The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1909-07-10


pulled down his weight considerably.
mat ne was quick on his feet and
there were indications that when hia
theatrical season is at an end he could
start In for course of hard trainina
and get in good condition.
But there was a something abot,f
Jenries' appearance that made the ma
1ority or those who saw him tust :
wee bit doubtful as to whether ha
could ever get exactly right for a
long, gruelIing contest In the ring Inst
what that something was which had
everybody guessing about Jeffries is
marc 70 explain. In the FIRST place he
looks to be aging. 1t was true that he
was fast on his feet when he was
skipping the rope, and i'm his boxing
with Berger. His wind seemed TO be
good, for he did not pun so very much.
although he did pun little He had
q fine judgment OF distance, and he
appeared to be as good boxer as in
MS former days. But It must be noted
that Jeffries did not extend himself.
His rope skipping act was only about
a minute in duration. Then he rested.
and then he boxed three very short
rounds. All the work taken together
was not enough to tire even a very
fat man.
Jefriss' Physical Condition.
Jeffries is not fat now, but the state
OF his flesh is not that Of the trained
athlete. II is soft looking and shows
plainly that he has been very fat. In
reducing his weight, Jeffries has not
oeen able to harden his flesh TO any
q Ia Nsv4
sturdy. but not what they were in his
best days His chest is not so massive
as when he was the worlds champion.
His hair is thinning out and, while he
is stii young man, he is beginning
to look older than he really Is. To
use the expression of one of the spec
tators:
He is a good old man"
There were two very noticeable fea-
lures about Jeffries, however. One
was his arms. They are not the great,
burly members which the grizzly bear
Of the prize ring" once possessed. They
are soft, the muscles are gone, and the
arms look like those of a fat and un-
developed man. The other feature
which would be taken into account by
a good trainer or a careful bettor were
the numerous boils which appeared on
Jefries back and legs. Some OF these
are very large, and they are claimed
to be from blood poisoning. They
clearly indicate, no matter what they
are from, that the man is not in per-
feet physical condition by far. .
After looking Jeffries over carefully
and taking all these things into ae-
count the discriminating sporting men
whose opinion was asked regarding
the result Of a meeting with the new
champion. they replied almost to a
man: ....
He will have to be In a great deal
better condition than he is in now to
have any chance with the big black
fellow"
And there seemed to be considerable
doubt in their minds whether he win
ever be able 10 get into the required
condition. Some appeared to think
that II would be utterly impossible;
others that while with hard and con-
sistent training Jeffries could get into
shape, the chances were, to their think
Ing. that when good physical condi-
ton was reached, the result would be
q stale and overtrained athlete, who
had left all his energy and stability
on the road and in the gymnasium in
the training stunts. This last stage.
II anything, would be worse than that
Of man who would go into the ring
fat and undertrained. In either case
II was a bad state OF affairs for the
man who had hoped to see Jeffries
able to beat Johnson in a fight for the
Younger Man Has Best Chance.
The old saying that a good big man
IAN whip a good little man is on a par
with the expression that a good young
nan can whip good old man, and the
after would be the case with Johnson
md Jeffries, other things being equal
Although there are only three years
lctual difference In the ages of the
men, the four or five years which JET
rles has been away from the ring,
AIKEN together with his careless easy
manner OF living. have made differ
nee OF many more years In the con-
lition Of the men.
II was the general opinion that the
lack man will have a great advan-
age in condition and recuperative
'owers and should the men ever meet
n the ring IL would be up TO Jeffries
o go right at his man and whip him
g quickly as possible, for the longer
he battle went the greater the physi-
al strain on Jeffries. OF course II IL
ard to say at this time what the me-
ro would do If he were fghting JEFF
ries, but his usual style would be to
vait and never lead IL he could help
/, thus forcing Jeffries to do all the
york.
Unless Jeffries could land a knock
ut punch inside of the first ten or
welve rounds the chances Of him get
Ing the black fellow would be slim,
. Jeffries would be tiring all the
Ime, while Johnson could nurse his
trength and take care of himself
hould either man land a hard blow
r a series of hard blows, Johnson3
powers would be greater
han Jeffries, and he would be almost
ure to have a better chance to come
ack than the former boilermaker.
effries aggressiveness and his game
ess wa Id have a 'ot of bearing on
he result. but there is no certainty
nat they could ever be called into
lay, for there is so far nothing to in
icate that Jeffries means TO ever fight
ohnson, and there are many things to
.ad one TO think that the winning OF
he championship back for the white
ace will have to depend on someons
Ise rather than Jim Jeffries.
Continued on Page Eishteen.l
A Musical Treat.