The daily sentinel., 1910-02-12
Critical View
of Sports

n tdllOl Oh ILt SCAA4AA4t,
Jeffries-Johnson fight, which appear
ed in the New York Evening Journal,
reads in part as follows:
Before very long a ring" namely,
an enclosure twenty-four feet square,
roped in on all sides, will be arrang-
ed in some athletic club"
In this ring two men, one black
and one white, will fight with their
fists-until one of them is unable to
fight any more, or until one of them
fulfills his part of corrupt bargain,
and pretends TO be beaten.
Despite all the possibility of fraud.
and ali the probability of fraud, there
Is extraordinary interest in this COM
ing battle between a white man and
a colored man.
The white man, Jeffries, is an ex-
traordinary man of his type. In the
old days he would have been a great
warrior. Mounted on some heavy
draft horse, able to carry 800 pounds,
inclosed in armor. with big lance,
this broad-shouldered. thick-necked,
powerful, good-natured monster
would have made wonderful repu-
tation. And dozens of fair damsels
with hundreds of beautiful dresses
(and never a bath tub among them)
would have made all sorts of sheep
eyes at him.
But the days of armor and the days
of jousting have gone by. The fight
ers of today must use their fists.
So Jeffries, who might have been
the California DuGuesclin, became,
instead. the worlds heavyweight
champion.
Johnson, the black man, is inter-
esting also. He is tall, thin, good
natured, very deliberate. His meth
DDS show very little lost motion, very
little wasted energy. He has been
about as successful as Jeffries in dis
posing of all the men that have op-
posed him. If there is anything
wonderful in fighting. in striking an
other man with clenched fist and
knocking him senseless. Johnson and
Jeffries are both wonderful men.
In the discussion of this coming
fight with fists there are features
more interesting than human brutal
ity, more interesting than the fact
that millions of Americans would
gladly pay ten dollars to see this
fight and not thousands OF them
would pay ten cents to see the great
est work of art.
II hot, uhu very luleTtbtluS, lS,
Can Jeffries, the white man, fight
and win after some years of pros
perity and of fairly hard drinking?"
Can he still compel his muscles to
obey instantly the order of the brain :?
Most OF the old wise men in the
world of battle believe that Jeffries
can not win-unless his colored op-
ponent should be a weaker man than
men think. They do not believe that
the colored man, johnson, at his best
could win against Jeffries at his best.
1t is probable that Jeffries was the
most powerful living man, best able
to resist as well as to inflict punish
ment in all the history of brutal
fighting. But Jeffries will probab bly,
be defeated-if the battle is fairly
fought, according to the old wise
ones-not by the colored man oppos-
ing him. but by the money that JEFF
fries has made and spent and drunk
by the prosperity that his muscles
could earn. but that his brain couldn't
stand.
The great profit is in the moving
pictures. AS the men fight a machine
records every movement And for
years afterward, whoever will pay
may see the fight on the canvas,
watch the blows and hear some loud
gentleman tell how 1t all happened
In the exhibition of the pictures
there Is great fortune. The ultra
wise, individuals say that johnson
will not win because he will not be
allowed to win. or because he will be
paid not to win. They say that II
the white man wins. and the vanity
and the childish egotism of the white
people are flattered. the moving pic
lures will be worth a million dollars.
On the other. hand. they say that
IL the colored man wins. the indig-
nant white race will feel extremely
sad about 1t, refuse to go and see the
pictures, and they will be worth hard
ly nothing.