Joe Choynski who helped train Jeffries for Johnson said that Jeffries suffered a nervous collapse for that fight.
Fitzsimmons had no plaster of Paris on his wraps Jeffries carefully examined his bandages in the ring before they gloved up.
I can see Jeffries being rated anywhere between 10 and 15. Although I'm partial to that era. Personally I have him smack in the middle at 13. Beast.
Honestly his record is ridiculously poor only 22 fights and the 90%of his rivals were lhws,super mws and Small cruisers
Stop talking about bob fitzsimmons because this guy was a super mw and he would not last 2 rounds with foreman,tyson,frazier,liston etc and he lasted 8 and 11 with jefries
Well there was a negro heavyweight champion and they had their contenders as well......or did Nat Fleischer say it was moot and it was better Corbett and Fitz come out of retirement? Johnson had overlap Jeffries was prime and not yet 30 when he retired.....Johnson was asking for a shot....but Jeff despite Johnson being on a winning streak against tougher opposition decided there were no good challengers and retired.....then the apologetic writers of the era with their usual pro white zeal followed suit with the same excuse
Actually with Johnson's continued rise there began a groundswell of opinion that Jeffries had no excuse to duck him any longer and headlines such as." The Colour Bar Doesn't Go Anymore," began to appear in several prominent papers.
Who cars about the wraps! Fitz tossed his gloves into the crowd, when Jeffries asked to see them after the fight. Why did he do this? He could have tampered with the gloves. He didn't mark Jeffries up like this at all in the first fight.
Yes, he wrestled Ernest Rober a few times. Jeffries also took place in what could have been the first boxer vs MMA fighter match. HARDEST PUNCH JEFFRIES EVER RECEIVED WAS A FRENCH KICK Former World's Champion Fought La Blah and Actions of Latter Nearly Sent Jeff Into Convulsions and Dreamland One Kick Struck Him In The Chin The Second One Never Reached Him. The general impression seems to be that when Georges Carpentier faces Dempsey in the ring it will be the first instance of a Frenchman fighting for the world's heavyweight championship. This is an inaccuracy. Some twenty-one years ago a Frenchman made a pass at the greatest honors of the ring a faux pas as it ultimately developed. None other than the incomparable James J. Jeffries defended the honor against the assaults of the gaul who used the la savate method of kicking with the feet, Jeffries confining himself to the orthodox fistic fashion of the modern ring Jeff was boxing in Paris with his brother Jack, just previous to the second Sharkey fight, when the manager of the Follies Marigny theatre booked the Grizzly to fight Monsieur La Blah, la savate champion of France. It was a novel proposition for Jeff who consented to allow his opponent to use hands and feet while he adhered to strict Queensbury rules. The big fellow may have enjoyed the novelty, but it is a significant fact that he never engaged in another of that description. The match was advertised for the world's championship and the theater was packed at prices double the usual rate when the contestants squared off for action. Jeff assumed his famous crouch at the bell. The Frenchman balanced himself on his toes like a ballet dancer, with arms folded in front of him. Jeff was undecided how to open the fighting but finally began feinting rapidly with his left. Quick as a flash the agile Frenchman pirouetted about the arena, describing several complete circles to the amazement of the bewildered Jeff. Jeff dropped his hand and laughed outright. But before he could raise them to a guard position again Mons La Blah leaped into the air and clearing Jeff's head before the latter could realize it, planted a terrific kick on Jim's chin. One of La Blah's seconds howled first blood for his man. The befuddled Jeffries appeared to be pitted against a genuine ring enigma for the first time in his career. He glanced over at his corner for instructions when a yell from his brother called attention to another attack from the Frenchman. Jeffries whirled around in the nick of time, just as La Blah had started another serial "foot raid" through space. Jim timed the flight of his adversary and throwing out his right to block another kick, simultaneously hooked his left to La Blah's chin. The fight ended right there. Jeffries was proclaimed the champion of the universe la savate style and everything. But if you were to quiz Jim Jeffries today about the hardest punch he ever received in a ring he would more than likely confide to you it was a punch with a genuine kick, not the sort of "kick" so commonly used by sports writers in delineating the punching power of some present-day ring phenomenon. (By ED HUGHES.)
" Who cars?lol Jeffries didn't ask to see them after the fight as a matter of fact, and his manager Brady selected the gloves.What you don't know because you are ignorant on the era, is that Fitz invariably asked permission from his opponent's manager to be allowed to wear more gauze on his hands because they had been broken so many times and were in bad shape,taking padding out of them would have been more detrimental to Fitzsimmons than Jeffries, so shut the **** up until you know what you are talking about! "It was known before the fight that soft bandages would be allowed.Referee Ed Graney had said so.By soft bandages it meant the regular linen strips used by surgeons,and not heavy bicycle tape.Furthermore the linen must be put on in the ring. It is clear that both Jeffries and Delaney examined the bandages before the fight, and made no objection to them A local next day report noted ,"Jeffries shook hands with Fitz and then examined the bandages on the Cornishman's hands.He turned away satisfied".It later said,"the gloves which were to be used by the fighters were examined by the police officials and pronounced satisfactory." Delaney scrutinized the bandages on Fitz's hands and took no exception to them. Jeffries wore no bandages" So we have Jeffries and his trainer examining Fitz's wraps and the Police Chief examining the gloves and no one finding anything amiss with either of them.Now can we put to bed once and for all this myth that you continually trot out? And,will you stop repeating it everytime a thread about Jeffries comes up! For your further information Fitz did not wear bandages for their first fight .
Right, who cares about the facts when Jeffries asked to see the gloves, Fitz tossed them! Why did this happen? And you have it backwards. Fitz wrapped his hands with electrical tape instead of gauze, Jeffries camp did not object. Again the question are did Fitz tamper with the gloves, and why did he toss them when Jeffries asked to see them? If you can answer either question, it will be a first!
