[Cap]

Clippings from various publications prior to the big fight....George Siler has excused himself from acting as referee citing a recurrence of an old ailment...Harry Corbett, noted sportsman and gambler and brother of the former champion, has stepped into the breach....Attendance is expected to top twelve thousand as ticket sales have been brisk....The editor of Mitt Slingers Magazine has opined that he has never seen the champion in such fine condition and expects a terrific battle....Several unsavoury types from the notorious burg of Coaltown have been spotted around the challenger's camp and their captain, one Aloysius "Babe" Halloran, has put up $20,000 on Sanders to win.....Metropolitan Police Inspector Norbert has declared no firearms will be allowed inside the venue and, "...any of the usual vagrants, low-lifes, punks, and hooligans will find the toe of my boot up their arse if I catch them within a hundred yards of the hall..."....A six round preliminary has been arranged between Morris Harris the Boston slugger and Fred Woods of Philadelphia....Jeffries and Sanders will be fighting for 75% of the gate and a split of the $15,000 purse put up by the Metropolitan A.C....James Corbett, Jack Johnson, and local criminal boss Edward 'Monk' Eastman all favour Jeffries while Bob Fitzsimmons, Jack Munroe, Tom Sharkey and vaudeville impresario Tony Pastor side with the big South Afrikan...