Who Was The Original “Great White Hope?”

December 7, 2020 herculesking Boxing 112

James J. Jeffries!

James Jackson “Jim” Jeffries (April 15, 1875 – March 3, 1953) was an American professional boxer and World Heavyweight Champion.

He was known for his enormous strength and stamina. Using a technique taught to him by his trainer, former Welterweight and Middleweight Champion Tommy Ryan, Jeffries fought out of a crouch with his left arm extended forward. He was able to absorb tremendous punishment while wearing his opponents down. A natural left-hander, he possessed one-punch knockout power in his left hook, and brawled his way to the top of the rankings. He is perhaps most famous for being United States “Great White Hope”, since the nation expected him to come out of his retirement to beat the African-American boxer Jack Johnson, who was at the time the Heavyweight Champion.[1]

Jeffries stood 6 ft 1 1⁄2 in (1.87 m) tall and weighed 225 pounds (102 kg) in his prime. He could run 100 yards (91 m) in just over ten seconds, and could high jump over 6 feet (180 cm).

As a powerfully built and athletic teenager, Jeffries boxed as an amateur until age 20, when he started fighting professionally.

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 separate occasions.

Jeffries fought the top heavyweight contender, Gus Ruhlin, to a draw. Ruhlin was knocked down with a brutal punch at the end of the final round and was saved by the bell from being counted out. The decision was met with unfavorable reactions from the audience, many of whom felt Jeffries won.

On his way to the title in 1898, Jeffries knocked out Peter Jackson, the great boxer whom John L. Sullivan had refused to fight, in three rounds. This had been only the second defeat in Jackson’s entire career; his first loss was from a four-round fight over thirteen years earlier around the beginning of his career. Jackson retired shortly afterward.

Jeffries defeated the formidable Mexican Pete Everett by knockout in only the third round on April 22, 1898.

His next fight was against the Irishman Tom Sharkey. The fight went the full twenty rounds and Sharkey was knocked down in the eleventh round. Jeffries won the decision.

After defeating the big, fast-moving, sharp-jabbing Bob Armstrong, Jeffries had earned the right to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship.

On June 9, 1899 in Brooklyn, New York he defeated Bob Fitzsimmons by KO in the eleventh round to win the Heavyweight Championship of the World. That August, he embarked on a tour of Europe, putting on exhibition fights for the fans. Jeffries was involved in several motion pictures recreating portions of his championship fights. Filmed portions of his other bouts and of some of his exhibition matches survive to this day.

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. In addition to a guaranteed purse of $40,000 (equivalent to approximately $1,097,571 in 2019 dollars[5]), to woo the ex-champ back into the ring, promoter Tex Rickard had signed him to a $75,000 personal contract.

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, Burbank, California. (His ranch house was on the southeast corner until the early 1960s.) Jeffries Barn is now part of Knott’s Berry Farm, a Southern California amusement park.

Seven years after suffering a stroke, Jeffries died on March 3, 1953, in bed at his home with his niece Lillian Bull. Bull 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.[8] His body was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_J._Jeffries

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