| OCR Text |
Show JEFFRIES WILL BE ! A BIG FAVORITE! j Dope on the Fighters Favors Johnson in Proposed Contest: Now that the big light. Is over th usual rehash Is heard from nil sides, ep.-cially ep.-cially big Jim Jeffries butts into the argument argu-ment and Miys that Kelchol had no! chance with tho big black man. not oven being the undisputed middleweight in the ring today. J-rr forgets thnt he sold before the fight thnt Ketchel had n good chance to win. but The Tribune diffored In his opinion to the extent of quoting Johnson as good as a 100 to 1 shot, with Johnson on the long end. Johnson has been a very much underrated under-rated lighter, and Ids color baa lent aid to the general public opinion. Before his fight with Tommy Hums. It was tho general opinion that Tommy would make Johnson quit, but the bust he could do was to make the colored man smile. The tight was not even a good warm-up for Johnson. Ills light with Ketchel showed thnt the champion has a sleep producer that must be respected, and the. contest also shows thnt he could have got Ktchel In almost any round he wanted. He allowed al-lowed Ketchel to stay twelve rounds, one reason being to secure some of that even money Hint Ketchel would go llfteen rounds. After the light had gone seven or eight rounds, a great many sports eagerly covered all bets that Ketchel wouiu stay. mere were only a row who were willing lo bet that Ketchel could not stay fifteen rounds, but this few seemed to have an unlimited amount of money. In the twelfth round Johnson got mad and he stopped the contest with three Ilchtnlng punches. The first blow tipped Ketchel. and before he fell lo the floor ho received two more Jolts which would hnve killed nn ordinary man. In signing ivp J6hnson against Jeffries, public opinion Is with Jeffrie, and if ho signs to flghl. the odds will be about 10 to .'I. with Jeff on the long end. but this fact does not make him the winner. Johnson Is much cleverer than the former champion nnd has the advantage of being al his best. Jeffries, on the other hand, has had a lay-off for live years. He has grown fat. and while be announces his weight at 212 pounds. Hint Is all right for hi press agent to announce to the publico pub-lico to keep up the Interest. Jeffries lias been troubled with rheumnllsm In his knees, and It Is nlso reported, bv those who are close to the champion, thai his feet are in poor shape and that lie could not stand tin under a gruelling contest. In order to heat the negro Jeffries must enter tho ring in the best of condition, which means Hint he must he ns good as he ever was Half a man cannot beat Johnson, and the latter rcadllv recognizes thai Jeffries cannot get himself Into his former shape, and therefore has great confidence of being able to defeal the former champion. Johnson Is so confident confi-dent of winning thai he Is willing to allow Jeffries lo say how the money shall ho divided, but there must ho a winner's and loser's end. Johnson tights a great deal like Jeffries, Jef-fries, in that neither mnn likes to lend. This itself will tend to drag out the fight. If Jeffries wins he will have to do so In less than len rounds, uflcr Hint he will be an easy mark for the colored champion, nnd il would only bo a question ques-tion of how much punishment l.o could stand before the final collapse came. While everybody would like to see Jef- 1 fries win. and while he has the people J back of him. the fnet must not be lost track of thai he has been out of the game live years, that he has led a Ufa of ease, and that it is Impossible for him to get himself into the proper shape to go through a hard flghl. In Johnson, Jeffries will for the llrst lime meet a man his own size and one who will be In the tlnesl condition. |
