Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-19

his intimate friends knew tina he
was In far from his best form. With
his usual aggressiveness Fits waded in as
soon as the first gong sounded. He swung
his right and then his left In Wild fashion.
but strange to say he did not aim many
blows at Jeffs head. The b~ollermaker.
crouchlng like a panther. with stomach
drawn in ami his Ions left hand extended
straight out in front Of him, stood coolly
on the defensive. He was simply waiting
for an opening.
Early In the second round that opening
came. Fitz rushed in pell nell and JET
fries smashed him squarely in the face
with the left The Cornlshman reeled,
only TO come back again with a blind rush.
Again Jeff's left hand crashed s~quarely
into Bob's face with so much force that
the blood spurted from his nose, and
lettering momentaritly. he fell over, strik-
ing the back Of his head on the floor.
That was the punch that probably whipped
Fitzslmmons and won for Jeffrtes the title
now held by the negro johnson.
When Fltz got up the round was prRo-
tically over and he staggered TO his corner.
He came up refreshed by liquor for the
third round and found Jeffriss filled with
caution. 1t was the same kind Of a fight
as in the preceding rounds. Fitz rushing
and Jeff blocking; also jabblng the great
left into the Cornishman's face or ripping
the terrible right into the ribs and stomach.
Fits Lands Hard.
In the ninth round Fitz landed a desper-
ate left swing on the bollermaker's head.
II reached a point high up on the jawbone
near the right ear. II was a fearful smash
and for a moment JEFF tottered. He was
near the ropes and he backed into them.
Fitz. weary from his incessant onslaught,
paused in his attack and before he could
renew hostillties the gong rang. Jeffries
made his way to the corner with apparent
difficulty. but Ryan, Delaney and Brady
soon revived him. He admitted after The
fight that this blow was the hardest he
had ever received and said that II it had
landed on the point of the jaw he would
possibly nave been knocked out.
Fitz was all in after that and in the
eleventh round he fairly threw himself at
Jeff's tremendous blows. The boiler-maker
almost knocked Bob's head off with a
straight left in the mouth and doubled him
up with an awful body blow. A killing
punch on the jaw scored a clean knockout.
Fitz could not reconcile himself to the con-
viction that Jeffries was his master, how
ever. He circulated the groundless report
that he had been doped. He demanded
another fight, but he didn't get one for
three years.
1t was in San Francisco they met In
July. 1902. Fitz trained in real earnest
fo- this affair and entered the ring abso-
lutely confident He adopted the same
old tactics, but centred the greater part
Of his attack upon Jeffs head. The boiler
maker was in his prime then, yet he soor
discovered that he had his hands full
Fitzl hammered him without letup in the
early rounds, cutting the mouth and one
eye open and actually breaking Jim's
nose. AS q result of this vicious onslaught
~Jeffries was a sight, but he never weakened
; and stood up to the gaff with character.
, istic gameness.
Fitzsimmons finally broke a bone in hi,
? RICH hand and was unable to keep VI
his hot fire, so that JEFF, wise to his condi
ton, cut loose in the eighth round and
slowed the Cornishman away. There II
no doubt that Fitzsimmons put up a fai
better fight on that occasion than at ConeJ
, Island, and in speaking of 1t later Jeffrie.
gave Bob due credit. F1tz declared tina
II his land had not been disabled he nigh
7. have reached a vital spot, but, of course
"if' didn't square his defeat.
h would a happened IL Fitx
= simmons had refrained from boring ii
: with a never ending. attack in these bat
= ties? Veteran sporting men who ,remembe
them still insist that If Fitzsimmons ha,
! stayed away, boxing or fighting at lon
r range, Jeffries could not nave knocke,
him out. These fights with Fitzsimmon
d are often alluded to nowadays to ~illustrat
y the fact that Jeffries never was an az
s gressive pugilist. In fact, 1t appears to b
d a matter Of record that Jeffries ha
= ! Lnonkad nIIf ar aavaraTu haatan Auoru p.,0I
d list who has adopted rushing tactics.
y johnson FIntfOOted.
T. FitEsimmons and sharkey differ from tn
negro Jackson in this respect. johnson
not a rusher. On the contrary, he is
flatfooted, careful, defensive fighter VIII
u is an artist at picking blows out OF tn
q air. and using a great right hand uppe
le cut when the proper opening is afforde,
He knocked Fitzsimmons cold in the SCI
n ond round when Bob was boring in wit
his famous tactics. but, of course, ii
* Cornishman was a back number then.
h 1t is believed to be a sure thing, ther,
Id fore, that when Jeffrles and johnson me,
the boilermaker will find that he muI
er make the pace or take part In a lon
m tedious mill. Johnson will make him lea
or there will be no real fighting and I
mixups. 1t is predicted by ring sharl
VS. that Jeffries will be forced to carry Il
fight to the negro at the outset of the m
az rather than run the risk OF being slow
worn out by Johnson's unwillingness
er tax a chance.
FitEsimmons, in Australia, says he w
beat Lang and will then take on Tomn
~. Burns. He predicts that he will win bo
fights. But there are many who do n
re agree with him. Fltz also states that Js
fries will have his hands full with Johns,
- and that II Jim does not win in fifte,
rounds he will be defeated. In this outi
Of what may happen next July the CO
nishman has many supporters. Incidental
II may be added that johnson declRr
that It is a shame TO allow Fitzsimmo
to fight again and that he predicts a VI
\ tory for Lang In less than four round
Johnson also feels sure that he can be
3 ~Jeffries in at least twenty rounds, VIII
JEFF says he thinks he can behead {
negro with a few.wel, directed punches.
you can take your pick.
FOOT BALL LEADERS GHOST