JACK JOHNSON #2 RANKED ~ But Johnson is the one heavyweight champion of all that I have known who was in his time comparable to Jack Dempsey as a fighting machine. In a trainers eye both men owned everything. They hit like pile-drivers, could take punishment, had endurance and added to dazzling speed and ability to strike from any angle of body position with accuracy and force. Each had a tireless pair of legs and nimble pair of feet. What would have happened if Dempsey and Johnson, age and condition being equal, had met, not all my experience of the ring, allows me positively to say. All in all, in such an event, I think, I would have been inclined to give Dempsey the shade ~ The reason is that Dempsey always has shown a grimmer, more determined will to win than Johnson. There is nothing the matter with Johnsons courage. He had the true fighters spirit and a genuine liking for the game---real champion quality in that respect as in others. But he could be amiable to a fault. His good nature could carry him to such an extent that once he was sure he had the man going he would be reluctant to finish the job. JOHNSONS GREATEST ON DEFENSE. Johnson was the greatest defensive fighter that ever lived. And he knew just how far a punch had to travel. In this respect he had no equal among other heavies and was as wonderful in accuracy as Joe Gans. He was remarkable at recuperating himself while actually fighting in the ring without betraying to his opponent that he had been hurt. It has become the fashion almost entirely now for a fighter when he has been hard hit and feels himself slipping or dazed, immediately to fall into a clinch and hang on till he gets back his breath and steadies himself. Johnsons method was entirely different. He was a great actor at hiding any sign that he was in distress. And instead of falling into the arms of his antagonist and hugging to escape punishment, he always could manage a marvelous series of feints of a character that made the other man think Johnson was on the point of attack. Jimmy De Forest
