The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-07-29
WHEN FlTZSlMMONS WENT
DOWN AND OUT.
JEFFRIES STANDS GRIEF
After Being Severely Punished the
Champion Succeeds in Land
ing Knockout Blow.

1 CCul QSCOuO WOl N, 1SOOClI
tonight forfeited his last claim upon
the heavyweight championship. He
was knocked to the floor by James
Jeffries and coutned out, after he had
SO badly punished the champion that
it was a foregone conclusion among
the spectators that the C%ornishman
of gashes in the face, apparently weak
ening and clearly unable to cope with
Fitzsimmons' superior skill, Jeffries
delivered two lucky punches as Fitz-
simmons paused in his fighting to
| speak to him, and turned the tide.
The battle was brief but noteworthy,
and will live in puglistic history. Fitz-
| simmons tried once to arise from the
mat, but sank down again in helpless
ness, and heard himself counted out,
where but a moment before he had ap-
~parently all the better of it. 81 will
never fight again." said the battle
SCARED 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, "and ]
consider myself lucky to have won
when [ did.
Fitzsimmons had been fighting at
a furious gait. cool and deliberate,
and chopping the champion to pieces
with the terrific rights and lefts that
have made him famous. It was the
draft horse and the racer from the tap
of the gong. When the men came to-
gether Fitzsimmons appeared rather
worried, but on the opening of the
H.z4 ..o,,,J no 0l ON DIV Of q H..
solute confidence and fought with the
deliberation of the general that he is.
AS early as the second round FirZ-
simmons had Jeffries bleeding pro-
fusely fromm Outh and S Again and
again he landed on his bulky oppo-
nent. getting away in such a clever
manner that it brough down the great
house with cheers. 1t seemed that
Jeffries could scarcely weather out
the gale. Then the eighth round came
and after a series of hot exchanges
Fitzsimmons paused with his guard
down and spoke to the champion. The
latters reply consisted of two terrific
blows that brought to him the fleet
ing championship and forever removed
the veteran Fftzsimmcns from the
fistic arena.
Fitzsimmons took his defeat with
amazing good cheer. He walked to
the center of the ring and raising his
hand addressed the multitude, saying:
Admits He Was Beaten Fairly.
'The best man won. Had l beaten
Jeffries tonight l should have conceded
him the championship and forever re-
tired from the ring. | retire just the
l,,% xryit1,O,,f h WING q anrnm-
plished my ambition
After the fight Champion Jeffries
was seen in his dressing room. He
was jubilant over his success, despite
the terrible scars of battle. He said
to the Associated Press:
"Well I have won, just as expect
ed to. 1t was a fierce fight, the fierc-
est l ever had, but | won. Yes, l
got a good beating, as far as the
marks cf battle count, but, then. l
rather expected that. l knew Fitzsim-
mons had a cutting punch and would
land it at some time Of the fight. But
a few marks and the loss of a little
blood won't hurt a man. | took them.
and only waited for the opportunity
TIC. land the punch. l found out that
Fitzsimmons could not jar me, even
with his famous right. He cut me up,
of course, but that did not hurt. l
never was tired at any stage, and was
stronger than Fitzsimmons at all
stages. You saw that he wore heavy
bandgages, and it was these that cut
me up. l no bandages. F1tz-
simmons certainly is a wcnder. He is
the greatest fighter of his weight that
ever lived. AS old as he is. he is the
shifties and ~cleverest. the hardest
hitting man | ever met. | want to
give him credit. al | know all who
saw it will. for the great fight he put
up. | have nc plans for the immedl-
ate future. as I have not thought of
ANYTHING but this fight for some time.
and went do anything for a long pc
riod. l will take a rest after the long
siege of hard training. l think Fitz-
simmons can yet defeat any other
man than myself.
Cheerful in the face of defeat and
| full of praise for his vanquisher, and
| writhing in agony on his couch, sur,
| rounded by a score of friends offering
| their consolation, Fitzsimmons, be-
tween short sentences interpreted
with groans announced that he had
fought his last battle. He said:
The Blows That Did the Work.
81 fought the best I could, and the
best man won. He is a great fighter,
and had l been awarded the decision
tonight ! would have turned around
and given him the championship, fol
he is the only man in the world ca
pable of defending it. The blows that
put me u were a left short-arm un
der the ribs and a right to the jaw
After receiving the terrific body blow
| knew | was gone and told Jeffries
to keep away, but he was anxious tc
finish me and sent a right swing tt
my jaw. l fought as l did because
both Of my hands were gone when
entered the ring. I injured them or
Wednesday boxing with Hank Griffin
My right hand in particular was al
r-N- ~~& n@ry