In Title Rematch, Jeffries Beat Corbett to the Punch

When it was over, a 19th century heavyweight champion had fought his last battle and the 20th century’s first heavyweight titlist reigned supreme.

Jim Corbett had dethroned John L. Sullivan in 1892, then lost the title. On May 11, 1899, Corbett tried to get it back, fighting Jim Jeffries of Los Angeles, his old sparring partner who had taken the title from Bob Fitzsimmons. Jeffries beat Corbett in New York.

Then, in 1903, Corbett, 36, asked Jeffries, 28, for a rematch. And so, 96 years ago today, they got together in San Francisco, Corbett’s hometown.

In 1903, Jeffries, at 6 feet 2 1/2, 220 pounds, was at his peak. Corbett, 190, had left his best fights in the previous century.

Jeffries knocked him down four times, all with body punches, stopping him in the 10th round.

The loss was an expensive one for Corbett, who had been promised a six-figure salary to appear on a vaudeville tour if he’d regained the title. Jeffries, already making a fortune on entertainment tours, earned $32,728 for beating Corbett.

Corbett never fought again. He died in 1933. Jeffries retired unbeaten in 1904, then was beaten badly in a 1910 comeback fight by Jack Johnson. Jeffries, still Los Angeles’ only heavyweight champion, died in 1953.

Also on this date: In 1964, pitcher Bo Belinsky had a lot going for him in Los Angeles. The Angel pitcher had thrown a no-hitter and dated movie actresses. Then, he threw it all away in a Washington hotel room. In a beef over a story, Belinsky, 27, punched 64-year-old Times sportswriter Braven Dyer, knocking him unconscious. Belinsky was suspended, then dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies. . . . In 1987, Oakland’s Mark McGwire hit his 39th home run, a major league record for a rookie. . . . In 1920, two bond proposals were put on a Los Angeles election ballot. One provided for construction of a 75,000-seat stadium in Exposition Park. The other was for a 13,500-seat Memorial Auditorium, to be built downtown at the corner of Grand Avenue and Fifth Street. The Coliseum measure passed, the auditorium proposal didn’t.