The San Francisco call., 1910-05-22

Continued From Page ~, Column
lomatic in his actions the fans at large
would have a far better chance OF get
ting line on his present form. It's a
difficult task to size him up now. When
lot of them make the pilgrimage to
the training camp in the hope OF seeing
the big fellow do some OF his clever
boxing he switches his program and
goes fishing instead.
What a contrast between the black
fighter and the white fighter! While
Jeffries is doing all in his power to poi
son public sentiment against him. the
champion is overlooking no bets that
might serve to make the fans admire
him as a fighter and a boxer. He
jumped right in the Iimelight the mo-
ment he arrived in San Francisco and
he has not shifted his position since
then. 1t is evident that Johnson ia
making capital out OF Jeffries' indiffer-
ent treatment of the followers OF the
game. Johnson will need all the SYM
pathy he can collect and he's right on
the job collecting IL.
JOHNSON Is ALL RIGHT
None of them need worry about his
condition. He will be right. He is a
bigger and a faster man right now
than he ever was in his life before He
never showed us much of the fighting
spirit UP to the present time, but who
knows but that he has managed to in
oculate his system with this since he
won the championship crown from
Tommy Burns. The only man to prove
or disprove this theory is Jeffries him.
self. It's all up to him.
AS for the betting ii is still 10 to Z,
with Jeffries on the long end of IL.
AS the fans will observe, the odds came
up a point in Johnson's favor since he
started his work. The wonderful ap-
pearance which the big black makes
and the businesslike style in which he
goes about his work has had its effect
upon many OF them. Really, II does not
take much to influence bettors in a big
fight. Ths slightest little incident will
switch them.
ODDS MAY BE SWITCHED
Right now there is a lot Of johnson
money TO be covered at the 10 TO Z
price. Two months ago 1t certainly
looked as though Jeffries would rule az
least a 2 to 1 chance. Now, however.
the affair has taken on an entirely dtf-
ferent aspect. Some OF them are not
slow in declaring that Johnson will be
a favorite when the men enter the ring.
This remains to be seen also
Another strange thing is that they
have not been betting as lively as was
generally expected they would. 1t Is
little early yet. of course. but in the
case of wonderfully big fight like
this one the betting commissioners felt
certain that the fans would be fairly
falling over each other to place their
money two months in advance of the
battle, But they are not
AS next months pugilistic treat we
will have Sam Langford. the Boston
bone grinder. and Al Kaufman, the CAL
ifornia heavy weight. On paper this
looks like a very attractive onering,
but the promoter, Louis Blot, should be
cautioned to be very careful with his
arrangements. Thursday nights bloom
er viii leave a bad taste in the mouths
of the fans for a long time.
Langford is not altogether above sus-
picion. According to the recent eastern
dispatches, he has been coming in for
many a panning recently for lighting
to orders and allowing his opponents to
stay a certain number OF rounds II
there is any suspicion that Sam is going
to act this way here he should be run
out of town just as soon as the truth
is known.