Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-03-06
Odds Don't Win q Fight.

/ HdQ pTlbluS T66ultS IOT IIl6 DS&%iLS
men and also wherein the wise fish proved
to be not 20 wise after all.
Now wouldn't 1t be q surprise to man!
II 1t turned out that johnson was no
where near as good as many would have
us believe? That his cleverness and foot
| work were merely ordinary. shall W.
say. and then again. suppose we should
| find that Jeffries never went" and. OF
the contrary. came into the ring ever
better than he ever was before in hi!
life. Let US even suppose that his Ions
rest has done him good. and that al
tradition has been completely upset &C
corddngly as some have doped out the
matter.
Then, too. in regard to the number OF
rounds, which is also matter of grea
speculation among the wise ones who
think that about fifteen will be some
where near the limit, wouldn't they be
surprised il the contest went only six
rounds or less. or, again, If it went the
whole forty-five?
Don't Figure Length Of Scrap.
You can't tell anything about the dura-
ton Of fight. and only in rare instances
do even the principals try to figure this
out. The exceptions are in the cases OF
uneQually matched contestants or where
class" doesn't show. 1 don't believe
that Jeffries or Johnson today would
ton OF the coming fight and then give
any intelligent or substantial reasons
upon which such opinions are based.
l held Jeffries for twenty-three rounds
at Coney Island before he landed his ia
nous vallop, and at San Francisco hi
was able to reach me in the second round
Still. whether justly or not, I got the
credit OF showing ordinary cleverness in
the ring and didn't lack physical condi-
ton I'm either fight. When 1 fought Jack
| a WI hot m hot
wouldn't stay ten rounds with this clever
man. whom l regard as the greatest col
ored fighter of all time. But just think
OF this fight going sixty-one rounds-four
twenty rounds would be the limit, a re-
suit which tickled me nearly to death,
as proved that the wise men are nearly
always wrong and-I've been one Of them
myself.
Well, JefYries will soon be established in
his training camp and then the daily
visits by the great corps Of clever news
paper correspondents will give the pub
lie an expert opinion Of his condition. /
already have referred to letters received
from Jeffries. Gotch and Berger. who
were with the champion on his tour over
the country. and all were favorable to his
good physical condition. / can only add
at this time a brief note, in which JEFF
fries refers to his pleasure in closing up
his tour before settling down to real
training.
He says he wants to whip johnson in
jig time if possible, and that he has never
been in better physical condition in every
respect to begin training for fight.
In this connection l have been deeply
interested In many statements that re-
Gently have been made as to Jeff's abil-
fty to come back" Readers of this
column will remember that in my first
letters printed in these columns after my
return few months ago from England.
where ] consented to assist Jeffries in
his training that / thought the result
OF the fight would depend largely upon
Jeffs ability to get into condition.
judge that I must have started" some
thing. since this subject has been more
frequently and widely discussed than
any other.
Well. 1t has proved to be an interesting
topic and hope that all my readers have
the opinions of others on the subject just
as closely az mine. Among other things
was recently reading the story OF the
fight between Tom Johnson and Isaac
Perrins In Oxfordshire. England, Novem-
Der -. 1850. This was Johnson's great
est fight. johnson was five feet ten
inches in height and weighed 1876 pounds.
Perrins weighed 23S pounds and was four
inches taller. being giant of great
movements. They fought sixty-two rounds
under London prize ring rules, and what
was the most remarkable feature Of the
contest was that johnson was in his for
tieth year and was in the zenith Of his
fame" says the historian.
So-Called "Has- Beens" Come Back.
Willie Hoppe, too. has been digging up
some good stuff" as my newspaper
friends say. of the old-timers in the
billiard world who are still playing to-
day with equal skill as at the time when
Willie wore Knockers and had to stand
on box to see the top Of the table Then
they tell me about Barney Oldfield, the
auto driver. who is just coming out again
this season to break all records. thereby
showing his former nerve. all of which
convinces me that you can't class us
among the good old h. b.'s'' until the
referee gives us the full count.
I was reading. too, the other day about
the grand battle Harry Forbes. the for
mer Chicago champion. put up against
Joe Coster, game and rugged young
ster. In New York. Forbes must be about
thirty years OF age and began fighting
ring more than 100 times. and that he
should come back" in a fight that set
all the fight bugs In Gotham to talking
regard as significant.
/ don't think Jeffries has marked out
any plan Of battle. and. in fact nothing
definite In this matter may be decided
for some weeks to come. He probably
will do much of his training near Los
Angeles, where he will settle down 10
regular work early in April. His hunting
trip in the mountains will do him an i'm
nlense amount of good, STRENGTHENING his
muscles and opening up his pipes. for
there Is no harder work than hunting
mountain sheep. and the bracing air will
put his lungs into fine shape. He won't
have much weight To take OF when he