Old Missoula

Heavyweight Champions – Jeffries v Fitzsimmons

A few days prior to Christmas in 1902, two of the world’s most famous heavyweight boxers came to Missoula. Jim Jeffries and Bob Fitzsimmons were at the peak of boxing mania after meeting for the world’s Heavyweight Championship. The Daily Missoulian promoted their “exhibition” with a large advertisement – “First appearance of the World’s Greatest Gladiators” in a “Scientific Boxing Exhibition,” all at the Union Opera House where seats were available from 75 cents to $1.50. These champs had met twice previously in championship bouts, and the result had been the same both times with a much younger James Jeffries defeating a game Bob Fitzsimmons. Their second title bout had only recently occurred that summer in San Francisco. It was Jeffries 5^th defense of his heavyweight title and he had agreed to a rematch with the 39-year-old Fitzsimmons, even though he outweighed Fitz by almost 40 pounds. Known as a tremendous puncher, the smaller Fitzsimmons lost badly, but nevertheless made the 220-pound Jeffries pay a price in beating him. After sacrificing a lot of blood and a broken nose, Jeffries finally stopped the much quicker Fitzsimmons in the 8^th round. Fitzsimmons later graciously stated the “best man won,” yet Jeffries was quoted saying that Fitzsimmons was the most dangerous man alive. That the two were friendly foes was obvious after the match and some of the noisier fans complained. Later they traveled together throughout the west and staged “theatrical” exhibitions in several cities. Described by The Daily Missoulian as “best of friends” the pair would nevertheless “hand out hard jolts” in their Missoula exhibition.

Promoting the Missoula affair came with some wild local fanfare regarding one John Beaton who allegedly issued a challenge to the professionals. Known as “Bull of Camas Prairie,” Beaton’s local backers, Hugh B. Campbell and Paul Wagnitz, waged a $50 to $100 bet with the manager of the Union Opera House that their man could last five rounds with the Champion Jeffries. Beaton was described as a “big, powerful fellow who has the reputation as the strong man of his section for many years.” For bravado, another local article stated that Beaton wanted either “bare fists or two-ounce gloves” for the contest. A front-page Daily Missoulian article the very day of the Missoula exhibition stated that Beaton allegedly offered to fight Jeffries for six rounds, and encouraged his friends to “put their money on him with safety;” the while noting his supreme conditioning that included a run in the morning to Lo Lo to “get an appetite for breakfast.” He had taken a run the previous morning from the corner of the 1^st National Bank to the Fort, arriving there “breathing as softly as a slumbering baby.”

By this time local boxing enthusiasts should have recognized the theatrical nature of the whole affair, but apparently, some didn’t. Even the real John Beaton from the Blackfoot would later aver that his identity was mistaken and that another much younger John Beaton was the subject of the publicity campaign. While several preliminary bouts featured several lesser talents from across the region, no John Beaton showed up for a contest.

The consensus from The Daily Missoulian the next day went thus:

FIRST CLASS FAKE.

Draws Crowded House, Men Paying to See Big Bruisers.

The athletic exhibition with Jeffries and Fitzsimmons as principals, is a successful enterprise only if a person feels that a sight of the famous pugs is worth the price of admission to the show. The exhibition was put on at the Union last night and attracted a crowded house. The big fellows went through what was styled a three-round meeting for points. The only apparent point was the joshing that was kept up. There was no semblance of an attempt to exhibit scientific boxing, making a farce of the attempt to deceive.

Preliminary to the appearance of the big men there were four bouts of talent of more or less right to be classed as such. The snappiest of these was between “Kid” Rogers, of Missoula and Howard Opie, of Butte. Opie is far and away the better man, but the earnestness and skill of Rogers in going into the fast clip that the Butte man started, made friends for him and showed possibilities for a clever fight if Rogers was in training. The other encounters were mere plays, comical to look upon, and probably intended for no reason other than to give the principals a rest.

Jim Jeffries, ‘the Boilermaker,’ was media savvy long before he came to Missoula. He had staged exhibitions both in Europe and the U. S. after winning his initial championship from Fitzsimmons in New York in 1899. Early motion pictures were made exhibiting him in various venues and he eventually settled in Burbank, California where he sponsored a wide array of events at his popular ranch. Although he retired undefeated in 1904, he sadly came back in 1910 to challenge Jack Johnson, the black heavyweight champion. Billed as the “White Hope,” Jeffries was thoroughly defeated in their bout in Reno, Nevada.