BOXING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2636, 19 October 1909, Page 6

BOXING.

BURNS CHALLENGES JOHNSON

IJnitkd I’itKßß Association —Copyright (Received Oct. 19, 1.5 a.m.) SYDNEY, Oct. 18. Tommy Burns has cabled to America offering to fight Johnson 45 rounds or to a finish. Burns states that he is willing to fight on condition that tlie winner takes all. JIM JEFFRIES’ CLOSE CALL. 808 FITZSIMMONS MIGHTY NEAR WINNING. Big Jim Jeffries was ready to give up the fight just one round before he planted the punch that rendered Bob Fitzsimmons helpless in the ring in their second engagement, which took place -at San Francisco, July 25, 1902. Billy Delaney,-until recently manager of A 1 Kaufman, who was Jeff’s second in the fight rcferi’-ed to, t-ells all the details of the contest, and adds that Fitz gave Jeffries the. worst beating of his career, and came near winning the championship in that very bathe. Here is Delaney’s story, according to a Seattle paper: “Jeff found that Fitz was a hard proposition to handle, and tried everything ho had in stock to beat the old man. Bob,came back for more, and seemed to ) be growing stronger round after round. Jeff was being jpunished unmercifully, and, among other tilings, one of liis eyes .hung out, and his nose was almost flattened on his face. “When lie came back in the seventh round I said to him: ‘Jim, how do you feel ?’ He replied: ‘Rotten ; I think it is all off. I cannot see, And my nose is bothering mo so that it takes an effort to get my breath.’ “I looked him over, and found Jim’s eye in a woful shape. He made a remark right there that convinced me of his gamenoss. ‘l’m willing to lose that eye, Bill.’ lie said; ‘pull it out.” “ ‘No, I will not do- that. Jim,’ I replied. ‘You’re in such a shape that the best thing to do is to throw' up the sponge.’ ‘No, don’t do it,’ he said. I’ll go after him in this round and try to finish, him. If I don’t do better this time then you can toss up the sponge.’ “Well, to make a long story short, Jeff knocked Fitz out in the next round. That’s how close Jim came to being a defeated man.” <■■■