Page:Athletics and Manly Sport (1890).djvu/100

Rh XIV. CHARACTERISTICS OF GREAT BOXERS. never was, in the whole history of the art, a more remarkable or interesting boxer than Sullivan. Many people believe that his masterful quality lies in his vast physical strength. Nothing could be farther from the truth. There are thousands of men in America physically much stronger,—men who could lift a heavier weight, pull a heavier load, and keep up the strain longer than he.

The superiority of Sullivan lies in his extraordinary nervous force, and his altogether incomparable skill as a boxer. His recent failure to defeat a man with bare hands, in three hours, whom he had formerly overcome with ease in fifteen minutes with large gloves, means only that the conditions were unfair. Sullivan does not pretend to be a runner; and this fight was more a race than a bout.

The qualities of both Sullivan and Mitchell are thoroughly known. There is really no doubt in people's minds about their relative abilities. Mitchell is admittedly a most skilful boxer. But were the element of gambling ruled out, there