Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-06-15
JEFFRIES
The Champion of the World
in the Middle and Heavy
Weight Glasses.
AN ELEVEN ROUND CONTEST
Full of Gamy Fightias Necessary to Do
feat Fitzsimmons who Was In tho
Best Condition-The Immense
Crowd Was very Ordoriy-Jef-
fries strong Points.

fries StrosE Points.
| ConeY Island. June flames j. Jeffries,
another sturdy giant has come cut Of the
West to whip champion pugiists. At the
arena of the Coney Island Athletic club to-
night, he defe,te Robert Fitzsimmons in
| two clasScs-middlewei and heavy
wcisht-n eleven rounds of whrlwind
hshting, IL came To the ring tank out
! slider and left it the acknowledged mag
! tor OF the man he defeated. He was nev r
al any time in serious danger and after
the size up in the earlier rounds of the
contest, took the lead and was never
headed He had the Australian whipped
! from the ninth round and would nave end
/ ed it in tho tonth but for the lack of time.
1t was acknowledg ID that Jeffries would
have AN immense advantage H. weigh.
height and Lge but the thousands who tip
ped and backed mis- opponent to win We're
sure that he was slow and that he would
in that respect he absolutely at the mercy
Of the past master of the science of night
/ ing that ne was to meet. He proved on
the contrary that he was lust as fast AS
! the man he mot and beat him down to un-
conscious defeat in fair fight.
He Is Neritahlo giant in stature ard
marvelously speedy for his immense size.
/ Less than a year ago he appeared in New
/ York. great awkward, ungaiUly boy. To-
day he is the 1.-the. active. alert. trained
( athlete. The men who prepared him for
his fight worked wonders with him They
/ taught him n nearly perfect defense, i'm
proved his foot movement and instructe ed
him in the methods of infictng punish
ment. Tho transition since he appeare1
here last has been little short of miracu-
lous. At a he has defeated Robert Fitz-
simmons. Tom Sharkey and Peter Jackson
and if he cares for himself he will prob
, ably he able to successfully defend the til
tie for many years
The defeated man was just as good as
when on the crispy morning on the plains
of far away Nevada he lowered tho col 1rs
of the then peerless Corhett. He VAS lust
as active, just AZ clever. Just as tricky.
and just as fearless of punishment. lie
went unfaiterinslY to his defeat He was
the asCressor oven at moments when he
WAS bleeding and unsteady and whrn gun
ned by the blows he received ne reclrl
instinctiVelY toward his opponent Tie
was fiehtNg all the time and punished
his opponent but found him different op-
ponent than any he had met and a dttit ult
man TO fight
Jcfrios foght from a Crouching attitude
that was hard to get at. He held his head
low. his back was bent down and mis- left
asn was extended. He kept iabbing away
with the left and found no trouble in land
ing it, 1t was tn re that his superior reac h
told. That giant arm served as "A sort Of
human fender to ward Dff danger. He
showed an excellent defence and the sbil-
itv to use both hands with skill. He Is
game too for he never shrank from his
punishment.
1t WAS "A Sr"at fight tn watch and COM
menced and ended amid scenes Of tense
excitement The men fought before "A
crowd Of 1000 persons and stood up in a
great beam of blindlng white light. 1t
was like thousand CalCiums and il show
cd their great white bodies in strarGe re-
lief When the blood came it was of an
intenser rod than usual There was not
a suggestion of Interference from the p =
lice. Chief DcVery occupied a seat by the
ring side, bat never entered the ring
When it WAS all over he sent Capt. Ken
neY to cloa,' the ring. The contest Wa
pulled Oft without "A wrdngle and was de-
/ void of the brutal "laments that Chief De-
very alleged he feared. Never was A
crowd handled with greater order and less
friction. Ii was all perfectly orderly.
There was absolutely no confusion at
tendant upon the assemblage and housing
Of the big crowd. Severa, Thousand of
those provided with tickets came TO the
beach late in the afternoon and Ihcir &C.
tion relieved the pressure during tho carl
| Ter hours Of the evening. There are sew
eral routes to the city of side shows by the
sea and all seemed to be equally patron
.
| great jam at any given point. Tho rain
that fell between the hours of : and had
a tendency to diminish the dlers tf.t rs
| uHlly come TO the front on an occasion OF
| that kind. The lateness of the hour at
which the contestants were announced %
appear kept the people from seeking tho
! Coney Island club house very early and
Coney. with its merry go rounds, Ferris
wheels. Eiffe towers, glded cafes. Jug
! gers and bespangled dancers furnished
ample amusement during the wait, 1t all
! made a strange scene. Crowds thronged
| the street and surged around among the
stands and stalls OF the ready tongued ia
| kris. The lights of the curious town wei @
never brighter and the strange lovlces
| that make Apologize music were mover
worked harder. The many places where
| liquid and solid refreshments were dis
pensed were packed to OVERLOOKING and
everywhere was the buzz of converse ton
| freighted with fight talk. 1t was on eV-
Ierybodys lips. Enthusiasts tOuted their
favorites. Here Ftzsimmons would v in
| in walk; there Jeffries was sure victor
| Through il all there was very little bet
ting. There was plenty of money ready on
! both sides, but nobody liked the odds The
Jeffries people wanted two for one for
| their collateral and the Ftzsimmors neo-
pie were slow to give it.
| The great house lilled very slowly and
| 1t was after before the police had to
bostir themselves and clear the disl,s.
Time seemed TO drag and the absence Of
any preliminary contest gave the crowd
a hight appetite. They began calling to.
the performance at $3.50 and at 9:ii were
demonstratiVc. Jeffres was the FIRST of
the principals TO appear. He came
through the main entrance and walked
the length of the hall at 800 to am accom-
Ipanim"nt of cheers, while FitzsimmonS.
who was accompanied by his Spartan Ike
Va tn nj h. hail, III