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FEW ATHLETES EVER COMEBACKFOLLOWERS OF BOXING GAME FIND THIS VEXING QUESTION JUST NOW.and beat him In *ov.*nty-four round* i in Kichburg on July S. IR92. Then followed a long period of real—three year* and two month*—and then Jlin Corbett put the champion out of the running In twenty-one round* at New Orleans.No one has erer come bark yet.Think It over. Does Jeffries have to come back to beat Jack Johnson?If be does have to. can be?JIM JEFFRIES IS UNDER flEEFan* Are Wondering If the Big Fellow Will Ever Be Great Again.New York. Nov. 6.—Do they ever come bock?Think It over. Did you play tennl* up to live year* ago and then give it up? Were you a pretty go«»d shot with a rifle five years ago and giro it up? Did you play foot ball up to the time you left school five ycsrs ago and then | | coufln* your interest in the »i»ort to ( watching a game from the grnnd-tund | once a year? Did you wrestle a bit or box a little or do a little sprinting or a little long-distance running some five years ago. but pasa them all up for business?If you did any of these things, do you think any amount of training would make you as good today ** you were before you quit the particular sport In which you were Interested?Hardly. Thousands of men have tried It and no one has ever corni-back Into his .pld-tlme form, whether his forts wws tenuis, or rowing, or swimming, or shooting, or wrestling, or boxing, or riding, or anything else. |' All this, of course, leads up to the ' question as to whether or not Jim Jef- • fries can evsr be as good again as he j was flvs years ago. lie may look as 1 well and teal as well, but will his eye work as quickly as It used to? Will his fsot carry him around tho ring as fast as they did when he was tho1on of the world? Will bla arms \ out with the same force that they did five year* ago?As a matter of fact, it ha* been six years rriuoe Jim Jeffries had a real flghL That waa cm August 14, 1903. whon be put Jim Corbett away In ton San Francisco. One year two mouths later hr had hla little bout with Jack Munroo and very lit tie time actually nooonter. He didn’t harm to; tho fight waa ~ln before the men got Into the ring, and Jeff knew tL Still, at the bust minute he wauled u» ask lor a postponement tn order to get Into a little bettor condition.And so you see tf Jeffries fights the j negro at all It will be nearer seven years than five since he has don* suy hard work. Can a man May out of tho game all that time and be n» g«*d a* ever, even though he hnn led a temperate life during the six or seven [ years? Can he?Hardly.How Good Must He Be.Of course, there I* this to be con aid ••red. Jeff may not have to be the j, Jeff of old to whip Jack Johnson, but g close Htudent* of the game t.gure that c he must be at his very beat to win t from the giant colored man. who Is a great fighter.There Is another thing to consider. $ While Jeffries has led a temperate life J during the last six years, he has led 1 one. Very few days havo I him out of bed before nearly r noon. He grew fkt and laxy. Always I good n Cured. he would rather alt t around and talk than get tnto a pair of trunk* and work. Can a man throw aside the habits developed In six years * of Idleness—chick from out of the win- 8 dow all of a sudden and begin all over *SBtat--. tWell, let's see what others have c done along the same line.Tod Sloan, after a long period of * rest from work in the saddle, was allowed to ride down at New Orleans. He got soma good mount*, but every boy at the track put It oft him it came to riding a race. Hla his judgment and his skill had allthe e*s* of Amo*thepltrher who quit the game and. after a long rest—he had ahown no signs of not being a* good I as he ever was—he tried to get back Into the diamond gam* What wa* the result? Every old batter who couldn't ‘ hit the aid* of a barn took a crack at Rub's twirling, and the one-time king , of them all went bark to work tn a yard at $1.50 a day. le Wefers wa* one of the greatest sprinter* the world ever saw—he ran 100 yards In 9 4-5 second* no less than twenty-seven time* and wa* positively unbeatable in hi* day. He easily outran men like Maybury. Rush and Bnrk In the short race* and prodigious feats of speed, xr* after hi* retirement , tried to regain hi* old Ume , but found out that the old snap f * In his stride. He could sprint , ly well, but be lark-d juat;lt; gn of bth former dash to keep , him frotn regaining his former place n* the greatest short distance man on| 9There are many distance runners f who have gone through tho same ex- lt;that Wefers had. None of;, hare ever quit the game and ,“come back again.Same Old Story.It U the same story In every other line of professional and amateur sport A man who takes care of himself and keeps at the game may havo many years of success, whether It bo at tennis or football, or running, or baseball. or fighting, or anything else. Dut let him give up the sport, stay out of it for a time and then try to be a champion again, and when* does h*» get off? Every one knows the answer.Rlug champions who have tried it and failed are too nura'-rou* to mention. The trouble, however, with most lighters has been that they have tried to come back after they were heat»-n. and after a long period of dissipation. Jeff ha* never been beaten, and ha* never dissipated, so you can’t exactly compare him with Young Corbett and Terry McGovern and the other cham who tried to come back and it connect.he case of John L. Sullivan, fellow fought Jake Kllxaln
Newspaper Details
Telegraph Herald
Dubuque, Iowa, US
Sun, Nov 07, 1909
Page 20
Full Page
Clipped by
John H.
IL, USA 18 Dec 2017
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