Reno 1910 Contrasts the Training

It would not be the first time that an ageing fighter was given lighter sparring duties, to mask his slippage from him and others.

 

Jeez man, way back in 1910- Reno was probably nothing more than a ghost town, maybe a poker saloon, and a brothel and that's it, i seriously don't think they had any boxing gyms to train at..

The only training boxers could do back in those days were spar, and roadwork, guys didn't pump iron back then, and they didn't have the equipment or machines they have today, maybe push ups, sit ups, you know the things you did in gym class when you were 9 years old...

Who knows maybe Jefferies used fishing as a way to train:huh, things were a lot different back then...

 

as time goes past i feel more and more that jeffries didn't want to be involved and had little expectation of winning.

janitors comment also seems quite likely

i'm pretty sure punching bags and ropes had been invented by 1910, and that jeffries could afford the best preparation available, he just didn't put the work in.

 

In his preparation for the Munro fight Jeffries trained hard, and engaged in a lot of hard sparring. He had to let up at one point, because he injured two of his sparring partners. He did also use fishing and hunting as part of his recreation, so don't necessarily read too much into that.

 

This was 1910. They had heavy bags and speed bags and jump ropes. They had resistance exercise and they would chop wood. They had some crazy ideas but hell, Jirov used to get thrown off a boat as part of his training.

 

Jefferies was only 35 in 1910- compare that to Wladimir Klitchko todays champ who will be 39, in only 2 months, so he wasn't very old...

Jefferies was alao a rock star athlete, he could high jump 6 feet, and run 100 yards in 11 seconds...

He was alao a huge man at 6-1- 225, the same size as a lot of todays heavyweights, back in 1910 most men were probably 5-5, 150 lbs..

He was probably over confident, he thought all he had to do was show up, and his size and athletic ability wins the fight...

 

Great post Mac. Thanks man.

 

Very interesting read. Thanks for sharing the link.

 

There was some talk of a fix, and if Jeffries believed that, it could have diminished his training efforts. Who knows.

While Jeffries was 35, he was also out of the ring for 6 years, and had to lose 80+ pounds. You can't compare him to Wlad who's always in shape, and is a freak of nature. No one is that fast at age 38...somehow Wlad's hand speed is still impressive.

The truth is in 1909 Jeffries was back in the gym. The man who introduced to to Los Angles boxing DeWitt Van Court saw Jeffries spar and told him to forget about the comeback.

Corbett didn't help Jeffries at all. The help needed would have best come from his old trainer Delaney. Much to Jeffries surprise Johnson hired Delaney to work his corner. Jeffries learn this the day of the fight, and it bothered him.

You can see clips of Jeffries training for the fight. He looks all right hitting the bag, but Fitzsimmons said it best. Jeffries wasn't a quarter of the fighter he faced.

The predictions of the other fighters picking Jeffries were based on who Jeffries used to be. That guy was long gone in 1910.

 

When you're shot, the amount of time to prepare means little. Ali was in his best shape in years for Holmes, how did that work out for Ali?

Jeffries hardly sparred for the match. We agree there. Why? Perhaps he knew he was shot. By sparring in front of the press, he could have lost whatever aura of invincibility he had left. As I said before he looked horrible in 1909.

I highly doubt Johnson could have ended it early. Johnson was a safety first type, and waited for Jeffries to tire before making his move. By round 13 Jeffries could not keep his hands up. That is when Johnson started to attack without fear of getting hit.

Jeffries won at least two rounds, and was competitive in others until round 10. There is video of some early rounds, so you can judge for yourself. If it was a 10 round match the verdict could have been a draw.

The fight, which was moved from California to the desert did not help Jeffries either as older fighters typically struggle in the hot outdoors. This one took place in the desert in July.

Six years off from the ring, losing 80 pounds, no warm up fights, limited sparring, having his old trainer helping Johnson and shouting out orders in his corner, the heat, and no real sparring for the fight meant Jeffries returned in name only.

When a guy in his prime faces a shot fighter, it should be over well before 15 rounds.