This fight along side Joe Jennette vs Sam Mcvea (the one that went to the 49th round) are the fights that I haven't seen but want to see the most. I know there's no video footage JJ vs SM 1-49 so I'm shit out of luck
Besides all the modern stuff wrteen about that Jeannette-McVey fight, which may or may not be all that accurate, this is the only stuff I can find of the fight from the old newspapers of the time. Actually, I have seen a more extensive account in the past of it and from the time, but right now I'll be fucked if I could remember where I found it. :icon_neut
Anyways, not much...
JEANNETTE BEATS MCVEY IN 50 ROUNDS
PARIS, April 17--In the greatest fight winessed in France since John L. Sullivan and Charley Mitchell fought at Chantilly in 1888, Joe Jeannette of New York tonight defeated Sam McVey of California in the fiftieth round of a finish fight.
A great crowd witnessed a game exhibition of heavy weights, the conest lasted for three hours and a half. McVey had the better of the fight up to the fortieth round, and in both the twenty-first and twenty-second rounds he had the New Yorker so groggy that he could barely keep his feet.
Jeannette bore the punishment bravely and recuperated in a wonderful manner. McVey had almost worn himself out after 40 rounds, and by this time the New York fighter was coming back. By effective fighting he gradually beat the Californian and practically had him knocked out when the fight ended, McVey's seconds throwing up the sponge.
McVey was the favorite in the betting and the purse was $6,000. It is understood that Jeannette now intends to issue a challenge to Jack Johnson for the championship of the world.
JEANNETTE GETS THE DECISION
McVey Fails to Respond in Forty-ninth Round
Paris, April 17--Joe Jeannette won the finish fight with Sam McVey tonight, the scrap going forty-nine rounds. It was not a knockout, as McVey simply refused to respond at the beginning of the fiftieth round, declaring he "had enough". His seconds threw up the sponge. There has been intense rivalry between McVey and Jeannette and challenges have been hurled right and left by both men, while they raked down the money in the music halls.
McVey was the favorite for tonight's fight, and he started off like a winner, putting Jeannette down for the count in the sixth round. It was a give-and-take encounter to the twentieth round, with McVey having all the better of it, but after that point he weakened, and was slammed all around the ring by Jeannette, who administered terrific punishment until the forty-ninth, when McVey quit cold. Both men were badly punished.
- The top bit is from a wire report printed in a number of different sources (SF Call, NY Tribune, etc., etc., etc.) the day after the fight on Apr 18th, 1909, while the bottom one was printed in the Washington Herald and a couple of others. The Washington Herald also published an article a few days later (24th) stating McVey's and his manger's complaints about how Jeannette supposedly revived himself throughout the fight by using an "oxygen caffeine" and they also complained about how Jeannette's seconds supposedly threw cold water directly on him when he was knocked down towards the end of the 19th round (They say Jeannette doesn't get up if that didn't happen). A challenge to an immediate rematch was issued, as well. *shrugs*
