The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-09
| JACK JOHNSON |S
 TEMPTING FATE What Happened to Munroe
 May Soon Be Repeated JEFFRIES RESTING EASY Negro PugiIist Appears to Be Dodging
JEFFRlES RESTING EASY
Negro Pugilist Appears to Be Dodging the Issue All Round and Fight Experts Believe He Is
 Four-flushing.
BY JEFF THOMPSON.

1 New York. August s.-(Special.) l.)-Mr. ] Jack Johnson. have you care. Have you forgotten what happened to one | Jack Monroe? If you do here is brief 1 summary: One James J. Jeffries. cham pion heavyweight pugilist of the world. was making tour of the country, meet , ing all corners in four-round bouts. Jeff strayed Into Butte, Mont one day a | few years ago and the miners in that burg, thinking they had a world -beater In Munroe. pitted him against the cham pion. Munroe stayed the four rounds by clinching. falling and with lucky punch | as they were breaking from a clinch, brought the champion to his knees. Jeff was up in a second and started after the miner but just then the bell rang, i which saved MT. Munroe from getting l his head caved in.
 | The news that Munroe had knocked Jen down, got a decision over him, was
 a world-beater, etc, was flashed to all
 corners of the earth. Seeing a lot of
 money in the advertising Munroe was
 getting. Frank Ball took Munroe under his wing and started on a tour of the country. Munroe was pretty good scrap
 per all right and defeated some good
 men. including Tom Sharkey His head
 got so sweled that he issued a chal- lenge for 25-round battle with the cham pion- Fight fans throughout the country
 were at fever heat over the match but
 MT Jeffries said little and just went into hard training Don't you remember. l MT .IO6ngon uybo so 1T. | roe in the second round of that fight?
 Better look up an old file of papers and 1 read the stories.
 Now, Mir Johnson, that's just what you
 are doing, and that's just whats going to
 happen to you, If Jeffries ever gets you
 Into ring, which great many people | doubt
 A few months ago you told the news
 papers that you would be at the ringsfde
 at Pittsburg when Jenries boxed Sam
 Berger, and would then show up Mir. lief
 iries as four-husher. etc. You knew
 you never had any intention of going to Pfttsburg, but instead got as far +o-
 ward the Canadian linS as possible with
 out going out of c>Ilization. You knew
 MT. Johnson, that Jeffries theatrical en- agreements would terminate on July 26 and
 that Jeff would come to New York. Why 1 were you not in New York when yol1 1 were here a few days before? Why did l you sneak to the middle west and at long distance-and safe distance-issue that statement from Detroit, after Jeffries had put up his deposit, reiterating the old song that Jeff couldn't get into condition. You also said. MT. Johnson, that you and Jeffries would never meet in the : ring. If you meant that, you meant that you would crawl out of match with the big fellow and that you never had any l intention of fighting the champion. but | was talking simply for advertising pur- poses, which, in your case, MT. Johnson, Is only petty form of petty larceny. l Jeffries took things easy in seeing the sights of New York. He sailed on | August for Carlsbad, and while there l he will take course at the springs and 1 immediately on his return will go to Har- ! bin Springs, Cal, where he has trained for all his fights on the coast Jeff will not require much training if he keeps in 1 the same condition he is in now. His wind is the only thing that bothers him, and month or six weeks at Harbln will l bring that up to requirement
 l Jefries received the congratulations of | an army of friends after he had posted
 his forfeit and he seemed to be as happy | as a schoolboy.
 Bob Fitzsimmons says that Stanley | Ketchel at his best cannot whip Jack l Johnson. The freckled one declares that
 Ketchel is too small and will not be able to reach the negro's head. I haven't | heard of anyone who really wanted to | hit a negro on the head. In my younger
 days the proper stunt was to kick him on
 the shin or butt him in the stomach. And | we had to be very careful when we start ed to butt. If that darley caught first
 1t was all off Nowadays kicking and
 putting being barred, your modern pug goes for the stomach often and hard, as l being the only correct and scientific way | of reducing the colored gent to state of submissiveness.
 Fitz may be right, but there are good
 many judges of boxers who believe that l Johnson cannot stand Ketchels body punches If Ketchel Is in proper condi- ton when they meet he may prove Fitz's s ] contention wrong.
 Body punching is Ketchels one best bet If he could land those cannon ball punches on clever Jack OBrien there should be no difficulty in his reaching Johnson's so- | lar nine times out of every ten he tries. | in spite of Johnsons long reach. But
 Johnson stands flat-footed. He has no crouch which protects him amidships and a clever bulldog fighter like Ketchel should
 easily reach the negro's vital works. I Al Kaufman wants to box Ketchel to a finish in case the Langford- Ketche mate | falls through Al Is tired of hearing how the Michigan assassin could put him | away in a punch and is willing to let him try It is not likely that Britt would
 agree to this, however, since Coffrotli is going ahead with the Johnson-ketchel | match.
 Young Corbett is determined to stay on | the coast until he wins big fight, and his next opponent will be Young Erne.
 Corbett and Erne will go in for a six l round bout at Oakland and the winner
 has been promised another big bout in l Frisco.
 Willie Lewis comes through with sor- | rowful statement that Sailer Burke IS l trying to crawl out of a match. Burke says he is ready to meet Lewis at any time, any number of rounds at l5S pounds 1 at 6 O clock but Lewis wants him to make
 ring-side weight, which seems most un-
 reasonable for a ten-round bout Lewis
 has been offered more money that he ever
 received in the east or west for fight
 and still balks.
 The first offer for the Jeffries-J Johnson fight came from Nick Aprea, president ol the Southern Athletic club of savannah
 MT. Aprea offers $s0,o0o for the match with