The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1910-07-08
JEFFRIES never
HAD A CHANCE
Clearly Outclassed in His
Battle With johnson.
FOUGHT GAMELY TO LAST

Faced His Opponent SquareIy as LONG
as He Was Able to Stand and Took
Severe 7eating-Neoro Fought
Cautiously, but Forced the End 40
Soon as He Knew He Had the Fight
Well in Hand.
Reno, New, July 6.-John Arthur
Johnson, a Texas negro, the son Of an
American slave, is the undisputed
heavyweight champion of the world.
James J.. Jeffries of California, win
ner of twenty-five championship fights,
the man who never was brought to his
knees before by a blow, has passed
into history as a broken idol. He met
utter defeat at the hands Of the black
champion.
The fight was disappointing to those
who expected a slam bang affair. John
sou clearly ortfcught Jeffries at all
stages, but was cautious and never
took a chance until he knew he had
the fight we'll in hand. jeff hadsone
chance in the eleventh round, when he
landed hard left to jaw, but he could
not follow up the advantage. jeff
fought gamely throughout and took
a evere beating.
While Jeffries was not actually
counted out, he was saved only from
| this GROWING shame by his friends
| pleading with Johnson not to hit the
fallen mar again. At the end of the
fifteenth round Referee Tex Richard
raised the black arm and the great
| crowd filed out glum and silent.
Jeffries was dragged to his corner
bleeding from nose and mouth and a
| dozen cuts on his face. He had a
black, closed eye and. swollen features,
and he held his head in his hands
dazed and incoherent.
Johnson walked out of the ring
without a mark On his body, except a
slight cut on his lip, which was sfhe
opening of a wound received in train
ing.
Ring experts agree that it was not
even a championship fight. Jeffries
had a chance in the second round, per-
haps, but after the sixth it vas plain
that he was weakened and outclassed
in every point, and after the eleventh
! round it was hopeless.
Jeffries Not His Old Sell.
It was the greatest demonstration
the ring has ever seen Of the failure
of a fighter to come back after years
of retirement. The youth and science
of the black man made Jeffries look
like a green man. The great Jeffries
was like a log. The reviled Johnson
was like a black panther in his alert
ness and defensive tactics. n
Jeffries fought by instinct, it seemed,
showing his gameness and his great
fighting heart in every round, but he
was only the shell of his old self. The
old power to take a terrible beating
and bore in until he landed the knock
out blow was gone.
After the third round Johnson treat
ed his opponent almost as a joke. He
smiled and blocked p%layfully, warding
OIL LuS USdIl1hC luSACo vi JCAl1Oo W1IA
a marvellous science, now tucking a
blow under his arm, again plucking it
out of the air as a man steps a base
ball. 55
Out of the sea of opinions and argu-
ments that bolstered up this fight and
made it the talk of the world, these
pinnacles of fact have been cast up:
h The fight was on the square. OF that
there was no doubt after the first
round.
There was no evidence or hint Of
the famous yellow streak" on the
part of johnson.
johnson proved himself SO absolute
ly Jeffries' master that experts such
as w. Corbett, the Australian sporting
writer and ring expert, declared that
Tommy Burns had put up a better
fight against johnson and that the
black man was only playing with the
ether man.
Knockout Came Suddenly.
The end was swift and terrible. It
looked as though johnson had been
holding himself under cover all the
rest of the time and now that he had
measured Jeffries in all his weakness
he had determined to stop it quickly.
Jeffries had lost the power Of de-
tense. a. series Of right and left up
percuts delivered at will sent him
staggering to the ropes. He turned
and fought back by instinct as though
he was dying hard.
With. the exception Of q few fast
rounds the fight waa.stame. Jefries
did not have the power in his punch
to hurt johnson after he had received
blow after blow on the jaw and his:
vital power was ebbing. But even
before this stage came Jefiries could
not reach the black. The blows, al
most all Of them, landed with all the
/ speed taken out Of them.
The thirteenth showed rapid disso
luton on Jeffries' part. Following