Jack Johnson vs Jim Jeffries (27 minutes footage)

Take a look at some of the clinching and smothering techniques of Hopkins and Andre Ward. Bhop is a master of punch, duck and smother, or feint, move, punch, move away or go in and smother. Ward is a master of inside clinching and smothering and then firing and then smothering again, or move pop defend smother. Doesn't always make for the most entertaining bouts, but it works. Mayweather did it with Hatton too.

 

Another excellent post .. your patience is astonishing ..

 

Johnson was an exceptional fighter, not simply a man of his time but a timeless man ... he easily could have adjusted his style for today and been better on a pound for pound basis than the best Toney, Byrd of Hopkins ...

 

Seconded...excellent post.

 

"He ran out of gas ?"

He was alcohol bloated 37, fighting a giant under a hot Cuban sun and still dominated for over twenty rounds before "running out of gas." HIs stamina was terrific to say the least ...

 

All very very good posts. But I still feel the same about Johnson and every other HW befor Dempsey.

 

Johnson was an all time great HW without question... at least in my mind and Seamus as well... He has jumped on the Johnson Top 10 Locomotive....

 

Btw, this guy has great footage on his channel.....Tommy Burns vs O´Brien FULL over there !

 

Indeed. Nobody is questioning Johnson's stamina.

The one time that Johnson knew he was not in condition to go 45 rounds, he took the fight to his opponent in an effort to force a stoppage, eventually tiring himself out against a larger man.

The point was only made to strenghten the case that one needed to be able to conserve his energy in such a long contest, thus his conservative style.

 

I will give credit to anyone able to go through 50 minutes of watching that fight.

Another Jack Johnson fight for anyone that is interested:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY8U8OWwFic[/ame]

 

I figured this was your point but wanted it clear for the nay sayers ..

 

What channel ? Where ?

 

Based more on legacy than anything. His consistency and professionalism were questionable.

The Jeffries footage proves only that he was a very cautious fighter, even given the elements. Jeffries was a burned out, shell of a former novice fighter, a veteran of an entire 19 fights, his best opposition being tiny, old or completely decrepit. Beating this fighter 5 years removed from his real career, having gone through yo-yo weight gain and loss, being his saloon's own best customer and fighting no warm-ups before entering the ring with the best heavyweight he would ever face is just not that great a result. I understand why Johnson took the fight but just don't give him loads of credit for the performance.

 

Notice also how Rickard does not get involved, but rather allows them to fight inside and work themselves out of clinches. Tex Rickard with zero refereeing experience does a better job of allowing the fighters to fight than 90% of referees today. Refs do not need to incessantly break fighters. Infighting is part of boxing, but with refs constantly breaking fighters today, it is practically a dead or at least dying art. In our gym, we NEVER tell fighters to break. We allow them to work themselves free from clinches and work short inside shots.

 

:thumbsup