JIM JEFFRIES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2446, 10 March 1909, Page 3

JIM JEFFRIES.

HIS RE-APPEARANCE IN AMERICA.

WILLING TO FIGHT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP.

In view of the cable message published- the other day stating that Jeffries, the American boxers’ idol, and one time champion, was willing to fight Johnson, and Wry and regain the championship for the white race, provided he could train to form and the terms being suitably arranged, the following, extracted from the “Referee’s” report from their special commissioner in America, will prove doubly interesting. liis re-appearance on Sunday afternoon, January 17, in the Wigwam Theatre, San Francisco, before a large audience who gave him a vociferous welcome. Ho looked as big as the traditional house in his salmon pink singlet and stockings, and his black velveteen brocks. Jeff’s legs looked big, but not bigger, I think, than in the old days. He was kind of full 'about the waist-line, and his shoulders and arms did not display the mounds of muscle that took the eye when lie was champion. He has certainly lost the strong man attributes that were a heritage of his boi-ler-making days, but whether or not persistent exercise will bring out the hills and hummocks on his upper frame again is something I would not undertake to decide. Just now ho has the appearance of a round-bodied, flat-muscled fellow. He looks to me as John L. Sullivan looked in tho early eighties. This, in tho opinion of the wiselieads, is because four years of masterly inactivity have permitted tho fat to get the better of the muscle, just as weeds will choke' the flowers in an uncared-for garden. After seeing him give an exhibition spar with Sam Berger, the American heavy-weight, it was apparent to the writer that Jeffries was surprisingly fast on his feet, and _ remarkably neat at ducking, blocking, and defensive work generally. The questions that were still to be answered were: “Will Jeffries stand the training to place him in condition ?” and “Is his hitting department in as good repair as the balance of his fighting qualifications?” The latter question seemed to be 'answered by a story that got round that Jeffries had: sent Berger out twice during their bout, owing to Berger being fresh and inclined to take liberties. This story was denied by tho management, who stated that Berger slipped and wrenched his knee, being thus unable to finish his bout. ’As to the forrner question, it is' well answered by Dick Adams, the man who is probably more...with Jeffries than any one alive. Asked point filank whether lio thought Jeffries had

a fight left in him, Adams said: “There is nothing surer. I have been with him on bear hunting and trout fishing; trips that lasted months, and there is no one knows him better than I do. He hasn’t gone back an iffiph. If he made up his mind to fight at the earliest possible date I would see to it that he went with me on ; a hunting expedition for a couple of months. Out on the range he is active and tireless. Many a night when we have reached camp dogtired—at least ni my case—something has come up, a report of hear tracks or deer signs, maybe, that has sent Jeffries out rambling again for hours. He is incapable of fatigue, I think, and a month or two of the life he loves would put him where a few weeks oi gymnasium work would do the rest. And if ho does get ready for a fight, this fellow Johnson will be pie for him. I can figure it with Hank Griffin for a starting point. Griffin went twenty rounds with Johnson — each time a draw. Jeffries put Griffin away in four rounds at Los Angeles, and Griffin told me when it was over that he wouldn’t take the same wallops again if they tempted him with a fortune,”

When the fight does take place, as it seems to be the general opinion of those who know that it is a sure thing, it is sure to he a much harder contest than the Burns’Johnson battle, and should Jeffries prove successful it will bo a gala day for Americans.