I havent read the full article, but i just found this little preview from August of 1897 about a 2nd Dan Long fight. This goes with the unknown opponent jeffries fought the night before the Finnegan World Title defence. I wonder whether it suggests Jeffries was a little more experienced than he is given credit for nowadays. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes...22)&edition=&startpage=10&desc=BOXING+TONIGHT. And this fight doesnt really suggest that the Jeffries v Billy Woods fight was necessarilly an exhibition match. Dont normally see pummellings in exhibition fights. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes...)&edition=&startpage=9&desc=A+BOXING+CARNIVAL.
Either he was a little more experienced than he is given credit for nowadays, or he did more in 20 fights than virtualy any other heavyweight did in their entire career. Neither scenario can make him look bad.
He may have had some more fights that are uncredited ,but to deny he was a precociously formidable young talent is silly. The guy was swimming in the deep end, allmost from the beginning. His rise, and the rapidity of it, even surpasses Joe Louis's
No he did not. Pollack did not buy papers to research Jeffries when he went on tour in Europe as champion. I have never heard about Jeffries vs. Woods. JEFFRIES PUMMELS WOODS. TEN-ROUND MATCH BETWEEN G'BRIEN AND BURKHARDT. Two Four-round Goes to Fill Up the Programme--The Battle Raged Long, but Nobody Was Hurt. This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected Los Angeles Times (1886-1922) - Los Angeles, Calif. Date:Apr 28, 1897Start Page:9Pages:1SectionART IIText Word Count:1524
Billy Woods was just Jeff's sparring partner, and on 4-28-97, they gave a 6-round exhibition bout, offering their best rendition of the Corbett-Fitzsimmons fight. Woods wore pneumatic armor. It is there in the book, In the Ring with James J. Jeffries. See page 55. Jeff's European exhibition tour is covered on pages 257-261. It was just a money making sparring tour.
