Los Angeles herald., 1908-12-28
JEFF REFUSES
$4,000 OFFER
AUSTRALIANS WANT HIM TO
BOX JOHNSON
HE SAYS 100000 WOULD NOT
TEMPT HIM
Big Fellow Emphasizes Sincerity In
Statement of Permanent Retire.
ment by Declining to Consider
Any Proposition
BY JAY DAVIDSON

The cable brings more startling news
from Australia as aftermath Of the
Johnson-Burns fight. Hugh D. Me-
Intosh, who so successfully engineered
the negotiations for the heavyweight
championship battle and cleared about
100000 for his trouble, will leave Sgd
ney next Sunday for Los Angeles via
London with the avowed intention of
signing up the great unbeaten cham
pion. James ]. Jeffries. for scrap
with johnson in the Antipodes. Nc
Intosh is quoted as saying that Jeffries
can have $4,000 for his share of the
purse if he will give battle to the
Galveston negro and thereby clear
away all clouds upon the title that
now rests between Jeffries and john
son, with the latter the only undis-
puted champion.
When told of the offer of Mcintosh
last night, Jeffries said Nothing
doing" He was asked to be little
more explicit in his remarks and he
added without hesitation: "He could
offer me 100000 with safety, as that
sum would not tempt me to get back
in the ring. have retired and mean it
and some day the promoters and fans
will realize that I mean just what I
say when make the statement that I
never will fight again. This goes as
final, as no sum of money would be
sufficient to tempt me back into the
ring. The long siege of training that
would be necessary for me to get back
into condition to do myself and my
friends justice would be too hard a
grind on me now and 100000 would
not repay me for the trouble and hard
ships of a long training period. No
real friend of mine will question my
motives in insisting upon staying re-
tired and no real friend of mine will
ask me to get back in the ring again.
Even should ever fight again, which
will not do, 1 would not consider an
offer to fight a negro. / won my title
from real fighters of real class-men
who would make johnson and Burns
jump over the ropes-and when ] had
exhausted the field and found 1t no
longer was possible to get into o
match that would pay me to fool away
my time in long training period / re-
tired. 1 announced then that my de-
cision to retire was arrived at after
long and careful consideration and that
it was final and irrevocable. l have
made good by refusing frequent offers
since then, and think it is about time
the public took my retirement seri-
ously. = There is no Patti disposition
about me. No, sir; 1 will not fight
Johnson, Burns, Kaufman or any
body else. Let them have all the fun
they want by fighting for the aban-
doned title. They never will get o
whack at the real article, as / will
carry 1t to my grave"
Fifty thousand dollars is a big temp
tation to any man to come out of re-
tirement and fight. 1t is the biggest
offer ever made to a fighter to go into
the ring, and it means purse of not
less than 100000, and more probably
means that Mcintosh is figuring upon
an expense of close to 100000 If ne
should land the match-which he will
never do Yet, the temptation did not
feaze Jeff. He made his reply instantly,
as if by impulse, but continued to talk
about it in manner that indicated
that the big fellow had arrived at that
point where he would not consider the
financial end of an offer to fight again.
Mcintosh might induce jeff TO fight
again if he offered him half a million
for his end of the purse, win, lose or
draw, but it is doubtful whether even
that sum would be sufficient to change
his decision of retirement, especially
il he had to fight a negro. Sharkey
has the right dope on JEFF He says
that Jeff is the most stubborn man in
the world and cannot be budged when
he makes up his mind about anything.
Mcintosh will be to heavy expense in
making the trip to Los Angeles to see
jeff and it will be dead loss, as JEFF
will not even consider his offer. 1t viii
be mo thank you" right off the bat,
and that will end the negotiations
There is no chance for a Jeffries-John-
son or a Jeffries-Anybodyels scrap un-
less somebody walks up TO the big
fellow and tries to start something
then it will be a rough championship
at stake and JEFF will win, as usual.