evidence of several new Jeffries bouts discovered

[old fogey]

Looking through the index entries on Jim Jeffries for San Francisco
newpapers in 1890-1910 era, I hit upon a very interesting entry in
the San Francisco Chronicle (page 9) for May 22, 1896. It was a
long profile of the newcomer, including infomation on his past career
apparently derived from his then manager, Billy Gallagher.
Here are key excerpts:

"Jeffries has fought not a few men, and has won every battle he
has had, though some antagonists had nothing better than local
reputations at most"

"Jeffries has bested his opponents in short order. . . . He put
George Griffin out in eleven seconds. Frank Childs, the 'colored
cyclone' of Los Angeles went out in two rounds, and Childs had
bested LaBlanche and 'Billy' Smith. It took the young giant the
same length of time to put out Joe Cotton."

There is also mention of two other knockouts, in three and five
rounds, with no opponent's name given.

On balance, this article indicates Jeffries had several fights not as
yet listed on his record, around the Los Angeles area, and perhaps
also in Arizona and New Mexico. Jeffries worked at one time on the
Santa Fe Railroad. I hope you can follow up on this.

[delisa]

I would take these comments only as a guide to further research and in no way would use them as conclusive proof.

But, this is exqactly the way new fights are found and confirmed, through good research of old papers.

Keep digging!

[Chuck1052]

In the Los Angeles Times, I could not find ANY contemporary
report or mention of Jim Jeffries' bouts with Hank Griffin (aka
Hank Griffen) or Frank Childs before 1896. By the way, there
was a heavyweight listed as William or Bill Jeffries in the
Los Angeles Times during the middle 1890s. It is very
possible that Jim Jeffries had a legitimate bout with
one Hank Lorraine at the Los Angeles Athletic Club,
but there would be claims that the alleged bout was
an exhibition within a year or two.

- Chuck Johnston