“Everybody thinks of Sullivan as a man who was one of the most murderous hitters of all time,” Dad told us. “He was that, all right —but he was a lot more. He was a good boxer and ex tremely fast and smart. He could run the 100 yards in II seconds, which was ex ceptionally good time for those days. “I first saw Sul!i\an in 1896 in a boxing exhibition. That was about four years after he had lost his title to Corbett, and he was well past his prime. But even then I was impressed by his nimble foot work. he wasn't a great boxer, you understand, but he was better than average.” “Corbett Introduced a new era in boxing,” Dad observed. “He was the first really scientific boxer. There had never been anybody as clever as him before. He was as fast on his feet as a bantamweight. Gene Tunney resembled Corbett. Tunney was a real champion and a great fighter. But he couldn’t touch Corbett for speed and cleverness. At least, I’ve seen them both and that’s my opinion.” Bob Fitzsimmons, the Cornishman, was the most unusual heavyweight in boxing history, according to Dad. Ruby Robert stood Just under six feet and weighed only 165 pounds. Yet he fought the best heavyweights of his time, and he could lilt as hard as any of them. He was a physical freak, possessing tremendous arms and shoulders that\tapered away to narrow hips and frail, match stick legs. Dad declared that Fitzsimmons had a wallop that compared favorably with Joe Louis’ shocker. The Cornishman had incredible stamina.' DETROIT TIMES, NOVEMBER 3,1941 Editor's note: When the University of Detroit stages its fifth annual Homecoming-Dads’ Day celebration at the campus this week-end, the guest of honor will be Michael Henry "Dad” Butler, famed Titan trainer and one of the greatest sports figures in the country. At this new milestone in his long career, DatJ relates his memories of old-time fighters and trackmen to Boh Murphy of The Detroit Times in a series of seven articles of which this is the second. Those faded names that you find in musty, funny looking old record books come to warm, pulsating life when you talk to Michael Henry “Dad’' Butler, the kindly patriarch of Uni versity of Detroit athletics. Not even sure who "Dad" Butler is but I found this interesting.
Both John L. Sullivan and Jack Demp sey were fast and aggressive; both had steel-sheathed jaws and iron in their fists. Of the two, the Bostonian had the better right, and the Coloradian the better left hand. James J. Corbett and Gene Tunney were similar in physique and technique. The ex-bank clerk was faster and had more finesse of hand, foot and body than the ex-shipping clerk. Ihe actor-boxer was a somewhat inconsistent gladiator; at his best he was unbeatable. As for Gentle man Gene, he was a master ring general' he was as smart inside as outside the ropes. Joe Louis is the slowest of all the heavies listed above. Although he can't take a punch any too well himself, jar ring Joe possesses a paralyzing right which, in that respect, places him nearly on Par with Sullivan and Peter Maher. The prison mirror (Stillwater, Minn.), August 31, 1944
