The Savannah morning news., 1902-07-27
THE FIGHT NO FAKE
THE PUGILISTS INDIGNANTLY RE-
PUDIATE REPORTS.
NOT CROOKED, SAYS JEFFRIES
FITZSIMMONS BURSTS INTO TEARS
AND FAINTS.

DOM the f1Shters are MOST Nehe-
ment in Their Observation-Disclosures
mons Points to His Badly Used Up
Condition and Says His Hands
Went Back on Him-Has Fought
223 Battles and Only Lost the Two
to Jeffrfes-I Would Have Been the
Man to Lose Had the Fight Been
Crooked, Says Jeffrics.
San Francisco. July 26.-The result
last night between James Jeffries and
Robert Fitzsimmons is prolific of wide
spread discussion. The story circu-
lated, to the effect that the fight was
a prearranged affair has enraged the
champion and frenzied Fitzsimmons to
the point of bursting into tears and
fainting away. If any proof of fake
can be offered, says Fitzsimmons, he
will forfeit his winnings and his last
dollar in the world. Jeffries is equally
vehement in his denials and both are
counting a full investigation. Mayor
Schmitz is weighing the alleged evil
dence in the case, intimating that he
will end prize-fighting here, if he finds
the circumstances bear out the charge
that the fight was a fake.
Fitzsimmons is badly hurt. The ter
rife body blows that he received last
night have unquestionably affected his
heart. Great welts stand out on his
back and sides, and while being rubbed
down to-day he tainted. When COM
ing out of the faint he was in the ring
once more. and his attedants had a
busy time of it controlling him.
Il was beat fairly and am badly
hurt" said Fitzsimmons to an Asso-
ciated Press representative to-day.
1.-The story that l engaged in a fake
is a lie
Fitzsimmons' right thumb is dislo-
Gated and two knuckles of his left hand
are badly out of place. He is now I'M
der the care of a physician.
Those who claim that the outcome
Of the fight was pre-arranged base
their allegations principally on the
fact that Fitzsimmons, after wagine
a masterful and telling battle, dropped
his guard, leaving an opening which
Jeffries took advantage of. Fitzsim.
mons insists, however, that this wa;
not done Intentionally. He was fighting
all the time and the very punishment
he had borne up under told on him al
last. Delaney, Egan, George Siler
Alec Greggains, Sam Thall and others
are loud in their denunciations of the
story that the battle was a fake. They
say that the prophesying of the result
and the final round in a sealed note to
the Mayor was a coincidence and that
hundreds of anonymous letters sug-
costing parallel outcomes are ,extant.
a Shams, Says Fitzsimmons.
Fitzsimmons said to-day:
It's a shame to call it a fake. ]
fought the greatest fight of my life
and here l have been branded as a
cur. There 1 was. winning all the
time, but 1 could not have won any
way. Both hands were gone. I've
fought three hundred and twenty-eight
battles and have been defeated twice
both times by Jeffries. That shows
he is the better man, doesn't it? I've
had twenty-five years of hard fighting
and my hands have gone back on me.
If they had been all right, Jeffries
would not have lasted six rounds. but
I've got no excuse. AS God is my
judge, I did my best
Fitzsimmons cried as he said this
and looked regretfully at his crippled
hands.
MY hands went back ON me-" Fitz-
simmons repeated. Tin the last two
rounds l put my gloves into his face,
but there was no force to the blows.
1 was licked fair and square. The
story that l laid down is a damned
malicious lie. Barring my hands, /
was never in better condition in my
life. Where is there a man of my
weight and age" he asked proudly,
who could do what l did last night %
A moment later he said:
"And they say / was taking. / call
on the American public to judge He
cried again as he said this. why" he
ed to win this fight. 1t was the first
time 1 ever prayed to win. I lay in
that room there-(he pointed to the adj
joining apartment)-and prayed. God,
give me strength to win this battle and
will be thankful. Amenr Do you
think I was taking that? If l wanted
to fake 1 could do it better than any,
one in the world, because I'm not afraid
of punch. | would have gone up and
taken one that would have stretched
me out. I have been offered hundreds
of thousands of dollars to throw fights.
but / always fought on the square. I
did my best. could do no more. Now,
I'm going to retire. I'm done for good"
Jeffries Cites His Face.
When Jeffries was seen, his face was
L.
colored and his cheek cut and bruised.
do I look like a fake?'' he facetiously
remarked. as he looked at himself in
a glass. "If l was going to be a party
to a fake l would not have stopped all
those blows with this face of mine.
Anybody who says that fight was
crooked is a liar, and they can break
me if they can bring a bit of evidence.
If there had been fake, l would have
been the man to hit the floor for l was
on the long end of the betting"
Secretary Harrington of the San
Francisco Athletic Club, has made the
following financial statement of the
fight:
Total receipts from sale of tickets,
$31, $50: 70 per cent to contestants, $22,-
213: so per cent. of 20 to Jeffries, 3d.
313; 40 per cent. of 70 to Fitzsimmons.
3S9; 40 per cent. of 10 to Fitzsimmons,
81 q96 All money was paid over nv,