Jeffries vs. Finnegan

My guess regarding Jeffries-Finnegan is that Jeffries wanted some work before he met Corbett. I suspect it was a legit fight -- I don't know whether the title was on the line -- and that Jeffries planned to do enough to win, but didn't want to KO Finnegan, at least not early. When Finnegan's management tried to bust Jeffries balls, Jeff decided that he'd embarass their fighter, who might otherwise have gotten some good press. (The Munroe fight was a similar situation).
Notice the press though Jeffries was heavy. Jeff had been touring Europe and having a good time. I think he was looking at Finnegan as some tune-up work.
Any ways, this is what I'm supposing.

Nicholson (9. 87) says Jeffries admired Kennedy's pluck and invited him to be a camp mate.

 

Finnegan(Apr 6) was about five weeks before the Corbett fight (May 11). I might be misremembering the European touring, though -- that might have been more before the Sharkey fight. Let me do some looking up. . . .
Yeah, the European tour was before Sharkey II. Between Sharkey and Corbett, Jeffries did a lot of theatrical touring. It's certainly understandable that, if he'd been devoting significant time to theatre and hadn't fought for a year, Jeffries would think a tune-up fight advisable before meeting Corbett.