Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-08
JOHNSON NEVER
BEAT GOOD MAN
Experts Riddle His Claim to Class
as Long as 1t Depends
on Dope
REVIEW HIS MANY BATTLES
ShOWingS Against Fighters Who
Rated with Him in Size
and Weight Are Poor
REVIEW HIS MANY BATTLES
Especial to The Herald.O

! Especial to The Herald)
| NEW YORK. Nav S.-"Did Jack
Johnson ever beat a first-class MANI"
| This question is put many times when
! fighting men gather and discuss the
big mill between the negro and Jeffries,
| to be decided at Emeryville, Cal, on
July 4. Very few alternatives are
| heard, yet it seems to be generally
| conceded that johnson, 6 feet l inch
in height and weighing 205 pounds at
| his best, will be a formidable antag-
onist for the burly boilermaker
! When Sam Fitzpatrick had Johnson
under his wing several years ago the
big negro pugilist was regarded as a
| second-rater He had taken part In
ring contests Tor more than eight
years, yet the followers of pugilism
| never regarded him seriously. Fitz-
patrick, who was we'll liked, used to
| tell his friends that Johnson really
| was something of a fighter. but when
| he turned his back and left they
stock in Johnson's alleged fistic Prov
ess except Fitzpatrick, the man who
| handled the great Peter Jackson and
developed the memorable Kid Lavigne.
| Fitzpatrick said the Texas negro could
beat ordinary heavyweights, but he
never mentioned a possible match
with Jeffries.
| So keen a Judge of fighting skill as
Fitzpatrick could not err when he de-
| cided that Tommy Burns would be
meat for Johnson, for Burns, it is ad-
| mitted, never could be called q high
| class pugilist. For that matter, when
| compared with the star heavyweightS
of recent years. Jeffries, Corbett, Fitz-
| simmons, Sharkey, Rubin, Choynski,
| Mccoy and Maher, 1t was absurd to
| speak of Burns in the same breath.
| Yet when Johnson whipped Burns in
Australia and followed it up by knock
ing out Ketchel the impression became
| widespread that the negro had a
| chance to beat the gigantic Jeffries.
Many ring followers, guided by i'm
| pulse or prejudice, often fail to sit
| down quietly and weigh the evidence
| In hand. Because some pugilist knocks
out an opponent in punch, he leaps
into popular favor with sudden i'm
petus that makes people forget what Is
! known as the dope" Ring records
and actual achievements constitute
| this dope" and 1t often tells the
truth and paves the way for victory
| or defeat.
So what is the "dope" on Jack John
! son that he should be regarded as a
world beater and a sure winner over
| Jeffries2 Choynski found him an easy
mark nearly ten years ago, when they
met in Texas, and Joe knocked him
| out in less than half dozen rounds,
but that was the only time that
| Johnson took q nap within the roped
arena. In 1901 he fought a twenty
round draw with negro called Kon-
dyke, who was at best fourth-rater.
| Then he got decision over Mexican
| Pete Everett in twenty rounds, the
fight, so-called, taking place in 1902
and Everett being general object
of humorous criticism. Hank Griffin,
| q rawboned black man, also stayed
twenty rounds and got draw with
Johnson.
| Just four years prior to these battles
| Jeffries, who had begun to attract at
tention on the Pacific coast, disposed
of Mexican Pete Everett In three
rounds and Hank Griffin in four,
neither of them having ghost of
chance when Jeff began to punch in
deadly earnest. In the campaign OF
| 1903 Johnson got decisions over such
| third-raters as Denver Ed Martin IN
twenty rounds, Sam McVey in two
bouts of that distance and SANDY Fer
guson in one contest of ten ROUNDS ana
another of twenty. That was the year
Jeffries knocked Corbett out in ten
rounds in California, and II anybody
had suggested then that johnson, NC
| Vey, Ferguson or Martin was entitled
| to a match with the champion boiler
maker. there would have been no end
to the ridicule.
Johnson knocked McVey out in the
twentieth round in another fight held
the next year in San Francisco. For
nineteen rounds they struggled on
even terms, doing a lot of wrestling,
clinching and blocking until many OF
the spectators We're bored. AS tney
came I'D for the twentieth round the
referee said: For goodness sake, do
some fighting! This is the last round,
and the people want something Ior
their money. So go in and take
chance"
Johnson paid no attention to the
referees command and opened the
round with his usual blocking tactics.
McVey. however, decided that the
crowd should receive some considera-
tion from him, so he opened up his at
tack and rushed. That was just what
| Johnson was waiting for. With ter
rife right hand uppercut he met NC
Vey as he came tearing in. The ploW
| landed like a sledgehammer on the
point Of the chin, and Johnson scored
| q clean knockout. 1t was the same
blow that Johnson used on Burns and
Ketchel with such disastrous results.
IT was in 1905 that Johnson fought
Marvin Hart in San Francisco. Hart
was Just q good second rater, Dig ana
| strong, with lots of gameness ana
| terrific wallop. johnson plocked anu
/
for twenty rounds, and when the
referee said Hart was the winner on
scientific points the Texas black man
declared vehemently that he had been
robbed. Whether he was or not never
!, has been definitely decided.
johnson wasn't cutting much or
figure then, and when Young Peter
jackson and Joe jeanette, both negro
second raters. fought draws with him
beforegthe end of that year, Sam Fitz- |
natrick found very few ring followers
who were willing to listen to the ne
ero's prospects. Johnson got decision
over Jeannette in 15-round bout in |
baltimore in March, 1906, and then he
was asked to visit Boston to meet one
| I,angford in a 15-round affair johnson
| didn't know much about Langford ex-
cent that his first name was Sam, that
The was a negro and a welterweight.
Many stories have been told of this
Johnson -Langford scrap, but there is
only one that is true. Langford stood
s feet 71s inches in his fighting shoes
and weighed exactly 1873 pounds. He
was Ave inches shorter and nearly
sixty pounds lighter than Johnson. In
the first round there was such an alb
| surd difference in the appearance of the
men that the crowd screamed and
howled; but in the second round Lang
ford, getting in close, put great left