Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1910-07-05
LACK Man IS CHAM
| PION WORLD Fighter
|hnsOn Knocks Jeffries Out in The
Fifteenth Round

! RENO. Nevada, July 4.-John
Arthur Johnson. Texas negro, the
son Of an American slave. tonight Ii
the first and nndisputed heavyweight
champion Or the world.
James J Jeffries OF California,
winner Of 22 nights. the man who
never was brought to his knees be-
fore by blow, tonight passed into
history as broken idol. He met
his defeat at the hands of the black
champion. While Jefries was not
actually counted out, he was saved
only from this GROWING shame BY
his friends pleading with johnson
not to hit the fallen man again, and
the towel was brought into the ring
from his corner
AZ the end OF the fifteenth round
Referee Rickard raised the blacks
arm and the great crowd filed out
from the arena glum and silent
Jeffries was dragged to his corner
bleeding from nose and mouth and
dozen cuts on the face He had
black, closed eye and swollen feat
ures. and he held his head in his
hands daked and incoherent.
Johnson walked out of the ring
without a mark on his body except
"a slight cut on his lip, which was
the opening of a wound received in
training.
Jeffries had chance in the sec
ond round. perhaps, but after this
it was plain the undefeated one was
weakening and outclassed in every
point, and after the eleventh 1t was
hopeless.
1t was the greatest demonstration
the ring has ever seen of the in
ability of fighter to come back
after years of retirement.
The youth and science of the black
made Jeffries look like a green man.
The great Jeffries was like a log. The
reyiled Johnson was like black
panther, beautiful in his alertness
and defensive tactics.
Jenries Game but Helpless.
Jeffries fought by instinct. il
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
terrible beating and bore In and
in until he landed the knockout
blow was gone.
After the third round johnson
treated his opponent almost as
joke He smiled and blocked play
fully, eyading the bearlike PUSHES
of Jeffries with a marvellous skill.
now tucking a blow under his arm.
again plueklng it out of the air as a
man stops baseball
Out OF the sea OF opinions and ar
guments that bolster up this fight
and make 1t the talk of the world
these facts have been cast up:
Fight Squares No yellow Streak.
The fight was on the square. or
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 has proved himself so
absolutely JefEries master that ex-
perts such as Charles w Corbett.
the Australian writer and sporting
expert. declared that Tommy Bnrns
had put up a better fight against
johnson, and that the black man
was only playing with the other
man.
The end was swift and terrible 1t
looked as though Johnson had been
holding himself under cover all the
rest OF the time. and now that he
had measured Jeffries in ali his
weakness he had determined TO stop
IT quickly.
JefFFies Frequently Hit Johnson.
Jeffries- had lost the power of de-
tense. A series Of right and left
uppercuts delivered at viii sent him
staggering to the ropes. He turned
and fought back BY instinct. He was
dying hard.
With the exception OF = few fast
rounds the fight was tame Jeffrles
did not have the power IN his punch
to hurt Johnson after he had reeeiY-
ed blow after blow on the Jaw and