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Show I I The Big Fight at Reno. Johnson Knocks Out Jeffries in the Fifteenth Fif-teenth Ronnd. John Arthur Johnson, the champion heiqy-wcight pugilist pugi-list of the world, had easy work in the big light at Reno,Novada, July Jth, and knocked out James Jeffries in the Fifteenth round. The fight was John-, son's althrough and he received j no punishment, worthy of note, whilo Joft'ries went down to defeat de-feat and received severe punishment punish-ment in nearly every lound. The tight by rounds: FIRST ROUND. The men rofuscd to shako hnnds. JohnBon smiled nnd Jeffries cnlinly chowed his gum. After a long opening . session of spurring Johnson led with I left to Uio fnco nnd they clinched,' Johnson pushing Jeffries bnck. John, son swung his left to Jnw, nnd, no Joffrloa roughed it nt closo quarters tho big nogro shot his loft ngaln to tho fnco. Tho men locked arms and Jeffries clouted his man twice with two short nrm lofts to tho faco and tho. crowd yolled. "Why don't you laugh," shouted Corbott to Johnson, and tho latter winked and smiled at tha formor champion. Tho men con. fm tinued in locked cmbraco and as tho gong terminated tho round Johnson playfully tapped Joffrles on tho shoul-der shoul-der and went to his cornor smiling. Jeffries then told his seconds to let Urn alono; ho would fight his battle It was a tamo round. H SECOND ROUND. Johnson camo up chatting like a 1 magpie. "Ho wants to fight a llttlo bit, Jim," yolled Corbott. "You bet I do, Mistah Corbott," retorted tho champion. As Jeffries held on John-eon John-eon clouted him with a wlckod right to tho Jaw. Aa tho men separated from a clinch, Joffrles swung his right to tho stomach, to which Johnson re-tallatod re-tallatod with two ripping loft upper-cuts upper-cuts to tho Jaw. Tho men closed tho round Jeffries leaning against tho champion with tho sheer weight of hlB Bhouldors. It was a caso of strength against cloverncss, with tho Nubian having tho better of it. John-son John-son and Corbott "kidded" each- other incessantly during tho minute's rest between the second and thlru round. THIRD ROUND. Both camo up slowly. "Como In, Jim " shouted Johnson, saying which, tho champion hooked his left to tho stomach with much force. Johnson then Jabbed his left twice to tho face and aa they closed in, breast to breast, Johnson whipped a left up-per-cut to tho Jaw and neatly blocked tho boiler maker's onslaughts. As, the men circled about the ring John-' John-' son kept up a constant cross flro of conversation. The men separated and JohnBon Jabbed thrice with his left to the face and whipped a short arm right to tho face. A long clinch fol-lowed, fol-lowed, during which the black tnlBflcfi 3 wicked right uppercut. Jeffries rushed In, but the black blocked him neatly on a vicious right swing and again patted his antagonist on the shoulder as tho round ended. John Hon, on points had a good advantage but there was not much power behind his stings. fl FOURTH ROUND. Jeff missed a loft swing. Johnson rushod in with a stab to tho faco. "Don't rush Jim; don't you hoar what I'm telling you" shouted Johnson, backing it up with a right uppercut to tho paw. Jeffries got in a good light to tho mouth and tho blood started llowing from tho colored man's lips. Johnson shot a hard left to tho mouth nnd almost wrestled his mini against tho ropes. Tho golden sniilo Hj had not fnded from Johnson's fnco nt this stage. Jeff forced tho champion against tho ropes and half n dozen short nrm Jolts found thu mark in quick succession. In response, John-son John-son shot a right to Uio jaw and tho round ended. It was Jeffries' round and tho best ono so far. FIFTH ROUND. Johnson, as usual camo up with a volloy of words. Jeffries paid no at--fention to tho conversation and rush- cd nnd wrestled for n spoil. At close quarters Jeff shot two rights to tho body, to which Johnson responded with a loft uppercut, cutting Jeff's lips n bit. Johnson, n moment Inter, drovo his right to tho Jaw and then followed with two loft uppercuts fo : tho mouth nnd they cased up in a clinch. Both men wero bleeding from tho snmo plnco. Johnson Jarred tho white mnn with n strnlght left to tho mouth. Suddonly Jeffries sent tho blnck's hend bnck n foot with a strnlght loft to tho mouth nnd Johnson looked a bit serious ns ho took his sent. Not, however wlth- out giving tho bollcrninkor tho cus-tomnry cus-tomnry tap. No serious dnmngo. SIXTH ROUND. "I'm going to mix with him," snld Jeffrios to his soconds. Three leUs rndlatcd from tho champion's shoulder, shoul-der, catching Jeffries on tho fnco in tho left chock bono. Both men fought cautiously. A rlngsido fan asked Johnson John-son if ho would liko a drink. "Too much on hand now" quickly retorted' tho negro and ho ripped in three left' uppercuts to tho whlto man's Jaw. Jeffries waded in, but was met with a nasty left upporcut that closed his right eyo tight. Johnson followed this with two similar punches and tho blood spouted from tho retired1 champion's nose no ho took his scat' when tho bell ended the round. Jcf-j rles' seconds wore heroically working on his damaged cheek. I SEVENTH ROUND. Jeffries came up with a ferocious frown and thoy closed in. A long ' sparring bee followed, without a blow being struck. Johnson mcanwhilo carefully priming himself for an opening. open-ing. Although Jeffries' eye was badly bad-ly bruised he never lost his poise. Johnson laughed sarcastically, as Jeffries Jef-fries essayed a right swing at closo quarters. With tho men locked in an ombraco, Johnson jollied bis man and joltod him threo times ovor tho damaged oyo and followed this with a right uppercut 'to tho Jaw. Joffricp stopped Johnson's bickerings with a loft nnd right Tho boll clanged ih honors ovon and Jeffries lookec tmdly cut up as ho took his chair. EIGTH ROUND. As Jeffries rushed in, tho black drove a right to the mouth and shortly short-ly after shot lefta to tho faco and carried considerable force behind them. "Hollo, Jimmey," shouted the negro. "Did you see that one?" and as they closed in ho shouted "Break t away, Johnson" but Johnson did not break and laughed as Jeff missed a left swing. Earlier at close quarters whon Jeff worked in two righta to tho body he failed to feaee tho negro. Ho ' pushed his man about and tho bell rang, closing a rather featureless session. ses-sion. NINTH ROUND. Johnson kept a constant conversa-! conversa-! tlon in his corner' before coming up I to tho scratch in this round . He hooked his left to Jeffries' faco with groat force and continued to hurl his sentoncca at Jim Corbett. Johnson hooked rjght and loft to tho Jaw and carried with it a world of power. After Jeffries had butted with his head, Johnson flung his left to tho stomach and they went into a friendly friend-ly clinch. Jeffries crouched low and Johnson drovo homo a wicked left tilt full fh the stomach. A momont later ho sent in two left Jabs to tho mouth and oyo, but Joffrles apparently paid lit-j lit-j tie attention to these blows. Tho round ondod In Johnson's favor nnd with Jeffries' fnco bleeding from several sev-eral plnces. TENTH ROUND, Not much Hfo marked their coming to tho centor of tho ring. Johnson ' shot two lefts to tho head nnd followed ' this with n short right nrm to tho ear. A long clinch followed, mixed with wrestling. Jeffries then swung his right around tho body. Tho men confined con-fined themselves mostly to infighting nnd short streaks of wrestling, Johnson John-son always on tho alert to land n punch. Johnson whipped two lefts to rrTmnTT i iminwui i nm i I tho Jaw nnd a right upporcut to tho Jaw and mado Jeffries yell "Oh" audibly. audi-bly. Johnson peppered away with his loft and clearly outboxed his mnn. It wns Johnson's round. Dolnncy nsked Itlcknrd to watch tho gloves when tho mon wero holding to see Uiat thero was none broken. ELEVENTH ROUND. A hnlf minute of wrestling without dnmngo opened tho round, mid John-son John-son smashed Jeffrios tlmo nnd time again with a loft nnd right to the Jaw nnd tho big bollormnkor fought bnck wildly. Johnson swung n terrific right, moro of nn upporcut, to tho Jnw and followed this with a clean right uppercut to tho jaw and Jeffries Jef-fries almost weakened. Johnson em-ployed em-ployed left and right uppercuts again . nnd ngnln to tho Jaw nnd varied this with loft and right swings to tho Jaw and tho blood spouted from Jeffries' Jef-fries' mouth In a stream. Jeffries was a bad looking sight at this stago but ho suddonly electrified electri-fied tho crowd by making a round-end round-end rally landing IiIb right to tho Jaw and a hard left to tho body, that brought tho crowd to Its feot. Johnson, John-son, however, had a good advantage. TWELFTH ROUND., Tho men clinched after the black had missed a hard left for tho jaw, remaining re-maining in this position half a minute. min-ute. Ab Jeffries rushed in Johnson met him with straight left and right upporcut to the Jaw. With tho men breast to breast, tho negro swung left to body and face, all the tlmo keeping up a conversation with Corbett. Johnson John-son cleverly blocked blows intended for tho body and sont homo a straight right to tho soro mouth, starting tho blood afresh. Tho negro shot a straight left to tho faco and then sent ' his man's head back a foot with similar sim-ilar blows. Jeffries wont to his corner cor-ner spitting blood and with the odds against him. Jeffries' seconds woro ominously quiet at this stage On tho other hand, tho Johnson corner fairly hummed with lifo and hustle. THIRTEENTH ROUND. The men fought without damage to a clinch and wrestled about the center cen-ter of tho ring, Johnson breaking it up with a volley of rights and lefts to tho face and mouth. He cleverly evaded Jeffries' clumsy attempts to land on the body and, cutting loose, ( landed left and right in quick cue- , cession on tho jaw and body. Jeffries Jef-fries weakened at this stage, a right uppercut almost lifting him from the f floor. He seemed all at sea in locat- t ing the black who waded In liko a merciless juggernaut, dealing out se-voro se-voro punishment with every tap. The round ended with Jeffries trying to jj cover up and stay away. Jeffries ! stared rather blankly In the middle j of the ring and appeared to bo In I bad shape. FOURTEENTH ROUND. I Jeffries was met with a straight left aa he got up and a moment later another spiteful jab went to the mouth. Johnson placed his stomach within Joffrles' reach and tauntingly r cried: "Hit that belly, Jim; why don't ( you hit it, Jim." Jim did not hit it. !; Thoy closed and Corbett importuned I his man to bewaro of the dangerous j! uppercut Jeffries' right eyo was to- t tally closed at this stage. Johnson ' sent In somo rapid flro lefts to tho ' mouth and ho said "I'm as clover as j you aro, Jim," to Corbott and Immo- j dlatoly tho oxchnngo of ropartco fol- ;! lowed. Tho round ended tamely, but j Johnson had all tho honors nnd Jef- fries' seconds looked blue. ; FIFTEENTH ROUND. j! Whon thoy approached onch other I tt wns plnln thnt Jeffries wns in dls- i tross. His fnco wns puffed nnd bleed- ' ing from tho punishing lefts nnd , rights ho hnd rccolved nnd his move- monts woro languid. Ho shnmblod aftor tho elusive negro, BomotlmeB l! crouching low with his loft hand stuck out In front, and sometimes Btandlng oroct. Stooping or erect, ho was a mark for Johnson's accurately (Continued on page five.) v Continued from page eight.) driven blows. Johnson simply wait od for tuo big white man to como In and chopped his face to pieces. They camo to a clinch after a fcoblo attempt at-tempt by Jeffries to land a left hand blow on tho body and as they broke away Johnson shot his left and right to tho Jaw In a flash. Jeff staggered back against tho ropes. His dofcnslvo power seemed to desert him In an Instant. In-stant. Johnson dashed at him like u tlgor. A rain of rights and lefts de livered at close quarters sent' Joff reeling blindly. Anothor series of short snappy punches and then tho whlto giant went down for tho first time In hla ring careor. Ho fell un- der the top rope, over tho lowor ono and down over tho hanging platform. Reatlng on his haunches and right o bpw Jeffries looked around. In a dazed way and got up at tho count of nine. Whllo ho was down Johnson stood al-moBt al-moBt over him until Rickard waved htm back. He stood ready to strlko and when Joff rose from his knees ho rushed in again. " Joff' reeled about and tried to clinch, but JohnBon ' eluded him and as tho other cham- .; ploQ swung around to. the south Bide '$ qt the ring tie Jolted, him twlco in 5 the Jaw. Jeffries sank to his knees, weak and tired, but ho got up at the 2'h count of nine. It was then that Jet- mea' rnenaa negan to can on uicnard V . to stop tho fight. "Stop it, Btop It!" they Bhoutcd :' fTom all sides. "Don't let him knock him out" :vi . Rickard gave no heed to these ap- ' peals. Jeff was helpless now and bb 'j ' ho staggered to a standing position tho negro was waiting for him. A loft, a right and another left, short, snappy blows, found their marks on Jeff's chin, and ho went down for tho third time. Again ho sprawled over '? tho rope hanging half outsldo the ! ring. The timekeeper raised and lowerod his arras, tolling off tho sec- onds. He had roached the count of . ' . seven whon Bome of Jeff's seconds put foot insldo tho ring and Rickard walked between tho fallen man and tho negro champion. Placing his hand on Johnson's shoulder ho declared de-clared him tho winner. Whllo Jeffries Jef-fries was not counted out this wbb merely a technical evasion. It was evident that ho could never have got up inside of ten soconds. J-- STATEMENT BY JACK JOHNSON. I won from Mr. Jeffries because be-cause I outclassed him in every department of the fighting game. Before I entered the , ring, I was certain I would bo the victor. I never changed my mind at any time. Jeffries' blows had no steam behind them, so how could ho hope to defeat mo? With tho exception of a slight cut on my lowor lip, which was really caused caus-ed by an old wound being struck, I am unmarked. I hoard people at the ringside remark re-mark about a body blow inflicted in-flicted upon me. I do not recall a single punch that caused me ' any discomfort. I am in shape to battle again tomorrow- if it were necessary. Ono thing I mustgivo Jeffries credit for is the gamo battlo ho made. He camo back at mo with tho heart of a true fighter. No man can say ho did not do his best. I believe wo both fought fairly. fair-ly. There was nothing said betweou us that was rough. ,He jokod mo and I joked him. I told him I know he was a bear, ' but I was a gorilla and, would defeat him. For the next fow weeks 1 shall play vaudeville. Then I shall go to my home in Chicago - to rest. I do not think I shall fight for several months, bo-cause bo-cause I do not know a man now who could give mo a good battle. No attention will bo paid to Sam Langford's challenge by mo. I don't consider ho could give mo a light that would draw. BTATLMENT WY TEX RIOKAIID. Jack Johnson is the most wonderful lightor that over pulled on a glove. Ho won as ho pleased from Jeffries and was never in danger. I could not help but feel sorry for tho big white man as he fell beneath be-neath the champion's blows. It was the most pitiable sight I ever saw. As a matter of fact, I thought way down in my heart that Jeffries would be the winner winn-er of the fight. Tho light was won and lost when Jeffries went through tho ropes the first time. This is official. The other knock down doosu't count. It was this way : Jeffries was brought to his knees and as ho arose, dazod, Johnson hit him with a succession suc-cession of lofts that sont him through tho ropes. As he lay there sovoral of his seconds caught hold of him and holped him to his feet. Uuder tho rules of the gamo, which I have read thoroughly while certain peoplo were saying that I could not referee a fight, this disquali-ed disquali-ed Jeffries and Johnson was the winner. I thought the seconds were going- to carry J.effries to his. corner, instead, they snovett him into tho ring again to bo beaten further, while I was do-ing do-ing all I could during the confusion con-fusion to stop the fight. Jeffries could not hit Johnson and Johnson could hit Jeffries when over ho pleased. Jeffries was not as good as the last time he fought. STATEMENT BY JAMES J. JEFFRIES. I lost my fight this afternoon because I did not have the snap of youth I used to have. I believed be-lieved in my own heart that all the old-time dash was thore,but when I started to execute, tho speed and tho youthful steam were lacking. The things I used tp do were impossible. For instance, I used to shoot in a right-hand body punch, a sort of a short-raugo blow that never used to fail me. "When I tried today the snap was not there audit was only' a love tap. I suppose most of my traiuers and helpers will say that I did not box enough. It would not have made any difference if I had sparred a dozen times moro than I did. I simply was not there, and that's all thoro is to it. I guess it's all my own fault. I was getting along nicoly and living peacefully on my alfalfa farm, but when they started calling for mo and mentioning mo as the "white man's hope" I guess my prido got the better of my good judgement. At that, I worked long and hard to condition myself, and I was fit as far as strength goes, but tho old necessary snap and dash, tho willingness to tear in and crush, wore not with mo. Six years ago the result might have been different. But now well, I guess the public will let me alono after this. |