Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-26
Oornishman Has Him All but Out and
Then Drops His Guard.
lG FELLOW SEES HIS ADVANTAGE
In Reply to Word from FitsIimmOnS He
Lands Two Terrific Blows.
REMARKABLE ENDING COMES IN EIGHTH
with Blood Streaming Down His
Face and with Championship
Fleeting JeTries Lands
Successful Blow.

RINGsIDE, SAN FRANCISCO, July 25.--
After fighting a battle OF eight rounds that
was fraught with brilliant and courageous
work. Robert Fitzsimmons tonight for
feited his last claim upon the heavyweight
championship. He was knocked to the
| floor by James Jeffries and counted out
after he had so badly punished the cham
pion that 1t was a foregone conclusion
among the spectators that the Cornshman
must win. Bleeding from a number OF
gashes in the face. apparently weakening
| and clearly unable to cope with Fitzsim-
| mons superior skill Jeffries delivered two
lucky punches as Fitzsimmons paused in
his fighting to speak to him and turned
the tide The battle was brief but note
worthy and will live In pugilistlc history
Fttzsimmons tried once to rise from the
mat, but sank down again in heIplessness
and heard himself counted out, where but
moment before he had apparently all
| the better OF Il.
II will never fight again" said the bat
le-scarred veteran Of the ring when he
had sufficiently recovered to talk. "The
| fight was won fairly and to the best man
belongs the laurels."
you are the most dangerous man
alive" said Jeffries in return, land I con-
slider myself lucky to have won when l
| did"
Fitzsimmons had been fighting at a fu-
| rious gait, cool and deliberate, and chop
ping the champion to pieces with the ter
rife rights and lefts that have made him
| famous.
JefTries All but Lost.
It was the draught horse and the racer
from the tap of the gong When the men
came together Fitzslmmons appeared
rather worried, Rat on the opening OF the
first round he assumed an air Of absolute
confidence and fought with the deliberation
Of the general that he Is AS early as the
second round Fitzsimmons had Jeffries
bleeding profusely from mouth and nose.
Again and again he landed on his bulky
opponent. getting away in such a clever
manner that It brought down the great
house with cheers. II seemed, indeed, that
Jeffries could scarcely weather out the
gale. Then the eighth round came, and
under series Of hot exchanges Fitzsim-
mons paused with his guard down and
spoke to the champion. The latter's reply
consisted of the two terrific blows that
brought back to him the heeting champion
ship and forever removed the veteran
FitzsimmOns from the fstic arena. Fitz-
simmons took his defeat with amazing good
WdlheO 10 lne center OF the
ring and, raising his hand, addressed the
multitude. saying:
The best man has won. Had I beaten
Jeffries tonight / should have conceded
him the championship and forever retired
from the ring. retire just thessame now,
but without having accomplished my am
bition. l am satisfied.
Statement of Jenrieu.
After the tight Champion Jeffries was
seen in his dressing room. He was juhilant
over his success, despite the terrific scars
Of battle. He said to the Associated Press;
Well have won. Just as I expected to.
II was a fierce fight. the fercest 1 ever
aad; but l NO Non; Yes Yes l got e a., good beating s,,g
then / rather expected that. / knew Fitz-
, simmons had a cutting punch and would
few marks and the loss Of a little blood
wont hurt man. l took them and only
punch. / found out Fitzsimmons could not
. jar me, even with his famous right. He
cut me up, of course. but that did not
was stronger than Fitzsimmons at all
stages. You saw that he wore heavy
bandages and 1t was these that cut me mp.
fighter of his weight that ever lived AS
old he is. he is the shiftiest and the
s cleverest and the hardest hitting man
o ever met. want to give him credit, ns
know all who saw IL will. for tho great
q immediate future, as have not thought OF
e anything but this fight for some time and
A will viii, not do anything for a long period
e hard training. / think that Fitzsimmons
can defeat any other man than myself.
& what FitssimmOns Says.
Cheerful in the face OF defeat and full of
: praise for his vanquisher. and writhing in
agony on his couch, surrounded by a score
OF friends offering their consultations, Fitz-
: simmons, between short sentences, inter-
: spersed with groans. announced that he
had fought his last battle.
He said
fought the best I could and the best
man won. He is a great fighter and had
I been awarded the decision tonight ]
| would have turned around and given him
i the ehampl9nshp , 10 for he is The only man lman
D. blows that put me out were a left short
x arm jolt under the ribs and right TO the
r Jaw. After receiving the terrific body
= blow knew I was gone and told Jeffries
e TO keep away. but he was anxious to nnish
5, me and sent a right swing to my Jaw
l. fought in the way l did because both my
hands were gone when / entered the ring
! injured them on Wednesday h0xing with
Hank Griffin. NY right hand in particular
N was almost useless l am CONFIDENT now
even more so than ever. that In my frst
battle with Jeffries was doned His show.
y ing tonight proved to me conclusively that
my defeat at his hands in our previous
battle was unwarranted
Asked why he did all the leading. Fitz-
simmons Indignantly denied the allegation
,r and said that Jeffries did a great deal oi
,r the work. especially in the cinches anc
x at close range. "He is as strong an OF
" and his blows hurt me considerably, espe
ID ciaIly his terrific left to the body" said
IN Fitzslmmons.
a. Asked in regard 70 his plans for the fu
ture. Bob facetiously remarked II an
D. going back to Bensonhurst and attend 4
W the development Of the youth OF AmeTiei
and try 10 make them like me-a vigorous
m old man. past his fortieth year and as hal,
- and as hearty as a man well within hi
N thirties."
n Al this juneture Dr. l. c. Cox, who ha,
~ been summoned to attend the fighter. com
w menoed an examination OF the defeated
pugihst. After a careful examination tn,
m doctor announced that Fitzsimmons' rib
y, were not broken, but that his EFT ad
haa kwauHa Nkn II.