Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-11-26
THE PUGlLlSTS.
WHO WILL
 FIGHT HIM
.Jeffries Finds None Who Is
 Wiling to Face Him
 Several Battles Thanks.
 giving Day.

| Some promoters are lying awake nights trying to concOct a scheme ! whereby they can discover an eligible opponent for Jeffries. In looking over , the meagre supply of heavyweights there is no big man who has the right to meet Jeftries, outside of Johnson. 1 There are few, who could be match : ed against the boilermaker, but they
 would not attract corporal's guard, on their own regulations against Jeff fries. Perhaps Tommy Ryan may step into the breach and meet Jeffrles. i Ryan wants to fight the champion,
 but the public will not have much use
 for Ryan for awhile after his shady
 six round bout with Jack Root at i Philadelphia the other night. Jef- | fries will not be censured now if he I does not treat Ryan's def seriously. !, He must fight some one, it is true, but
 no reputable matchmaker can afford to give Ryan a chance again until at least ! he offers a plausible excuse for his i poor showing against Root.
 | Even should Jeffries retire, who is
 there to succeed him as champion? In
 reality there is no man outside of Bob l Fitzsimmons who could be mentioned l in the same breath with Jeffries as a
 fighter. Fitz is rapidly reaching the
 notch when he will be too old to fight
 and cope successfully with even some
 of the third rate heavyweights now in
 the field Jim Corbett, a clever man
 and all that, is out of it. John Willie
 of Chicago, who gave Jack OBrien
 such beating the other night, is a
 good man, but is too light. He only
 weighs TO pounds in trim. Jack Root,
 a fair man, is another likely heavy
 weight. But his essay with Ryan has "queered" him., Like Willie, he is not
 heavy enough. Tom Sharkey, Joe ! Choynski and Peter Maher are not to
 be considered, for 1t is admitted that
 they have seen their best days. Taking
 all these facts into consideration, who l is there to wear Jeffries's crown should the Los Angeles pugilist keep his word and step down and out?
 Jim Jeffries is in peculiar position. He is pugilist who wants to fight, but cannot secure an appropriate man to meet him. Such declaration from a heavyweight champion a few years ago was unneard of. Any big man at the top of his class who even agreed to fight once a year or twice in three 1 years would be hailed as freak. w hEn NOAOClL WdS CudIuplOA AG AISt defended his title when he fought l Charlie Mitchell in 1894, two years after he won his laurels from John L..
 Sullivan. And he did not battle again
 for the belt until he met Bob Fitzsim- mons at Carson City, New. in 1907, or three years later. Jeffries is anxioua to put on the gloves, but there are no lopponents worthy of his steel for him to conquer. A few days ago report came from San Francisco that Jeffries had decided to overlook his prejudice to meeting negroes and would take on Jack Johnson of San Francisco some time next spring. It appears that this announcement was premature. Now i Jeffries in an interview denies that he has any such intention. He adds that he means to keep his resolution not to | fight black men and that no persua
 sion in the world will force him to lift the ban he has placed on the men of color Rather than swap punches with a negro Jeffries says he will go with
 out an engagement and retire from the ring.