James J. Corbett
“OLD SCHOOL” BOXING & JAMES J. CORBETT
Albemarle, NC– The Professor has spent much of the last two weeks doing hospital duty with an ailing parent. I have spent the long nights waiting with my laptop, perusing YouTube, dissecting the top ranked American pugilists. I have confirmed what I had previously reckoned. Simply put, “Old School” fighters went to the body more, and more effectively than today’s fighters do.
FACTORS WHY THIS ERA DOESN’T WORK THE BODY
I think one of the main reasons for the lack of “body and fender work” is that today’s American amateur system does not value (aka score) body punching. In addition there are fewer trainers today, of which only a small percentage of them can teach the art and craft of boxing, of which body punching is a major component. “Old School” fighters learned by doing and most practiced working downstairs. Body shots work, ask Micky Ward.
THE EARLY DAYS OF GLOVED FIGHTERS
But perhaps we need to look to the past to correct the deficiencies of today’s lack of body attack, back to the very first gloved heavyweight champion of the world, James J. Corbett. Bob Fitzsimmons talked of Corbett’s “Leg qualities,” what we call today “footwork.” Fitzsimmons said “Corbett’s footwork was a revelation. His use of quick sidestepping, the ability to circle a foe, maneuvering (ring generalship) and defense demonstrated that one could “hit without being hit in return.”
THE WORDS OF ACCLAIMED SCRIBE REX LARDNER
Writer Rex Lardner also noted of Corbett, “No heavyweight ever approached him in the ability to ride with a punch, thus remove a lot of the sting and slip a punch. James J, could make his opponent lead before he was ready and then counter with piston like jabs, even feint an opponent into committing a defensive maneuver and then attack the newly vulnerable area. He could also just drift out of the reach of a punch a split second before it landed on it’s intended target.”
CORBETT INJURY BROUGHT ABOUT THE LEFT HOOK!
“Gentleman Jim” Corbett is also credited with being the innovator of the left hook. According to boxing legend, during a bout with Joe Choynski, after breaking his left thumb, Corbett began using his left in a hooking motion.
THE MAN WAS A BOXING GENIUS
Always the intellectual, Corbett realized that even with the gloves (which were only three or four ounces back then) the danger of breaking a hand was greater with a preponderance of head shots, so he spent at least half his ring time and energy throwing body shots, and as sports writer Grantland Rice noted, “Mixing his punches better than any fighter I’ve ever seen!”
ANOTHER “OLD SCHOOL” LESSON IN BOXING
It seems to The Professor that today’s crop of pugilists could learn something by going to the earliest ear of gloved prize fighting.
Professor Chuck Marbry