James J. Jeffries

James J. Jeffries was the world heavyweight boxing champion at the time of Famous Fights. His biography, and the image to the left, appears on the back cover of issue five.

Aged 26, 6 ft. 1 in., over 15 stone (213 pounds), and according to the writer, the longest reach in the business at 76½ inches, Jeffries, physically speaking, had it all. Jeffries had a cast iron chin and could take incredible amounts of punishment. Here’s how the paper describes his bout with the former champion, Jim Corbett.

"The big fellow was getting badly punished about the head and body, and was seemingly unable to hit Corbett, and it began to worry him a bit. He rushed time and again in the most vicious manner, but Corbett was always ready with a straight prop in the face or a tricky side step, and was apparently carving his way straight to the winning-post. Round after round was reeled off, and after the twentieth meeting had come and gone the crowd cheered like mad for the “Pompadour.” Twenty-one and twenty-two went, and then came the fateful twenty-three. Jeffries was getting desperate and Corbett was getting careless. A mix up, a break away, and then came another fierce rally; they split out once again, and as they did so Jeffries swung wildly with the right. It landed right on the point of the jaw, and like a log James J. Corbett sank to the floor, and was counted out."

Later in life Corbett admitted that he thought the fight was already won, he had become careless and was even thinking about the following day’s newspaper headlines declaring his great victory.