Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-24
Gotch Says
Jeff Can Come
Back Easily
Declares He is Now in Good Form
and Will Be Normal When He
Meets johnson.

Frank Gotch, champion wrestler, who is
travelling with J%etfries, says Jim is o. X.
and will whip johnson. He sums up the
case In these wordsi
l believe / have been associated with
James j. Jeffries long enough to be able TO
write accurately about him. 1 n all the
time that I have been with him / have
not discovered any weakness in the retired
~chanpion's makeup and l can see no rea-
son why he should not go into the ring
July 4 In the very best condition.
do not agree with the pessimists that
he has suffered By his long lsyoff from
active pugillstic duty, and / am firm In the
ss'i tho t i NE VIII be very nearly as good
simmons, Corbett, Sharkey, ct al, II not
as good as he eyer was.
Many questlons have been raised about
lJeffrtes since hss first announced that he
would fight JolIhson. The cry from every
quarter of the globe has been: He can /
set back in shape, He may be able to go
low"
Everyone knows that | take good care
or myself, and ! arm free to confess that /
I'M about ell in after q f-ifteen-minutes'
stunt on the mat. Wait till Jeff gets into
his training camp and does a few stunts
IN the mountains and you will see how
He win nave plenty of breathing capacity
because | know. his lungs have not been
hurt during his absence from the ring. All
- $3.50 - R0NAf - WIN NAAa
he will 90 into the ring in fine fettle.
The other day we nrestled for a half
hour and he finished fully as strong as /
did, OF course, he is not a finished Crap
pier, but he gave me a hard battle.
l was forced to use the Graeso-Roman
style OF wrestling, because he did not want
me to work on his legs. In the thirty min
utes that we were tussllng ] was able to
pin him down but once. This should show
how great is his strength, because he
knows little Of the wrestling game.
Those who have been doubling Jeffries'
sincerity and his zeal In training for John
son should travel with him for a while.
They soon would become believers in him.
When / started out with the Frasee show
l was not a great admirer OF Jeffries. In
fact, l was one of the doubters, but l have
grown to see that he is honest and that he
is working as hard as any man could to
get into shape.
/ have left the columns OF the doubters to
be one of his s~taunchest supporters, and
the main reason for the change is the
manner of life jeff is living. He Is follow
ing the straight ahd-narrow path, and II he
Is beaten II will not be because he has
dissipated while preparing tor the fight.
In the eight weeks hat I have been with
him l have not seen him AXE a single
drink, and 1 think / am safe In saying
no liquor has passed mis- lips In that
Another greatlpoint in favor of Jeffries
is his determination. II ever a man had a
set purpose, that man Is jeff, and the pur-
pose is to defeat Johnson. While he is 60
ing. TO fight for one Of the greatest sums
a tighter eyer commanded, really be-
ieve the pleasure, Of defeating Johnson
would be q greater reward for him than
all the money in the world.
He would not stall for a second in order
to enhance his profits from the pictures Of
when the fight comes off, my opinion on
this matter viii be proven true.