RING KIDDERS.

NZ Truth, Issue 72, 8 December 1906, Page 2

RING KIDDERS.

Pugs Perform iov \A Purpose, ■ ■ ■ . •■''■" '. f !•■ -i' . Some of the Methods. When Araby McGarry met Willie Hosey on a barge -recently, both men settled down to • fighting without a word. It was. hard business all t,he way through, and neither man wanted to adopt the "Kidding" methods which are so -much m vogue with pugilists -who depend upon their head;; as well as their bauds tv win their fights. • ■ •• ■ • » How different it was a week before m ' Philadelphia, .when Sam Renter and Jack. O'Brien met for their si» round battle, m which Berber proved that' he is a far better man than at first thought, and m which the novel spectacle /of a world's champion running- away from an almost unknown amateur was presented. Foxy Jawn started his kidding tactics as soon as Bferger entered ths rinse. He walked over to Sam with a tolerating shine and grasped the Californian's hand. , "Hope you are feeling good and strong, Sam," he said. . . • . Berger was not to . be feazed by the bi"- leaguer. V . . "Feeling fine now and getting stronger every "minute you keep me wait- . inc." he shot back. ■■• 'Let me look at : your hands, Sam-.m-r.hqy,' 1 cried. Jack. "My! 'but you wear :.& lpt ;,pf : bandages. You'll have to , skin- -a lew of them . off.. ' ' 1 ''Purmy to hear the champion of the world lacking over' a few widths of ■plaster,", laughed ßerger. ljt was a new one on O'Brien. Jack is . regarded ,as . the best six-round fighter m toe heavy-weight division. All the. youngsters get afraid as they face, him, . but- Bexger was laughing even louder than O'Brien himself. . All through, the bout Jack tried his best to rattle the youngster. But. Bergec .evidently had no ears, for he kept . ''smiling and driving both hands, into O'Brien's face and body, and when the bout was over there ,was a n&w 'aspirant -in the heavyweight field. . Young Corbett was perhaps the best "kidder" that ever faced an opponent. I remember one night m St. Louis, a few months after Corbett had defeated' Terry McGovern. a second time, when the Kid's ability as a "kidder" came into good play. He was fighting a husky fellow from East St. Louis— Jack Keefe by name, and the idol of the glassworks' fight fans. Keefe was biff and. strong, but, of course, lacked the class of Corbett. Nevertheless, he held the champion even m the first round,- and came out- fresh! and confident for the second. ' , .: ';■'■" ' Cor bett had not trained for three months, and was hex* fat, while Keefe. was m prime,. condition. The second round was a hard one for the- chaninjqn,.. 7 He. : was. pciunded all over the ring,';, and; only, his generalship saved x him:; The lembn he had linked proved'tb;.bea_pific}fly pear, with points sticking put : dll: over him . The round finished; with •', Kfcefe a long distance m the .lead'/ and' Cprpett very tired. . But' the. .champion came out for the third with- a rush, while Keefe had evidently beSi- thinking hard between the bell's.' He faced Corbett with an apologetic- look 'on his face, and seemed to be -afraid of that terrible right hand. Quick as a flash Mrßrains saw his advantage, and, snvilin^ -eood-natured-> lr began to talk t-o Jack. "Gee, but you're a foolish fellow." he said. "Why can't you treat me decently,? Here I've given you a chance to become world-famous by staying six rounds with me, and you're repaying. me fey. trying to cross me and knock me out. Now come along, Jack, old pal, like a good fellow, and we'll' 'box. fast and clever, and you'll make a. big name and I'll 'get some easy "money. Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. I'm here only for the easy- — " Smash j Bang I • The rjght ,hand shot out to Keeie's jaw, and the local idol went down m a heap. He was 1 still out when Corbett started for the box office. Keefe never 'got over the event. "Now what do you think of that fellow Corbett ?" he asked me m the . club-house office half an hour later. "There he was talking nice to me and giving me advice, and then, he - knocked me put." Everybody present gave up the problem. . -,' ■ •■■ • . • Willie Fitzgerald and bis smile— these are ' a large part of Fitz's stock-in-trade. When Fitz cannot find an opening to slip m his haymaker he tries to kid the other fellow into leaving one. He did this to Amby McGarry and Charley Mulhall recently, and both went out before the first round was over. Fitz tells the other fellow how clever he is, and what a champion he is going to make. Then when the poor antagonist is thinking of the laurel wreath, Willie shoots out his left handj and it is all over. Harry Lewis' dad travels around with him when he fights. Out m Grand Rapids recently Lewis was fighting Jimmy Brigjgs and handing m the Boston boy a lacing. In the / seventh round Daddy Lewis became k wildly excited, and yelled out : J% "Knock" him out, Harry.! Knock;' him out!" - ■ -- —* L_ Both Briggs and Harry heard the veil. They were €«k1 ing, when suddenly Harry became serious. "Gee, Jimmy,; I Hear^Sehat me dad is veiling !" Harry said. "If I don't, do as he says he'll lace the hide off me: . I'm awful sbrrv, but 'here .coes!" Briggs went under the ropes, but his wonderful strength and vitality saved him from taking the count. •. • • • Guss Gardiner and Joe Grim put up the funniest real fight when kvd-

ding prevailed that was ever witnessed. It was o\it m Saginaw, Mich. . arid Joe was. taking his first crack at the fifteen-round came. Gardiner m his funny Dutch way kidded Grim into a raving maniac. Joe would rush out with both arms wing like flails, and Gus would step aside and hammer away on the' jaw and botiv. "You're one fearful mark, Joey." Gus would :,> laugh. "All *yer fights, must have bin fake wuns. You're one easy guy to hit. If I was as big as Fitz I'd knock you oudmit a punch." In the thirteenth- round, after Gardner had broken a hand on Grim's iaw, Joe took a hand at the kidding. He came out of his corner like a cyclone, and veiled at the crowd. "Now I showa you alia how .de F.itzsimmons' fights !" he screeched. Both arms swung for Gardner's head, Gus stepped back and Joe werit o,ff his balance: Gus came m- with both hands and planted them on Joe's iaw. Grim went clear across the ring ,md under, the rones. The referee had counted eight before he crawled back and regained his feet. ..-When the' laughs' of the cfowd had Closed, Gardner resumed his work. "'That's a good imitation of Fitz, Joe.T." he said, loud .. enough for averrone ; m the hall to hear, "That's how Fitz fought Jim Jeffries." * • • . ' When Dave Sullivan and Terry McMc&overn mixed at Louisville they talked each other into a frenzied rage. Terry was always easy to get rattled by a pood line 6f conversation, and Dave went the limit. But he was. also as easy as Terry, and the Brooklyn boy f-hot it back with interest. From laughing, kidding taunts they went to insults, and Terry put the final cap oni by calling Dave an A. P. A. Dave fought like a wild man, without judgment, from this time on, and Tern- finished him a few rounds afterwarrts. : « • « Kid McCov adopted the sneer m the '■>n ir and the look of contempt which ho hurled at his antagonists was ?nouch to scai;e the poor fellows before thefv ever put up their hands. The only man he did not scare was Henv Placke, and the Herr did not 'mow enough about boxing to be /••raid. ■ • ' * • Jim Corbett would laugh and talk o friends at the ringside, and would a'm os t . totally ignore his opponent. This had the* same effect as McCoy's sneer. Jim made it appear as though tltt fight was of but secondary importance. The one exception to this rule was the time he foupht Fitz at Carson Cit~ ?nd t-bn the hatred for the Ausr tral'an so strongly inoculated m Jim that he forgot all about ring tactics. Joe Ga,ns rarely speaks to an op•.on'nt, while Walcott .is constantly taliunr. Harry Forbes was quite a kidder, a:ad his brother Clarence was as full of ring tactics as a bum is of booze. Little Tommy Feltz would lauph and talk, and with his funny accents and his distorted faces would "et the other fellow so rattled that the ris-ht to the body would often end the fight. Ink Russell, of Philadelphia, makes such horrible faces that the other chap f»et!s interested while Urik is working; the hardest. Sandy Ferguson is always hurling insults and flings at his opponents, and but for his own fault of- losing his. head might make them effective. , 1; [. '•» ' • .' • \. Jimmy Gardiner laughs and coaches his o^noncnt. "Shure and I know more about this game than ye do," Jimmy will say. "Take a few tips from me and don't lead that way with yer right. If you do I'll cross my right this way— see? —and hurt ye." Then Jimmy suits th<e action to tTis word and lets her go.