JEFFRIES v. JOHNSON.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVII, Issue 994, 25 March 1909, Page 12

JEFFRIES v. JOHNSON.

IS A MATCH LIKELY?

In a very interesting article on this subject, the well-known Sydney boxing authority, “The Amateur,” says: Offers of fabulous purses have been

made, as much as £lO,OOO or £15,000 to one of the principals in the match, whether he won or lost. What about the other party to the show? Johnson, as champion, must be placed on at least the same footing, which means a total of £20,000 or £30,000 in prize-money alone. It would be an absolute impossibility to make the speculation profitable, in Australia especially, through a match that would arouse nothing like the interest the Burns-Johnson affair excited, for Burns had just beaten out two champion, and Johnson had visited us some time before and easily accounted for the best pitted against him. Further, Jeffries has been out of the game for five years, during which period he has lived an easy life and grown very gross. Now, who will dare to say that such a man can, at 34 years of age, shunt his great weight of “ too, too solid flesh,” and be benefited, particularly as a saloon, where, for the sake of business, he had to be “ at home ” as much as possible, occupied the bulk of his time- It was Jeffries that drew the custom, not the brands of liquor he kept, or the way they were served up.

Jeffries has said, and repeated over and over, that he has no intention of facing the music again—could not, in fact, be dragged into the ring with wild horses.

Think you, reader, that even if the bringing off of a Jeffries-Johnson battle in Australia were possible, and the announced purses enticed the pair, also that any Government the Continent over would allow' the match to occur, we could outbid America, where Jeffries is absolutely idolised, and where he, even if no more than Australia was prepared to give could be obtained, would naturally prefer to fight. Already some big syndicate up about Klondyke, in the Yukon territory, has announced their willingness to hang up 100,000 dollars, and others are only awaiting some definite pronouncement from the big fellow before “ raising ” that sum considerably. Why would Jeffries fight again, seeing that he dropped out of the game directly Johnson menaced the position, vowed he could never be lured into meeting a coloured man, because of America’s hatred of the negro race, and yet Jeffries had met three coloured men before, in the persons of Hank Griffin, Bob Armstrong, and Peter Jackson.

Presuming Jeffries did decide to fight again, and got into shape, could he really beat Johnson? I know many, especially in America, think the task might be easy for the white man, while others are of opinion that he would have exceeding difficulty in landing on the black. One thing is

certain, and that —that Johnson could not win through a knock out, though he might pile up a great heap of surplus points. In his day Jeffries beat the best contemporary heavy-weights, and not once did any of them have him any way near slumberland. Out-boxed and badly knocked about he certainly was occasionally, but never did he stagger back in his tracks helpless for a moment. Jeffries always has been the infuriated bull in his battles, and the clever men — Corbett, Fitzsimmons, Choynski, and Co. —opposed to him the tantalising toreadors. The retired champion was a powerful fellow, liberally charged with vitality, and the owner of a remarkable capacity for punishment, and though quick and nimble for such an enormous mass of man, never in it as far as skill went with any one of the topnotchers of his day. Jim Corbett ran rings round Jeffries for twenty-three rounds, and then lost through a lucky punch, the opening for which was left through the beaten man’s excessive confidence as the end approached. Joe Choynski fought a twenty-rounds’ draw with Jeffries, and he (Jeffries) only beat Tom Sharkey on points in 20 and 25 rounds’ matches. Certainly Sharkey was no terror. In their last battle at Frisco, it was not what Jeffries did to him that caused Bob Fitzsimmons to. stop, but what he couldn’t do to Jeffries in the way of hurt, thought the Californian proved a veritable punching-bag for the New Zealander, who hit him when and wherever he liked.