Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1909-11-13
CAN JEFFRIES
COME BACK ?
The Question Now Being PrOpOunded.
Jack Johnson Not Worrying.
ExCHAMPoN TUssLE-MUCH MONEY OFFERED

New York, Nov. 5.-A noted ath-
letic trainer, who is one Of the best
posted authorities on physical cul-
ture. says:
ct makes no difference whether
a man is a runner. jumper. fighter,
ball player. or a participantfn any
other branch OF sports. IL he stops
training for three or four years he
can never regain his best form. In
all my experience l have never seen
an exception TO this rule"
Taking this opinion as basis for
argument, there are many pugilis-
tic experts who are figuring out just
now whether James ]. Jeffries can
come back" so that he will beat
the negro. Jack Johnson, down and
out William 4. Brady and William
Delaney. former managers OF JEFF
fries. have been insisting for many
months that he is foolish to tackle
Johnson and will suffer defeat.
Murphy declares that Jeffries, hav-
ing passed nearly FIVE years in idle
ness, can never show the same speed
and stamina that won for him the
AAAtN VI WI AA NAeAAIANhs ID A1f
stated to The Post man the night
that Johnson and Jack O'Brien boxed
six rounds in Philadelphia early last
summer that Jeff's wind was gone
and that even II the boilermTfer re-
duced himself 20 225 pounds, his
best fighting weight, he would find
IL a physical impossibility 20 fight
more than ten rounds at top speed
with the formidable colored man.
Delaney also declared at that time
his belief that Jenries would be an
easy mark for such a clumsy young
slugger as Kaufman. and wanted TO
bet $4,000 on the side If a match
could be arranged between them.
In spite of these opinions and pre-
dictions. however. Jeffries says he
knows he can be the same old cham
piOn once more and is telling his
friends that he Will beat Johnson
easily. One of the oldest ring fol-
lowers in this country. who is not
prejudiced, but generally says what
he thinks about pugilists and their
doings, and who has seen Jeffries
in all of his ring battles, talked in
this interesting way TO The Post
representative the other night:
There is no man who admires
Jeffries more than I, so that I do
not want TO be accused of knocking
But really | feel convinced that If
Jeffries and Johnson meet in the
ring the negro will win. In the
first place, Jeffries, while recognized
as an unbeaten champion, is not a
truly great fighter. and I'll show you
the reason. When Delaney first
brought him to New York I was
among those who met him at the
Vanderbilt Hotel directly after he
left the cars. IL was a hot night
and Jeff had on very thin clothing.
When asked to get on the scales he
tipped the beam at exactly 245
pounds. He was % years old
then, and was in robust health. He
was pitted against Bob Armstrong,
a big negro, in a ten-round bout at
the LenOX Athletic Club, in order
to show New Workers what he could
do. and when that affair was over
Jeff was fairly laughed out of town
He was as slow as cold molasses,
knew nothing about ring science.
and was actually outpointed by Arm
strong, although the latter got the
worst of the referees decision.
"a year later Jeffries trained
uoNh 10 AlO pOunuS TOT the nrSt Dat
tie with Fitzsimmons at Coney Is
land. IL is a matter OF record that
Fitzsimmons received 65 per cent
of the receipts, win or lose, and that
he did not train at all. The fight, to
me was frameup, fer never saw
FitZsimmons try once to land a blow
on Jeff's head or jaw. Instead, Rob
ert bored in with body blows, and
was an easy mark for Jeff's heavy
hooks and uppercuts. The second
time they met, in California, It is
an undeniable fact that Fitzsimmons
was out to win. He broke Jeff's
nose and hammered him on the head
and jaw until Jim was literally cut
to pieces Fitz finally broke his
knuckles, and after that ne was
punched out. But while he lasted
he gave Jeff the worst beating he
ever received.
Take Jeff's fight with sharkey at