Show ff ell V SAN CAN FRANCISCO the years sli slip P by rather easily out under this western sun there is lonnie rom romping ping around at the age of 78 still coaching a football team I 1 ran across another young feli fel I 1 low who is only 65 but one few of us would care to tol tangle with e even v en though he is bald I 1 believe he could still I 1 get an even breake break with a grizzly bear which too young his name is james J jeff jeffries ries one of the greatest heavy 1 i weights that ever lived the grea greatest grantland nd rice in in more than a few important opinions I 1 asked jim about the modern ino dern crop here was his answer the main trouble with our modern day fighters is that they wont take the time and effort to train properly and they wont listen to advice the boxer who wont work cant fight because it takes more inside stuff to train hard than it does to get in there and start swinging the modern fighter know what real work is nor real training I 1 found the ex champion at jef fries barn bam a modest little fight cluba located in burbank on the outskirts of hollywood appropriately enough the arena is situated on victory boulevard jim jeffries knows something about victory he had more than 20 fights and lost only one that to jack johnson at reno in 1910 when he essayed a comeback after a five year layoff the most alost dangerous the most dangerous and crafty fighter of all the heavyweights heavy weights was bob fitzsimmons continued jeff the stub of a cigar clenched in his teeth jack dempsey was the best of the modem hitters but you noticed that jacks opponents kept getting up off the floor after he had cracked them I 1 remember one fight fitz had against gus ruhlin in new york bob hit gus with a terrific punch to the g chin and ruhlin was unconscious for 36 hours there was no publicity about it at the time because everybody jack dempsey was afraid it might be bad for the fight game jeffries shies away from attempting to compare joe louis the present champion with the old time greats louis has never been thoroughly tested ile he has no competition yes I 1 think dempsey would have beaten joe because jack could hit bit just as hard and liked the rough going but how can anybody tell louis lonis may be the greatest of them all but I 1 doubt it jeffries says louis has been a credit to the sport of boxing and sees little chance of anybody beating him b because because there are no standouts stan douts among the crop of conte contenders riders and the youngsters coming up just wont work hard enough to get any place underdog against fitz fits jim is now 65 years old he had his first fight at the tender age of 16 in los angeles 1 11 I weighed pounds that night said jeff smiling as be recalled the battle boy and did I 1 learn something my aly opponent was hank griffin a big negro and it took me 14 rounds to put him away and was I 1 tired I 1 resolved then I 1 fight any more until I 1 had done a lot of work when I 1 really began training you know when I 1 got the chance to meet fitzsimmons for the title in 1899 1 I worked five months on the road before I 1 ever entered the gym fitzsimmons was a 2 to I 1 favorite over jeffries for that fight but jeff trained diligently with tommy ryan once middleweight champion and took both the bettors bettorf and fitz for a ride when he stopped the titleholder in the eleventh round in the same year jeffries proved his condition by taking a 23 25 round decision from tom sharkey in the same coney island ring and the big fellow is still in pretty good shape for a man of 65 he weighs around and keeps his waistline down by chasing gophers and digging weeds on my ranch jeffries successfully defended his title five times twice against jim corbett and also against sharkey fitzsimmons and jack mun munroe roe he was 24 years of age when he won it and 31 when johnson kayoed kayoud him in his comeback attempt in 1910 the super start incidentally that reno fight was the first of tex super productions duct ions it drew a gate of better than and brought jeffries his largest purse his share which included his cut 0 of t the e mo motion ion picture profits amounted to more than jim has save saved d his money but lie he still likes to mingle with the fight mob and hes happiest while refereeing the bouts at his arena which has been running eight years and houses about 1200 fans |