BOXING.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 144, 20 June 1899, Page 2

BOXING.

THE WORLD'S CHAMPIONSHIP.

808 FITZSIMMONS DEFEATED. JEFFRIES TOO GOOD THROUGHOUT.

LONDON, June 10.

The contest between Robert Fitzsimnrons and Jim, Jeffiri.es, the American, for the heavy weight championship of the world, took place at New York yesterday. The fight was for £5000, and was conducted tinder the auspices of the Coney Lsland Club.

Both men stripped in good condition. The betting at the start wus 2 to 1 on Fi tzsimmons.

Jeffries had the advantage at the start, and. in the second round he floored the ex-New Zealander.

In the next five rounds points were even, but the seventh ended in favour of Fitzsimmons.

In the eighth and ninth round Jeffries obtained a commanding lead, and in . the tenth he twice "downed" Fitzsimmons.

The eleventh round proved the last. Jeffries, who was exhibiting splendid form, got in a swinging blow with the right, and he followed this up by a straight left, which brought Fitzsimmorus to the floor. Fitzsimmons was unable to rise, and was counted out by the referee.

There was tremendous excitement during the last round, and Jeffries' supporters became wildly enthusiastic at his vistory.

Prior to the fight it had been reported that the po-lice intended to interfere after the first heavy blow. This proved to be a. groundless rumour, as the police made no attempt to interfere.

Jeffries was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1877, and is undoubtedly the youngest, pugilist who ever came in line for championship honours. He graduated from a boiler maker's shop and fought Van Buskirk, another California giant, beating 'him in two rounds. He then settled Henry Baker, of Chicago, in nine rounds, and later proved his quality by boxing1 two twenty-round draws with Gus RubHn and Joe Choynski respectively. Subsequently a match between Jeffries and Joe Goddard was arranged and the yoxmg Californian disposed of his opponent in six rounds, and in a second match defeated Goddard again, this time in two rounds. Then he fought Peter Jackson, and gained a clean-cut decision over the coloured pugilist in t'hc third round. After many preliminaries a match between Jeffries arid Sharkey was arranged. Jeffries had many physical advantages over his opponent. He was quite five inches taller and 251b heavier, and larger in every respect. Yet what Sharkey lacked in a physical way was compensated for in his aggressive and forceful style of fighting. The good opinion of Jeffries' pugilistic abilities was enhanced by the tight which he put up against the. sailor. Although the battle lasted twenty rounds the result was a foregone conclusion after the third round, when it became apparent that, Sharkey's rough, rushing style of. fighting 'had no effect upon the human stonewall which confronted him. The referee's decision was in favour of Jeffries. The latter's next match was with Bob Armstrong ami Steve O'Donnell, he offering to fiiz'ht two men in one night. Jeffries failed to perform up to his Californian reputation, and he left New York soon afterwards. Since then he has been endeavouring to arrange a match with Fitzsimmons for the world's championship, and the ultimate result shows that his confidence in 'his own powers was apparently not misplaced. Jeffries' fighting weight is 205 pounds.