Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-06
BY LAY DAVIDSON

| keep the Reno arena with view TO
putting on two more big scraps Labor
day. If he expects to do this he must
arrange cards that will be of general
interest, as the attendance must be
drawn from points outside the state
Langford and Johnson, over a forty
five-round route, would be sure
drawing card because both are at the
top of their respective divisions and
because their fight would result in
near murder, owing to their terrific
hitting and surely woulo result in
knockout.
While the shock caused by Jeffries
defeat is wearing off, his Los Angeles
friends, who probably are better quali-
fled to speak of his condition and ex-
plain his defeat than any others be-
cause of their long association with
him, are divided in opinion, both in
preparing for the fight and in the ring.
CAUSE OF DEFEAT
Some advance the theory that he took
too long a time in which to train and
overdid the job, leaving his real fight
in his training camp. Others says that
his long absence from the ring and
his easy manner of living for five years
after retiring undermined his physical
self, minimized his strength and de-
stroyed his stamina and vitality. The
probability is that both theories are
we'll founded, at least to a great eX-
tent. In his battle he showed only the
shadow of his former self. He lacked
strength and stamina, he was poor
judge of distance, was slow in his
movements and still slower in taking
advantage of the openings for effective
blows He lacked all his oldtime ag-
gressiveness and spirit. He may have
entered the ring with confidence in
himself, but he seemed to have lost it
before the fight had gone three rounds,
permitting johnson to handle him with
ease and almost without resistance. In
the clinChes, he was nearly always on
the defensive and in the breakaways
could not defend himself against that
enviable right uppercut. He tapped
Johnson four or five times with that
famous left hook to jaw, but instead
of putting Johnson down, as 1t was
expected to do, it did not even jar him.
This was the first indication that he
lacked the steam he once put into his
blows. That he could not hurt john
son with his leads to win was shown
in the seventh round, when he landed
hard left swing to the stomach as
| they went into a clinch. Johnson held
on with his left, raised his right and
smiled as he remarked, loud enough
for ringsiders to hear, Hit me again.
permitting Jeffries to drive two more
| leIIS TO IH6 same Spot Willle lIlG IleSl y
| was smiling as if he did not feel them.
All agree that the Jeffries of 1904 and
! the Jeffries of 1910 are vastly different
| fighters, so different in fact that there
is scarcely a resemblance between
them.
WISE PICKERS
| Experienced conditioners of fighters
and well known athletic directors, eX-
cept those in Jeffries' camp, selected
I'll, 70 Iaf lot ffrin M nf
! friendship, but in good judgment, based
on experience in handling men. They
| held almost unanimously that Jetfries
! had stayed out of the ring too long
and had neglected that strict care and
regard for his physical self that is re-
| quired to maintain that perfection Of
athletic condition necessary for one to
be successful in strenuous competition.
Some say that Jeffries was jollied into
! the belief that he was Just as good
as ever" by his training staff, COM
| posed of has beens" who could not
| give Jeffries those workouts that would
! have shown his true condition. Had
Langford, Barry and brother Jack
been with Jeffries in the final two
| months of his training, with instruc-
| tions to tear in and work on Jettries
to the best of their ability, they would
have benefited him materially more
| than such men as Choynski, Arm
strong, Corbett and Farmer Burns.
| They would have shown Jeffries that
! he had no stamina, no punch, and no
| chance to beat Johnson and there
would have been no fight and no negro
champion of the world today, AS it is,
Jeffries was deceived into the belief
| that he was back in form. He worked
| faithfully and fought gamely and
made a martyr of himself to his friend
ship and his race sacrificing his proud
ring record and winding up the most
brilliant pugilistic career in history
with a defeat by going into the ring
! once too often, as was the case with
John L. Sullivan. However, there is
none to blame expect his friends, for
whom he consented against his better
judgment to take this risk and for
whom he made this sacrifice, The spirit
was willing, but the flesh was weak
and back of it all, his heart was in
the right place.