“After we shook hands I studied him carefully. Then I led a left jab, following it up with a faint-hearted right that landed like a love-tap high up on his cheek. He dropped his hands and stopped. “‘Look here, Mike,’ he said indignantly, ‘that is not fair.’ “I was afraid I had done something wrong. “‘What’s the matter, Governor?’ I asked. “‘You are not hitting me,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I’d like you to hit out.’ “‘All right, Governor,’ I said, thinking to myself, this man has a pretty good opinion of himself. “We started in again, and I sent in a hard right to the body as he rushed in and then tried a swinging left for the jaw. He stepped inside and drove his right to my ear. It jarred me down to the heels. “I realized from that moment that the Governor was no ordinary amateur. If I took chances with him I was endangering my reputation. “From that day I have taken no chance with Theodore Roosevelt with the gloves. I’ve hit him many times as hard as ever I hit a fighter in the ring without stopping him, and thousands know how hard I can hit. “I want to say, now, that I never saw him wince or show even by an involuntary sign that he was discomfited in spirit, no matter how severe the bodily pain. On the contrary, it met with only that characteristic turning of the head a bit to the side, a grim smile, and a determined setting of the bulldog jaw, followed by another rush. Theodore Roosevelt is a strong, tough man; hard to hurt and harder to stop. “On the evening of March 3, 1905, the day before the Inauguration, between 5 and 6 o’clock, the President and I had a go of ten rounds. He was happy as a schoolboy as he stripped for the fray. “‘Now, Mike,’ he said, ‘we must have a good bout this evening. It will brighten me up for to-morrow, which will be a trying day.’ “We boxed for ten hard, long rounds. He had improved so much in his practice with me that I had to resort to all the strategy that my experience had taught me. After the fifth round, I felt like calling a halt, but did not want to appear a quitter. We were having it hot and heavy. In an exchange I tried to land a right-hand body blow, ducking to avoid a left-hand counter. Instead, he struck me a flush right-hander on the top of my head, knocking me sprawling to the mat. As I got to my feet, he said: “‘That’s a good make-believe knock-down, Mike.’ Evidently he did not realize how hard he hit me.” The President decided wrestling would be beneficial and engaged in that sport several times a week. He also acquired the art of jujutsu. In a note to one of his boys, he referred to this Japanese art: