The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-07-04
Johnson AND JEFE
READY FOR GREAT
BATTLE TO-DAY
Fight For Championship Of Wox1<
and slol, 600 Purse Takes Placs
in Reno This Afternoon
Winner Gets $75.750. q
Both Men Are In Excellent Physicaz
Condition After Training
Several Months.

RENO. New, July l.--Thron8s "a
persons are making their way - Ran4
from all directions today TO witness
the fight this afternoon betwe%4
James ]. Jeffries, indicated chans.
pion OF the world, and Jack Johhscc
who won the title from Tommy Burz1t
in Australia BY sunset tonight A ~
expected the battle for q purse c<'
100000, Of which the winner win -
ceive s75,75o and the loser s2S.z51.
will have been decided.
The men who have stood up agaiu1<
Jeffries, Corbett, Fitzsimmcns ana
others, say Jeffries will leave the rim
this afternoon hailed 40 the graetes<
fighter OF the century. They say No.
will defeat Johnson as sure 40 the sun
sets tonight Johnson, too, has his en-
ponents. They contend that Jntfrife
long absence from the ring Will Wor<
against him. But, no matter who
wins, 1t will be the greatest battle ~
history, and perhaps the last Bio
struggle that will ever take place "a
the squared circle.
Both Jefrries and Johnson, fre4l1
and strong after q rest Of several
days, rose this morning conhdent c{
victory. They are In excellent phYfj-
cal condition.
/ No element Of the safe and fai4
| Fourth movement has penetrated thu
sagebrush country. Reno, after q week
Of jabbering hysteria and commissions.
awoke today stark, staring fight mHd.
Even before dawn the sidewalks
were congested with noisy parties,
some deserters OF impossible NDt&'
packed into hotel corridors and store
rooms, other patrons OF the hundrods|
OF games, which, after a Sunday o.
idleness, reopened at midnight and
we're kept going full blast throughout
the day. But even at the gaming
tables the talk was not OF the red or
the black, the turn of the card, or the
roll OF the dice. IL was Of the light
In the cafes and restaurants, hotel
corridors and dining rooms, on the
streets and at every spot where more
than two persons met, the talk was
fight, fight, fight The very air was.
sur-charged with the spirit OF the con
test The date was forgotten. Ap.
parently no one remembered in the
excitement OF the hour that any other
great event OF interest to Americans
had been consummated on the day Ia
be made more famous by the meeting
OF Jeffries and Johnson.
John L. Sullivan put In an early ap-
pearance on the streets and he rolled
800 pounds away from the hotel Gold
en-. being joined by James =. Corbett
and as the two erstwhfle deadly rivals
strolled OF arm in arRa, the spectators
were reminded that defeat levels all.
rivals. Tom Sharkey, SO anxious 70
get his challenge I'm print that he
could not sleep in a bed that cost him
S. a night, bumped into the pair, and
in his enthusiasm offered to buy q
drink.
BY the time the breakfast hour wns
over, a roll call OF the throng In front
of the Golden would have sounded
like the index OF Who's Who IA
Sportdom." Jake Kilrain, Bob Fitx-
simmons, Tommy Burns, Abe Atfell.
Battling Nelson. Stanley KetcheI. Ed
die Hanlon, Sam Langford, Young
Peter Jackson, Bill LANCE, and many
other past and present stars and near
stars, together with practically every
prominent trainer, referee. stakehold-
er and sporting man in the country,
were In the crowd.
Nimble fingered dips" worked
through the crowd and reaped a rich
harvest of timepieces and pocket
books. Occasionally one would be
nabbed and yanked out of the crowd
and of to Jail b. husky Ranger or
special policeman, but the miscreants
protestations OF innocence and the VIC
IContinued ON Page Nine.l