The Morning examiner. [volume] (Ogden, Utah) 1904-1910, 1910-07-17
PUBLIC FOOLED
BY THE FIGHTERS
(By E. D. Burrows.)

the inside stories of the big tight
the stories which always follow In
the wake OF championship contest
are coming TO light just as Sun
shine Jim" Coffroth declared they
would do Immediately after July
Fourth, One by one the public is
being "let in on the more or less
startling facts of the big match
facts which only go to show that the
D. o p is, after all, the softest kind
of clay In the hands OF the fighter,
the fighter, in turn, Is the easiest
game for the clever promoter, and
the clever promoter resembles a babe
In arms when stacked up against the
willy politician. In the great human
drama recently eliminated Iu Reno,
Nevada, each Of these dupes and
"dubies" had his part-and, were II
not for the serious aspect OF some
Of the dencuements, 1t would be Tough.
able TO read full and complete his
tory of the Johnson-J effries fight, as
written from the private notebooks
of Tex Rickard, Jack Gleason. Jim
Jeffries, Jack Johnson. Sam Berger
and George Little. These men, who
were in" on practically all of the
"star chamber sessions" held In con-
nection with the big match, are daily
passing out to the newspaper men
hints of what they were forced to do
in the way OF diplomatic intrigue Be
fore the, year is out we will probably
know the whole story-and until then
II is not the wisest policy in the world
TO laud the apparent saint or con-
oemn the apparent winner.
Perhaps the first exposure OF any
consequence was that made by Tex
RJckard. one OF the promoters OF the
heavyweight go. a few days ago. when
he admitted that he had the two fight
ers-Johnson and Jeffries-slgned up
two days before the opening of bids
In New York, and that no other pre-
motor had chance. In other words,
the opening Of bids was simply
grandetand play, calculated to slim
ulate public interest Furthermore,
Rickard admitted that he had pulled"
the fighters into thinking that each
had the better Of the other In the mat.
ter of bonuses whereas, in reality,
they received precisely the same
amounts for signing with him.
The next denouement came from
AsO6Cio SOihClls ODe vi JtIIIle6 C0lRI
seconds. who declared that the wise
oEee' who were hanging around the
big fellows camp at Moana Springs
knew several days in advance OF the
light that Jeffries was not In proper
condition for contest physically
he was as near perfect as any one of
his age and former habits could be-"
declared Cornell yesterday morning.
but psychologically he was, a mile
TO the bad. Do what we would, II
was impossible to bring him out of
his melancholia and preoccupation.
Whether IL was sense OF the enor-
nous responsibility resting upon him,
or the hunch that he was in for a
beating; l don't know-but something
took hold of him a week before tho
fight and totally destroyed his use
fulness as an opponent of Jack John
sen. He should never have gone into
the ring the way he felt"
IL this be true-and Cornell seems
TO know whereof he speaks-It Is liza.
Bile to put Jeffries In extremely bad
odor with the hundreds Of prominent
sporting men who wagered their mon.
ey upon him. II Jeffries knew, In
Els own heart, that he was not fit,
how much better 1t would have been
1cr him to make a flat declaration to
the world, stating that he had tried
to condition himself and failed-rath.
er than w1lfully to enter the ring.
Put up rotten exhibition and lose
the hundreds of thousands of dollars
which his friends and admirers had
put up on him. Big jim has In the
neighborhood Of 5000, 900 to use as. a
balm for those wounded feelIngs"-
whereas his friends have nothing but
an empty pocketbook, aud the mem.
ory of a miserable showing on the
part of the once-great white boxer
Following closely upon the heels
OF Cornells Confession" comes the
charge Of Jack Johnson that his cx-
manager, George Little. attempted TO
bribe him to throw the battle. with
Jffrie6-and the counter-charge of
Little that Johnson had agreed to lay
down The black champion. claims
Little, agreed to the frame-up and
then double-croesed because Jeffries
refused to split 5000 with him. This,
declares the Chicago procurer, ac.
counted largely for the remarkable
change which came over Jeffries In
the last few days before the hosti,.
tiles. Up TO the time johnson issued
his ultimatum TO fight ION the
square" Jeffries was In the great. .
est of good humor and high spirits.
When he learned, however, that John.
son was going out to win. the menu,
ory OF that night In Los Angeles
when. after whipping his brother Jack
In five rounds. Johnson challenged
Jim TO get into the same ring with
fim-came back; and II vas that
memory, coupled with Johnson's clev-
erness and the presence of Delaney
In the negro's corner that caused tho
downfall OF the human oak" This