James J. Jeffries

James Jackson Jeffries (April 15, 1875 – March 3, 1953) was an American professional boxer and world heavyweight champion from 1899 until his initial retirement in 1905. He was able to absorb tremendous punishment while wearing his opponents down. It is believed this crouching crab technique was taught to him by his trainer, former welterweight and middleweight Champion Tommy Ryan.

Jeffries stood tall and weighed in his prime. He could run in just under eleven seconds, and could high jump almost . A natural left-hander, he possessed one-punch knockout power in his left hook, and brawled his way to the top of the rankings.

Writer Jack London coined the phrase "Great White Hope" to describe Jeffries in his attempt to win the heavyweight crown from African-American world champion Jack Johnson in 1910. Jeffries came out of retirement for the fight, urged on by London and many others who wished to see a white man once again reign as heavyweight champion. At the age of 15, Jeffries worked for a while as a boilermaker, later working in copper mines in Temecula, California, alongside grown men at only the age of 17. There, Jeffries had his first true fight, having occurred when he refused to submit to the traditional hazing for newcomers. Instead of running the gauntlet, he challenged the largest miner to a wrestling match that quickly escalated into a long, no-holds-barred fistfight. The fight reportedly lasted almost an hour until Jeffries won. Jeffries boxed as an amateur until age 20, when he started fighting professionally.

Boxing historian John Durant described Jeffries as such:In his third fight, Jeffries knocked out the highly regarded boxer Hank Griffin in the fourteenth round. Jack Johnson would subsequently fight Griffin on three occasions.

Jeffries fought the top heavyweight contender, Gus Ruhlin, to a draw.

Durant describes Jeffries as dominating a golden age of boxing that included boxers like Corbett, Fitzsimmons, Sharkey, Jackson and others, while in his prime:

Comeback: "The Fight of the Century"

Over five years after retiring, Jeffries made a comeback on July 4, 1910, at Reno, Nevada, in a match against champion Jack Johnson, who had won the Heavyweight Championship in 1908 by defeating Canadian champion Tommy Burns at Rushcutters Bay in Australia. Burns was the first heavyweight champion to fight black challengers.

The media put pressure onto Jeffries and promoters dangled wealth in front of him to take the fight. The bid guaranteed a purse of $101,000 to be divided 75 percent to the winner and 25 percent to the loser, as well as two-thirds of the revenues collected from the sales of the right to film the fight (each boxer received one third of the equity rights). In addition, promoter Tex Rickard had signed Jeffries to a $75,000 personal contract.

After a six-year lay-off, the 35-year-old Jeffries was out of shape and had lost much of his muscle. Jeffries weighed over 330 pounds (150 kg), while Johnson was in fighting condition. The ex-champion had to lose about 110 pounds to get down to his fighting weight of 226. Previous Heavyweight Champion John L. Sullivan (an ethnic Irish American who refused to fight African-American contenders) remarked during an interview with The New York Times that Jeffries's personal doctor was so amazed at Johnson's physical condition that he felt Jeffries could win only if Johnson had a lack of skill on the day. As the media instigated racist remarks about winning the title for whites, Jeffries's final words before the fight were, "It is my intention to go right after my opponent and knock him out as soon as possible." His wife also commented, "I'm not interested in prizefighting but I am interested in my husband's welfare; I do hope this will be his last fight."

Ringside seats that had been priced at $50 were being scalped at $125 each (equivalent to approximately $ in dollars). More than 1,000 spectators who were unable to get seats in the sold-out arena climbed over the walls to enter.

Before the fight, which was scheduled for 45 three-minute rounds, famous boxers who had traveled to Reno to witness the contest were introduced to the crowd, including Sam Langford, a black boxer who was unable to secure a title fight, even from Jack Johnson. The greatest applause went to Jake Kilrain, who had battled John L. Sullivan back in the bare-knuckle days.

At three minutes to 1 PM, Johnson entered the ring; his contract provided that he would always be first to enter the ring, to satisfy a superstition of his. The thermometer read , which meant the match would be even more brutal due to heat. Jeffries soon joined Johnson in the ring. Rickard served as referee. Johnson and Jeffries could not agree on a referee, and Rickard's publicity-minded offers to President William Howard Taft and writer Arthur Conan Doyle to serve as referee had been declined. Rickard took the position although he had never refereed a prize fight before.

In the first three rounds, the boxers sparred to feel each other out. Johnson, having read that no one could tie Jeffries up on the inside due to his power, told the press that not only would he do so, but that he planned to neutralize Jeffries's power by twisting his arms behind him. Toward the end of the fourth round, he did just that, pinning Jeffries's arms in back of him for a moment, but Jeffries broke the clinch. Johnson landed a solid overhand right to Jeffries's head just before the bell.

Johnson began dominating the fight in rounds five through twelve, as his opponent faded in the heat and from Johnson's onslaught. The heat began to get to Johnson, too, by round 13, but he was still the stronger and younger man in the ring. Toward the end of that round, he delivered a right and a right uppercut to Jeffries's head that took their toll. In the next round, Jeffries eluded Johnson, who stalked him all over the ring.left

In round 15, Johnson went after Jeffries and caught him against the ropes with a right upper-cut, followed by three left uppercuts that sent the ex-champ to the canvas for the first time in his career. He could no longer put up a defense and, as Jeffries got up, Johnson hit him with a left hook that sent him to the canvas and through the ropes, putting his torso outside the ring. Helped to his feet by one of his seconds and a fan, as soon as Jeffries was back in the ring he was rushed by Johnson, who knocked him down again with a right to the head. As Rickard moved in to separate the fighters, Jeffries got up, but his manager had entered the ring to stop the fight and save his fighter from being knocked out. Johnson retained the title by a technical knockout.

Johnson later remarked that he knew the fight was over in the fourth round when he landed an uppercut to Jeffries's face and saw the look in his eyes. "I knew what that look meant," he said. "The old ship was sinking." John L. Sullivan commented for The New York Times after the fight that Johnson won deservedly, fairly, and convincingly:

Later life

In his later years, Jeffries trained boxers and worked as a fight promoter. He promoted many fights out of a structure known as "Jeffries Barn", which was located on his alfalfa ranch at the southwest corner of Victory Boulevard and Buena Vista Street, in Burbank, California. (His ranch house was on the southeast corner until the early 1960s.)

Death Seven years after suffering a stroke, Jeffries died on March 3, 1953, in bed at his Burbank home, in the presence of his niece Lillian Bull. She had been living with Jeffries as his housekeeper, and he had instructed her to call a doctor. Jeffries died before the doctor arrived. The doctor, William M. Nethery, attributed his death to a heart attack caused by coronary thrombosis. His body was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

Legacy

Today, the legacy of Jeffries is widely forgotten. However, he was once considered one of the greatest Heavyweight Champions of all time by many fellow boxers and boxing experts:

Jack Root, Willie Ritchie and Tommy Burns, former Light Heavyweight, Lightweight and Heavyweight Champions, respectively, rated Jeffries as the greatest heavyweight. James J. Corbett said of Jeffries, "The thing that always impressed me was the speed the youngster had, and he weighed two-hundred-twenty-five pounds. I hold that Jeffries was the greatest Heavyweight Champion of them all." Sam Langford, the great fighter who fought from lightweight to heavyweight, advertised to fight any man in the world, except Jim Jeffries. Tom Sharkey, heavyweight top contender, thought that Jeffries would have beaten Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis on the same night. He said Jeffries was strong like a bull and quick on his feet like a cat. Sharkey called Jeffries the greatest fighter of all time. Jack Johnson, the only man to beat Jeffries, stated in an interview with Ring Magazine that he thought Jeffries was the greatest. In another interview, Johnson said Jeffries would beat both Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis. Jack Dempsey, the great Heavyweight Champion, once said: "Jim Jeffries was a tough gun. If we could have gotten in the ring together, each at our best... I probably would have had my chin knocked off." William Brady, who managed both Jim Jeffries and Jim Corbett, remarked about Jeffries: "There was never a man better fitted anatomically, physically, and temperamentally for the role of World's Heavyweight Champion."

Jeffries Avenue, which runs parallel to and is south of Victory Boulevard in Burbank, is named after him.

James J. Jeffries was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. Jeffries is credited with fighting nine International Boxing Hall of Fame boxers and successfully having seven title defenses in his short career. He is described as embodying the "rugged two-fisted hulk of brawn that people at the turn of the century wanted their champion to be".

Professional boxing record

Selected filmography Kid Speed (1924) The Prince of Broadway (1926) One-Round Hogan (1927) Beau Broadway (1928) Rain or Shine (1930) The Fighting Gentleman (1932) The Midnight Patrol (1932)