July 25, 1902: Jeffries vs Fitzsimmons II

It’s tough to say how heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries would have matched up in opposition to extra modern boxers, however there’s little doubt he was a unprecedented fighter. He misplaced just one match in his whole profession and that bout, in opposition to the good Jack Johnson, occurred lengthy after his prime had handed. Sadly, it’s one in every of solely two of Jeffries’ twenty-four professional matches to ever be filmed, the opposite being his rematch in 1899 with legendary brawler “Sailor” Tom Sharkey. However the video high quality of the latter, and the very fact the previous is of a struggle happening after virtually six years of inactivity, imply neither offers us an opportunity to make a good analysis.

Jeffries had gained the world title in 1899 from the good Bob Fitzsimmons at Coney Island, New York in simply his fourteenth bout. The larger and heavier challenger had bulled his manner contained in the smaller champion’s guard and inflicted a vicious physique assault, scoring 4 knockdowns and forcing a stoppage in eleven rounds. The rematch happened three years later, after Fitzsimmons had put collectively a pleasant streak of wins capped by a dramatic second spherical knockout of the identical robust Sharkey who had lasted 25 brutal rounds with Jeffries. That win set the stage for a rematch between “The Boilermaker” and “The Combating Blacksmith,” and struggle followers eagerly awaited Jeffries vs Fitzsimmons II.

However Jeffries made his rival wait a pair extra years and by the point the return lastly occurred, many questioned if the 39-year-old Cornishman’s advancing age is likely to be an excessive amount of to beat. In addition to, Jeffries figured to outweigh the challenger by thirty kilos or extra. However those that backed the person who many immediately nonetheless regard as one of many biggest energy punchers within the historical past of the game, cited the previous champion’s eagerness for revenge. Merely put, no struggle had ever mattered extra to “Ruby” and hearsay had it he was so hell-bent on profitable he deliberate to load his gloves with Plaster of Paris.

“Let him do it,” mentioned Jeffries when instructed of those reviews. “I’ll flatten him anyway.”

No plaster was to be discovered contained in the challenger’s gloves, however these watching in The Area in San Francisco could possibly be forgiven for considering there was, as from the opening bell the smaller man inflicted a merciless beating on the champion. As early because the second spherical Jeffries was shedding blood as Fitzsimmons utilized great strain, beating Jeffries to the punch over and over. Rudy’s laborious pictures opened up deep cuts round each of Jeffries’ eyes and broke the champion’s nostril. It was later revealed the challenger had in truth wrapped his palms with electrical tape as a substitute of gauze, with nobody from Jeffries’ camp objecting.

However the champion was nothing if not robust and sturdy and regardless of the carnage, he refused to concede. As a substitute he waited for his likelihood to strike again and it got here in spherical eight. After a sequence of exchanges, Jeffries cornered his man. Fitzsimmons then inexplicably paused, lowered his guard, and spoke to Jeffries. The champion’s response was to maneuver in and land a tough proper to the stomach adopted by a thunderous left hook to the jaw that put Fitzsimmons down and out.

When the challenger approached the champion a couple of minutes later to congratulate him, Jeffries, seated on his stool, peered up at Fitzsimmons by means of swollen, bleeding eyes and declared, “You’re essentially the most harmful man alive.”

The bout’s conclusion struck some observers as suspicious and discuss of a “repair” started to flow into within the days following, although each boxers dismissed the hypothesis. “The struggle was gained pretty and to the perfect man belongs the laurels,” acknowledged Fitzsimmons.

Nobody is aware of what the Cornishman paused to say to Jeffries simply earlier than the deadly punches discovered their mark. Was it a taunt which provoked a violent response from the champion? Or, as some later asserted, a form of give up? One model of the odd ending has it that after seven torrid rounds throughout which Fitzsimmons had repeatedly landed his greatest pictures, the challenger was exhausted. As a substitute of absorbing a beating because the match went on, “Ruby,” figuring out he had nothing left, merely paused, dropped his palms, and instructed Jeffries, “Hit me.” “The Boilermaker” obliged and the struggle was over.

— Robert Portis