Cap's New and Improved Alternate Universe

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Cutting from The Chicago Daily News - November 1897....One reporter is said to have overheard Johnson tell McVea just before the bell that McVea was going to forfeit a thousand bucks because he had signed to weigh in under 200 pounds....McVea was visibly shaken and distracted when Johnson stepped in and dropped him with his famous right uppercut....In Cleveland's Centralia Hall Gus Ruhlin knocked down Big Bill Morrison 4 times before knocking him out at 1:21 of the twelfth round to retain his NABF title belt....At Woodward's Pavilion Al Kaufman caught Fireman Jim Flynn rushing in with a right hand in the first round that put him down for a nine count then proceeded to give him a terrific beating from pillar to post before knocking him out cold in the second round....Flynn later charged that Kaufman's gloves were loaded...At Chicago Tom Sharkey, having told his seconds he intended to go for broke in the first round, attacked Klondike Haynes when the latter extended his glove to shake and floored him with a left hook, overhand right and head-butt to the face out of sight of the ref....Haynes staggered up into another right and left to the head followed by an elbow to the cheek and was down for eight....His left glove had just cleared the canvas again when Sharkey's sweeping left caught him on the temple and dumped him through the ropes into the arms of the press corps where he was counted out....At Hazard's Pavilion Bob Jones alias "College Boy" won on a foul from Texas Bob Thompson after repeated warnings by Referee Jack Welsh....

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Excerpt from The Windsor Daily Record - December 1897....The most impressive bid comes from The Los Angeles Athletic Club and its new matchmaker Thomas McCarey who proposes the world championship fight be held at the 8,000 seat Hazard's Pavilion with a $2,500 guarantee for each man up front, a $25,000 purse and 55% of the gate receipts split between them....Jack Johnson (28-5-3 with 10 KOs) has defended his title twice since winning it from Jim Jeffries: Ruhlin (TKO 13) and McVea (KO 6)....He is unbeaten since a six round decision loss to George Godfrey in Boston in 1892 and has wins over such names as Frank Childs, Hank Griffin, James Corbett, Bob Armstrong, Denver Ed Martin, Peter Jackson, Bob Fitzsimmons and Jimmy Bivins....Jeffries is 30-3-0 with 23 knockouts and has stopped Ray Mercer and Phila. Jack O'Brien since losing the title....He won the championship from the great Peter Jackson in 1895 and has wins over most of the top names in the heavyweight division of the last five years with his only losses, aside from Johnson, a four-round decision to Joe Choynski and a hotly disputed 10 round decision to Bob Armstrong....

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Cutting from The Glasgow Herald - December 1897...The Continent proves to be very unfavourable to foreign sportsmen as Sandy Ferguson, Jack Stewart and Tiger Smith all suffer unexpected losses to local ringmen...Ferguson the big New Brunswicker and his fellow countryman Stewart fall victim to their own over confidence in neglect of their training and are humbled in points losses to what many experts consider inferior fighters....England's Smith wanders into the lion's den in confronting Norway's latest sporting idol Bjarni Thorsen and is demolished in less than two rounds....To add to that country's humiliation Hampshire heavyweight Joe Beckett fails to land a single serious blow in a disastrous effort against Deutchland's Pride Ludwig Schuhmann at the prestigious National Sporting Club....In the semi windup young James Moir of Lambeth forces a stoppage of Eire's veteran Peter Collins in 1:53 of round one....

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Clipping from The Ballarat Independent - December 1897....Battling before a large mob at Sydney Stadium Empire title holder Bob Fitzsimmons showed some of his old flash and power in his winning effort over Australasian champion Billy McColl but he was nearly spent by the start of the final round....McColl came on strong in the 10th, 11th, and 12th rounds and seemed to have the cagey veteran in serious difficulties more than once, but could not put him away and Fitz had built up an insurmountable lead early on....At Melbourne Tommy Burns showed a guarded respect for former world champion Peter Jackson who appeared in better nick than he actually was and Burns seemed reluctant to apply the 'coup de grace' when it was obvious 'Prince Peter' was virtually helpless in the eighth round, asking Referee Nathan to stop the fight part way through round nine....The Natalian Athletic Club of Durban hosted the South Afrikan championship contest between Bakari Olokun and Tom Ball and featured six supporting bouts showcasing young boxers: Japie Smit (Modderfontein) KO'd Henry Bekker (Pretoria) in 6; Dave Bell (Cape Town) won in six on points over Harry Kruger (Cape Town); Ron Anderson (Johannesburg) outpointed Harry Coetzer (Pretoria) in six; Gawie de Klerk (Pretoria) stopped Syd Hughes (Pretoria) in six; Jimmy Carr (Bloemfontein) stopped Bill Winslow (Pretoria) in six; and Harry Atkinson (Johannesburg) beat Bennie Hommell (Cape Town) on points (6).....

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Excerpt from Mitt Slingers Magazine - January 1898....Rumours drift from Jim Jeffries' camp at Harbin Springs that the challenger has sustained a severe injury to his left arm while engaged in a wrestling match with noted professional grappler Dan McLaglen (nee Stan Polanski) the "Wild Man of the North Woods"....A report in the Los Angeles Herald reveals the injury is real but not serious enough to cancel the fight with Jack Johnson, but it will require a postponement of some weeks....to keep in fighting trim Johnson agrees to box a six round no decision exhibition with rising star Al Kaufman recent winner of the American Boxing Association's heavyweight title, with all proceeds going to the victims of the Latimer mining disaster....Shortly after the tame affair Kaufman's manager is approached by an agent representing Gus Ruhlin with an offer to box the Akron Giant for his North American Boxing Federation championship belt and a split of a $3,000 purse....The San Francisco Athletic Club extends an invitation to Denver Ed Martin and Sam McVea to contest for the vacant Pacific Northwest heavyweight title belt and a 'substantial' purse...

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Cutting from The Toronto Telegram - January 1898....Agents of the Dominion Boxing Foundation acting for Canadian heavyweight champion Sandy Ferguson have informed promoters of his intention to return home and defend his title....Leo Roberts of Coaltown, Paddy Quinn of Moncton and Hughie Sandy MacEachern of Glace Bay all submit tentative offers knowing full well the fight will undoubtedly go to one of the big cities west of the Maritimes....The ancient and often bitter rivalry between Quebec and Ontario is personified by the newsprint wars between Toronto's Tom Flanagan and Armand Bibaud of the Athens A.C. of Montreal over prize ring attractions for their respective cities....While Bibaud has been working to build up a pool of local fighters like "Big Joe" Montferrand, Phil Miller, Ray Mullins and Art Beaudoin, Flanagan has been using his connections in Hamilton, Winnipeg and points west to organize an elimination tournament of sorts to provide him with a viable challenger for the Canadian champion when he should decide to return home....As things stand, Edmonton's George McRay (15-1-4); and three Toronto-based heavies: Johnny Jackson (20-2-2); Ross Delaney (17-4-1); and Bob Day (14-2-1) appear to be the best of the lot with Jack Stewart currently in the UK, Tommy Burns in Australia and Jack Munroe contemplating retirement....In Halifax Willie MacLellan is partnering with the local branch of the DBF to bring along a handful of lads from the neighbouring towns like Sam Langford, Young George Godfrey, Mick McIntyre and James 'Sailor' Burke...

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Extract from The Los Angeles Herald - January 1898...The big clash is back on and Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries make their final preparations as tickets go on sale and special trains are laid on from New York, Chicago and Vancouver to carry rabid fight fans....Odds makers at Harry Corbett's Betting Pool in Frisco have Jeffries a big favourite but eastern boxing experts pick Johnson to defend his title even if Jeff's arm has completely healed....Jimmy Cafferty of McNaughton's and Tom Dowling of the Pacific A.C. offer competing bids to arrange a fight between newly crowned champs Al Kaufman and Sam McVea....At the direction of the IBU, Kaufman vacates the American Boxing Association championship, opening the door for Harry Kline of Tattersall's to set up a title elimination between his principal headliner Klondike Haynes and the Pueblo heavyweight Fireman Jim Flynn....Along with Peter Jackson, three other well known ringmen decide to retire: James J Corbett, Patsy Cardiff and Steve O'Donnell...

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From the pages of The New York Evening World - February 1898....Jack Johnson totally dominated the fight at Hazard's Pavilion and came within 10 or 15 seconds of putting Jim Jeffries out....Johnson had the burly Californian down twice for nine counts, once in round two and again in round 13....The first knockdown was from a terrific uppercut at the end of a blinding flurry of jabs, hooks and right-handers that caught Jeffries flat-footed after a brief wrangle in Johnson's corner....Jeffries big moment and best chance at victory came in round four when he bulled Johnson into the ropes where they exchanged lefts and rights to the head and body and Jeff landed a huge wallop on the jaw followed by another hard left and right to the same spot dumping Johnson on the canvas....Johnson took a nine count and came up grinning to hide the fact he was really hurt....When Jeffries rushed in Johnson grappled with him and held on until the bell....He stalled in round five using his jabs to fend off Jeffries and even managed to stagger him with seconds to go in the round....From that point on it was downhill for the challenger....At the end Jeff survived an awful beating with both eyes shut tight, his lips and nose bleeding and a virtually useless left hand.....Referee Jack Welsh scored the fight 9 rounds for Johnson (1,2,5,7,9,10,11,13 &15) just three for Jeffries and three even (Welsh took a round away from Johnson for what he judged a deliberate foul)....

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One things puzzling about the Johnson-Jeffries matchup, it was actually the one example used in the original rulebook to the AH edition of the game, and Johnson always had a huge edge in just about all the stats (except perhaps knockout power). But, when you matched the two, Johnson almost always won (as in real life, and as in this latest example). Which is one reason why I was really puzzled last month when I got Jim Trunzo's long-awaited book rating the top HWs of all time, and he has Jeffries somehow ahead of Johnson. Which doesn't make sense.

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Some people rate the prime Jeffries over a prime Johnson, but considering the fact a past-his-prime James Corbett* (who was a notorious feather-fisted hitter) managed to outbox Jeffries for more than twenty rounds, I think in a 15 round fight Johnson has a big edge. He was as clever a boxer as Corbett and he was much stronger and a harder puncher. He likely would have let Jeffries rush him and punched him coming in before tying him up. Jeff's only chance would've been in a long fight if he could have avoided too much punishment. He might have worn Johnson down.

In my AU Jeffries lost their first fight by one round, 8 rounds to seven. I thought he had a chance to pull it off but he was terrible the second time around.

*Corbett said in their first fight he caught Jeffries on the point of the jaw with the hardest punch he had in him and Jeffries didn't even slow down.

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From an article in Mitt Slingers Magazine - March 1898.....Bob Fitzsimmons successfully defended his Empire title against McColl and signed to defend it again next month against another top contender in Sydney at the "Old Tin Shed"....Jim Jeffries will need time to mend from injuries sustained in his dismal effort to recapture the world championship belt and is not expected to see the inside of a gymnasium for a few weeks at least....Al Kaufman is unbeaten as a pro with wins over fellows like Mexican Pete Everett, Bob Armstrong, Fireman Jim Flynn, James Corbett and Gus Ruhlin....Ruhlin has fired his trainer and started looking for another as he prepares to return to the gym determined to regain the North American Boxing Federation heavyweight title...Roberto Damiani is now generally regarded as the best heavyweight in Europe having soundly thrashed George Gardiner, Jack Root and Francois Marchand and secured a decision over highly ranked Sandy Ferguson who stopped then EBU champ Raymond Berenger last year....Ferguson has sailed back home and is scheduled to defend his Canadian title in Halifax before the summer....Tommy Burns assured his spot as No.1 challenger for the British Empire title with his wins over Bill Squires in Sydney and Peter Jackson at Melbourne last fall....Sam McVea is now rated by most California fight cranks as the most dangerous man on the west coast and aims to prove it by fighting Jeffries and Kaufman...Billy McColl has been ordered by the IBU and the Australia/New Zealand boxing commission to defend his Australasian championship this year but has turned down a proposal for a rematch with Owen Sullivan citing a lack of demand from the boxing public....Ludwig Schuhmann won the EBU belt but demonstrated again why he is such a pathetic draw outside his native Deutschland, like Corbett, he has little in the way of punching power and relies entirely on his jab and defensive ability....Bill Squires and Sid Russell have departed Australia on the White Star liner Suevic for what they hope is a lucrative tour of Europe and Britain...Several new faces have joined the pro ranks, some highly touted by the 'experts' including: Jim Stewart, Walter Schulken, Terry Kellar, Dan "Porky" Flynn, and Jim Barry of the United States; Marc Gaucher of France; William Hague of England; Matty "P.O." Curran of Eire; Bill Mackinnon of Canada; George Stirling and Alf Costello of Australia, the latter the younger brother of Bill Costello...

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Snipped from the sporting page of The Barnsley Earwigger - March 1898....European followers of the sweet science are stunned by what most regard as the upset of the decade when the hapless heavyweight from Southampton, England Joe Beckett scores a technical knockout over the EBU's number one ranked contender Roberto Damiani in front of a loudly partisan crowd in a Palermo boxing arena....Barely a minute into round one Joe sends the hulking Italian crashing to the canvas with a right to the jaw and then proceeds to hand him a one-sided beating until Referee Verbeke steps between to protect the brave but bruised and bleeding Italian....When questioned by reporters at ringside EBU officials are too confused to comment....Damiani had already signed articles of agreement to meet EBU champion Ludwig Schuhmann in Berlin in May or June....Scots-Canadian Jack Stewart and England's Jack Scales put on an exciting scrap at London's National Sporting Club before Stewart forces a stoppage in the seventh round with Scales a bloody mess....At Paris' Palais de Sport George L Gardner edges out Norway's previously unbeaten Bjarni Thorsen 5 rounds to 4 with one even....It is later discovered the referee had scored one round incorrectly for Gardner which would have made the result a draw....Several young prospects are highlighted in British rings....English fight fans cause a near riot at a Paris venue when the decision is announced giving a win for Francois Marchand over Newcastle's Jack Palmer though most sportswriters polled agreed with the verdict....

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Clippings from The Kalgoorlie Sun and The Ballarat Bugle - March 1898....Billy McColl and the 'Broken Bay Blacksmith' Des Quinlan sized up well in the ring, both about six feet tall and over 13 stone, but experience was on the side of the champion while ambition seemed to blaze in Quinlan....The first few rounds were close and savagely fought, McColl playing for the head and his young opponent working hard at the body with short chopping blows....In the sixth round McColl was forced to take a knee and in the seventh he was in retreat....The end came midway through the eighth inning when Quinlan landed a murderous left to the belly and a roundhouse right to the jaw that laid out the Armidale man flat on his back under the swinging arm count of the referee....Later the newly crowned seventh champion of Australia and New Zealand, sporting a two-inch piece of sticking plaster above one optic, had nothing but praise for his vanquished opponent, calling him the toughest man he'd ever fought....When asked if he would give McColl a rematch he turned to his manager and said, "It's up to him and the IBU."....At Auckland's Town Hall Jimmy Henry eked out a close decision over hard-punching Ned Ryan of Braiwood, improving his record to 16-5-2 while Ryan fell to 17-6-0....Ballarat's favourite son Pat McIntyre sent Herb Goddard into retirement with a three round drubbing that saw Joe's brother sitting or lying on the canvas a total of five times....Bob Fitzsimmons has signed articles of agreement to meet Tommy Burns at Sydney with the Empire title belt on the line....

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Excerpt from The Chicago Daily News - March 1898....A smattering of bouts across the country few involving headliners....Boxing aficionados eagerly looking forward to the proposed Jim Jeffries Vs Sam McVea contest which promises to be a real donnybrook with both camps guaranteeing a kayo victory...NABF champion Al Kaufman denies he has signed to fight Marvin Hart despite continuing rumours from his management and press agent to the contrary....Harry Kline reports he has a deal with new American heavyweight title holder Fireman Jim Flynn to defend his belt at Tattersall's Arena this summer with a guarantee of $2,500 win or lose....Denver Ed Martin issued a challenge to Cincinnati's Mike Schreck for a six round match in Philadelphia at the Industrial Hall....Former EBU champion Raymond Berenger is on board a steamship headed to New York City where he is expected to engage in at least two contests with local heavyweights....Doc Jeffrey is escorting three of his fighters, including Salinas Jack Burns, on a brief tour of England and the continent at the request of promoter Jeff Dickson...The manager of John Willie has posted a forfeit of $1,000 with this newspaper to fight either Frank Childs or Klondike Haynes....

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Promotional issue of the Canadian edition of The Mirror of Life and Boxing World - April 1898...The fight will be staged at Toronto's Commonwealth Arena in the city's west end....Advance ticket sales have been brisk...Both men are said to be in top form but Ferguson's trainer has had to keep constant watch over his charge lest he stray to the city's waterfront bars....

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Excerpt from The Winnipeg Free Press - April 1898...A fired-up Sandy Ferguson stepped into the ring at Toronto's Commonwealth Arena in better shape than even his most ardent fans hoped for, looming over the 20-year old Sam Langford...The novice pocket heavyweight was giving away almost fourty pounds and just under six inches in reach and had expected an uninspired and overweight opponent....Still Langford managed to take the first two rounds before Ferguson began to assert his presence with his long left jab outside and his smothering tactics on the inside....Wearing Langford down Ferguson wrangled a knockdown in round six and a count of seven...The next two rounds were close with Ferguson spearing his left to the head and Langford pummelling the body....In round nine a tiring challenger went down for a count of eight from a left hook that travelled little more than six inches...Langford recovered and landed several good blows in round ten but stumbled in the next round taking lefts and rights to the head...Round twelve saw an exhausted Langford trying to fend off the champion's straight left and hooks to the head...At the final bell Referee Joe Popp carefully reviewed his scorecard before raising the arms of both men and declaring a draw....Langford seemed relieved and Ferguson was visibly disappointed...In the semiwindup Toronto star attraction Johnny Jackson won every inning before stopping Alberta's George McRay in round six...At Winnipeg's Auditorium Bob Day came from behind to score a knockout in the seventh round over Moncton heavyweight Kid Williams...

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Extract from The NY Evening World - April 1898....Gus Ruhlin proves he's not finished as a viable contender yet with his clear-cut win over a still dangerous Tom Sharkey....In the semiwindup Larry Temple wins the referee's decision over Lionel Butler after 10 fast rounds....Fighting for the Pacific Northwest championship at Doyle's Pavilion in Vernon, California Jim Jeffries emerges a kayo winner in a brutal slug-fest with the Oxnard Cyclone Sam McVea...McVea takes a short count in the first round from a sweeping right on the jaw, then a six count in round seven from a left to the liver, and kisses the canvas three times in the tenth round before Referee Billy Roche calls a halt as McVea's corner skies a towel to save their fighter more punishment....In a one-sided battle for his North American heavyweight title champion Al Kaufman forces a stoppage by Referee Ed Graney with Marvin Hart taking a beating in his own corner in the ninth round...In the previous round a bruised and bloody Hart drove Kaufman through the ropes into the press box from which he barely escaped before Graney's full count....In a preliminary bout Oakland Al Brown copped the nod over Terry Mustain of Omaha.....At Chicago John Willie knocked out Philly heavyweight Al Brinks in two minutes ten seconds of round one....At Toledo's East Side Gym Jack "Big Six" McCabe disposed of Providence slugger Jack Ashton in six rounds....

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Rankings from the May 1898 issue of Mitt Slingers Magazine....The IBU is beginning to pressure Jack Johnson to defend his title at least once more before the end of this year....Bob Fitzsimmons shows no interest in leaving the sunny land down under regardless of the purse offerings....Jim Jeffries and Gus Ruhlin have both failed in their bids to unseat Johnson and Al Kaufman's people say he's a year or so away from being ready to challenge the champ....So the next most viable candidate is Canadian champion Sandy Ferguson who recently retained his belt with a draw against rising star Sam Langford....France's idol Raymond Berenger currently headquartered in Montreal has caught the eye of several New York sportswriters as a possible challenger after his decisive win over veteran Philadelphia Jack O'Brien....[Rounding out the IBU's top twenty-five contenders are Joe Millett of San Francisco; the Toronto slugger Ross Delaney, Kentucky's Marvin Hart, aging headliner Frank Childs of Chicago and Ballarat's own Pat McIntyre.]....Just before going to press came the news of Denver Ed Martin's loss to Mike Schreck in Philadelphia...At Johannesberg Mike Williams a 3 to 1 underdog knocked out Bakari Olokun in five rounds to win the championship of South Afrika....

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Cut from The Australian Star, Sydney - May 1898....Bob Fitzsimmons was totally spent entering the 12th and last round and only his fighting spirit and amazing recuperative powers allowed him to survive two knockdowns in that round despite the whirlwind assault of Tommy Burns....Fitz reportedly weighed 13st 8lbs to Tommy's 12st 10lbs....The two men divided the purse of £1,000 in gold sovereigns put up by the Sydney Sportsman and a syndicate of boxing aficionados with £750 to the winner and £250 to the loser...In the only preliminary young Dick Kernick made his pro debut with a three round decision over a semi-retired Peter Felix....At Melbourne local lad Fred Preston was awarded the nod over New Zealand's Tim Murphy after 10 rounds and Peter Kling stopped Les O'Donnell in two rounds when referee Arthur Scott refused to allow O'Donnell to continue due to the severity of a cut over his left eye....At Gisborne, New Zealand Jim Griffin knocked out the Maori Danny Ruenalf in the 4th round of a see-saw battle....

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Clipping from The Glasgow Herald - May 1898.....EBU Champion Ludwig Schuhmann puts on a methodical clinic in out-boxing France's Francois Marchand over 12 tedious rounds at Berlin before a large if quiet crowd of several thousand....Following his victory Schuhmann is presented with a gold medal by the former kaiser now citizen Fredrich Wilhelm Hohenzollern and Chancellor Hertling for service to the Fatherland....At Bergen in Norway, Bjarni Thorsen overcomes an early lead by the wily Englander Charlie Mitchell and forces the referee to stop the bout with seconds remaining in the final round with Mitchell taking a shellacking in Thorsen's corner....At Blackfriars Ring in London Jack Palmer and Gunner Hollis box 10 slow rounds to a draw, a decision which is greeted with a smattering of applause and loud whistles.....In the co-feature Frenchman Georges LeRoi delivers a sound beating to Bethnal Green's Jack Scales and is awarded a popular decision after 10 rounds by referee Douglas....Scales' supporters are gobsmacked and only the presence of several burly constables deter them from rushing the ring....At the National Sporting Club James "Gunner" Moir and Tiger Smith put on a lively battle for most of ten rounds with Moir copping the nod thanks in part to three knockdowns scored over Smith in the middle rounds....At the same venue a week later Italy's Roberto Damiani wins a lop-sided decision over "The Woolwich Infant" Ben Taylor in front of a white-tie crowd of swells....Interviewed later Damiani calls for a rematch with Joe Beckett...At Plymouth Salinas Jack Burns decisioned Abdul Malgan "The Mad Turk" in six....At Dublin's Mansion House Jack Stewart knocked out Peter Maher in the fifth round of their ten round fight....