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SPORTS AND ATHLETICSJames J. Jeffries, the heavy-weight champion, seems destined to carry thetitle to the grave with him, for throughout the entire pugilistic field to-day there appears no serious rival. His recent victory over Mun-roe added nothing to his reputation as a fighter, for it was simply a walk-over for the big fellow. The man who can whip J. J. Jeffries. Jeffries a t the present time, remarks a prominent Chicago sporting writer, has not yet been developed, and by the time he has been, Jeffries will be sans teeth, sans hair, sans everything. At the present time there is no man who deserves a match with the champion. Scour the whole world and you cannot find any pugilist who has the right to challenge Jeffries even. Undoubtedly he will receive many challenges, but they must come from men as unworthy of notice as was Munroe. To develop a fighter who would have a chance against Jeffries and would have a right to fight him for the championship will take several years at least. The champion is no longer a young man as fighters go and in a few more years will have reached the age limit for pugilists— that is, what is considered the age limit—a rule which is proved by the remarkable exception in Fitzsimmon’s case. Supposing within the next four or five years some new heavy-weight makes his appearance and works his way into national prominence, finally, as a culmination of his fighting career, challenging Jeffries. It would not be contrary to his right and to general good sense for the champion to refuse to accept the defi. He well might say that during the years of his active pugilistic life he fought all comers, and that now, having aged considerably from the athletic standpoint and retired from the ring, he refused to enter it again. Of all the heivy-weights in this country there is not one who can be named as a fighter worthy of a chance with Jeffries. The men who gave him his hardest battles have all been beaten at least, once and are out of the running. Sharkey, who gave him the hardest battle he ever fought, is a has-been. Never, since he fought the champion and lost the decision ia Jeffries' only championship fight which went the limit, has the sailor been the same man. In that battle his ribs were smashed and battered so that for years afterward he was obliged to wear steel corsets. Sharkey, by the way, is the best man Monroe ever fought before he met the champion. The fight between these two took place in Philadelphia, and consequently there was no decision. Munroe, however, is credited with having had the better of it, which was only evidence of how far back Sharkey had gone. Corbett, who put up the next longest battle with Jeffries, has had his second chance and has been thoroughly whipped. Fitzsimmons, also, can never rightfully claim another match. Such men as Ruhlen and Monroe are not worth consideration. Jeffries is probably the one heavy-weight champion, who will go to his grave undefeated.
Newspaper Details
Defiance Express
Defiance, Ohio, US
Sat, Oct 01, 1904
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
John H.
IL, USA 27 Mar 2017
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