The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-03-08
YELLOW STREAK
IN ALL FIGHTERS
W. A. Brady Tells Of Meeting
Between JeffrieS and
FitZSimm0nS.

sons know it, but Jim Jeffries licked
Bob Fitzsimmons twice at Coney Island.
and did good job both times" declared
w. A. Brady when attending a dinner
of the Thirteen club in Manhattan to-
night
Il know he did it. because l saw both
scraps from beginning to end, and if
Fitzsimmons does not very what | say
III buy the dinners. sherry and all
trimmings, any time and any place you
Indicate" he continued.
1T is a great story and shows the ne
cessity for brains when i'm a tight
place." he went on. But it is too good
story to keep any longer I'll have to
let you In on the secret. for it has been
a secret.
You may not know it, but all fight
ers, those even i'm the championship
class, have a wide streak of ochre run
ming from the roots of the hair to the
end of the spine, and then it branches
off like a divided skirt and continues
down both legs to the heelway, and de-
fies ordinary treatment to efface from
the system. / ought to know, for | have
been un against such things for years,
and paft of the money / have made has
come easy because | have always been
lucky in treating the affected parts so
as to eliminate the bad effect of such
faint. In plain English is is called
streak of yellow
They have it. big and little fighters
alike. No one is too gigantic not to be
overcome with the fear of a single
punch that Will end his money making
career as a fighter. And Jeffries was
no exception TO the rule. Hence it was
that had to get rid of it before he
and the Speckled One met for their
fight at Coney Island in 1899
Both Fighters Scared.
'Jeffries was the greatest fighter that
ever lived. He was the strongest man
that ever donned gloves in a ring, and
he had the widest streak down his back
that / have ever seen. He was terribly
afraid of Fitzsimmons and cried before
il was time TO enter the ring and did
everything possible to seek an excuse
to dodge the fight. He was afraid he
was going 10 be licked, and l knew
that Martin Julian was having the same
kind of battle with FitZsimmOnS il. an
adjoining room in the building where
the fighters were awaiting the signal
to enter the ring.
My man was lying on a cot in the
pavilion. You never saw such a sight
in your life. There he was. Just as
greatest development of muscles in evil
dence that you ever saw. He was
trained TO the minute, and the finest
specimen of physical perfection ! ever
loked upon. but almost a mental wreck.
Nothing but the thoughts of mobbing
ever kept him in control until l framed
up a job that gave him courage to go
into the ring and clean up Fitzsimmons.
Il had counseled with a personal
friend and we concerted the scheme of
telling Jeffries that Fitzsimmons was
very superstitious; that he had a fear
of everything out of the ordinary be-
fore he entered the ring and that he
would simply not fight if he stumbled
over a screen before a fight. We de-
cided TO make him stumble. I took JEFF
fries out for a stroll along the board
walk while I had a large screen taken
to the dressing room. After we returned
l had Jeffries strip as bare as when he
first came into the world.
Brady's Successful Trick.
In accordance with our agreement.
and I must say that Jeffries would do
exactly as he was told, he raised d row
about hitting in clinches. This gave
me a chance 10 go to Julian and try TO
get together on it. ] ended the matter
by saying to Martin: These men are
the ones who are to fight tonight; let
them settle it themselves. Jeffries is
in his dressing room. Let FitZsimmons
go in and talk it over. Whatever they
say goes
Julian fell for the bait and agreed.
FitzsimmOns came into the dressing
room 10 meet Jeffries. oh. what a sight
it was. There he was Jeffries, the big
gest fighter that ever lived. not a
stitch of clothes on him and the mus
cles of his stomach and breast standing
out like the limbs OF an ordinary man.
FitZsimmons looked sick at once. / saw
it, and before the argument had gone
far Jeffries leaped up from his resting
board, punched Fitzsimmons on the
Jaw and sent him sprawling to the floor.
over the screen, down and out for the
count.
"Of course, Jeffries won the fight.
He went into the ring and pounded the
life out of FItzsimmons because the
speckled one had been scared TO death
first by the sight of such a physical
giant. and second by the punch. To add
to this there was the screen. l never
told Jeffries about the job | put up.
He thought it was the superstition
about the screen that enabled him to
lick Fitzsimmons so easily. but il is all
in the game"