 111© was broken, and I could barely breathe.” Dempsey will never be the Dempsey that Mas," the hitting hurricane; and Wills, on his way to thirty-five, isn’t co the upward march. AVi lls or Tunney, reaching the top, would have only -a short span left in which to rule. And where is tlie next challenger in sight with the, rarest of the combinations to offer the game? Most of the possibilities are now light-heavyweights, and most of them are afflicted with the same .limitation s-

Pa.ul Berlenbach has rare fighting instinct, with a punishing left hand. But Bertenbaeh is on the slow: side, and still shy in boxing skill. Young Strfbling Inis speed and strength, and he knows every trick of the trade. But if there is any guncotton, buried; in either leather-covered fist- he lia.s shown it only oil rare occasions. He is hard to hit, but lie isn’t any attacking whirlwind. The gymnasiums are full of young giants working for the pot of gold, but where many are ended almost none of them is fit to be chosen.. Most of them can’t box and most of them can’t hit. Someone like Jack Sharkey, of Boston, may suddenly show the needed improvement. The one boxer -along tlie borderline of the lie av y M r ei,ghtg who has upset most of the statistics now appears in the person of Jack Delaney, of Bridgeport, who can draw more applause from a crowded gathering than any two boxers now in the business.

Delaney, a tad, slender, .serious young man with a refined, sensitive face, doesn’t quite belong in the atmosphere where he lias made -such an impression. There is no sign of bulk alnxit his person His wavy black hair crowns a countenance that Mas never intended to rest in the crimson welter of the rosin. His 1 legs air© sldin and his arms give no appearance of muscular force. He doesn’t seem to be built for taking punishment. But it so- happens that lie, is exceedingly fast upon his feet, that ]ie is a- brilliant boxer, with a cool, clear head, and above- all that he lias a. package of dynamite concealed in either hand.

If he was as strong and rugged as Jack Dempsey, lie Mould sto-p the champion in two- or three -rounds. If ho had the physical build of Harry AVi 11s, there would be no heavyweight argument left. But Delaney, minus my physical ruggedness, has been riding along on skill and punching power, 011 th© rare combination, .so few boxers have over known. He hasn’t the headlong assail't- of a, Dempsey or a G-reb. He hasn’t the physique to face, the- Dempsey-like type of war. He must use his defensive skill to keep out of danger, and wait his chance. He is able to give a fine exhibition of defensive boxing until that. chance comes, and when it does ho ig a. sniper who rarelv misses.

In spite of injuries and residents and 'aok of fibre toughness, he has .knocked out Herlenbaeh, Flowers (twice), Mike M’Tigiie and several other® who were accustomed to 'remaining on. their feet. Small wonder {he caught and held the fancy and admiration of the crowd, highbrow and lowbrow alike.

II- is something to see Inin weaving in aiul out, ducking, blocking, feinting, jabbing, getting away and returning to tlve charge like another Corbett, where one knows that any moment a. short left or a. lightning right may come winging through the white arc light glow to leave an opponent floundering. With most good boxers it. is. largely a case of piling up points and smearing the enemy’s attack; hut with Delaney there is always the feeling of approaching drama. where, after a flurry of boxing -skill, the killing thrust may close out the show. Here is science hooked with power —pow»ar that depends- upon fine timing rather than physical strength. He is one of the few who can box with the best of boxers, r,nd hit with the best of the punchers, knowing that he hasn't the physique to trade- wallops with most of his opponents. Hemust keep pretty well away until the time comes, but when it does the-res is no delay in the countercharge which fol’ow-s.

Delaney is the type ring followers see about once 'or twice in a generation. Ho may bp a trifle light—may lack ruggedness— but he’s one of the select few who have the “rarest combination.”