If Johnson and Jeffries had fought close to their primes...

Prime for prime I pick Johnson .

Jeffries was never going to defend against a black man he said it in print so many times it isn't even arguable.

McVey was gunshy? He was famous for his ability to take punishment Johnson half killed him before he finished him off in the 20th round of their last fight.
McVey's battle with Jeannette in Paris is legendary for the damage both men sustained accompanied by multiple knockdowns of both adversaries..McVey retiring only when he could no longer see after 2 HOURS and 24 MINUTES of fighting.
You could not have made a more absurd claim if you tried.


If Mcvey was that unskilled its hard to fathom how he managed to beat :
Denver Ed Martin 3 times.
Joe Jeannette ,and hold him to 2 draws.
Sam Langford twice and draw with him 6 times.
Harry Wills twice and also draw with him.
They must have been as unskilled as McVey to have been beaten by him and held to so many draws!
These are the men you say would have beaten Johnson if they had gotten title shots!
You comprehensively defeat your own argument!

Its in print that Jeffries said he couldn't have licked Johnson in a hundred years,that he couldn't have laid a glove on him. He said it to a reporter when he was on the train going home.

 

I would like to believe that Jeffries, pre retirement, was a prime, hungry, in shape and determined champion who wouldnt be there just for the payday. To think that the shell of Jeffries which was lured out of retirement for big money lasted 15rds with a prime Johnson should be a testament to how a prime hungry Jeffries would have fared. Prime Jeffries at the minimum makes it a grueling battle to the distance and is sharp and quick enough to land his powerful left for a possible stoppage.

 

It's a plausible outcome, but taking the fact that the fight went 15r ds assumes that Johnson was actively trying to stop Jeffries early ,and I don't think he was. I don't believe Johnson put his foot to the metal until late in the fight.

Bob Fitzsimmons stated that Johnson could have won when he wished and he was a huge booster for Jeff.

 

i'd still pick johnson, but obviously in a much more competitive fight.

 

Oh it would be competitive alright!

 

Jeffries was not close to the raw talent that Johnson had.

However he was exceptionally strong and had great stamina.

In a finish fight you would have to favour Jeffries to get the the job done eventually .

With any round limit under 50 Johnson should school him.

 

I'll be 65 this March so you win this bout....

 

Jeffries went 25rds once with Sharkey a man he greatly outsized. and a further 20 rds with him

He went 23 rounds with a past it Corbett.
20 rds with 60lbs lighter Choynski
20 rds with Ruhlin

Johnson went :
20 rds with Griffin twice
20 rds with Hart
20 rds with Moran when he was 36
20 rds with Mexican Pete Everett
20 rds with Denver Ed Martin
20 rds with George Gardner
26 rds with Jess Willard when he was 37
And 10 rds when he was 53.

I think his stamina matches up favourably with Jeffries who was nearly always the much bigger and significantly younger man in his matches.

 

But in a finish fight one man has to stop the other and I see no way Johnson stops Jeffries.

As I said, I favour Johnson below 50 rounds.

 

And what of theit respective performances vs common opponents?

 

Jeffries resembled a gargoyle after 8 rds with a near 40 ,47lbs lighter Fitz ,who busted his hands on his face. After 20 rds with Johnson he would look the same.
You don't have to ko a man if you close his eyes he can't see and the fight has to be stopped.
Jeffries finished his very abbreviated career,[24 fights], at 29 with a nose that had been broken several times ,scar tissue over both eyes, and a cauliflower ear.he only had one more fight.

After engaging in77 fights, fighting into his 50's Johnson was unmarked. If anyone is getting tko'd with facial damage it's going to be Jeffries.

 

I'll be 67 this coming Saturday.

 

Watch their fight again

 

Youre better than that.

 

Johnson was an athlete with great boxing talent.
Jeffries was a great athlete who boxed.

Kinda like when the Nicholas Brothers said Fred Astaire wasn't so much a tap dancer as a great dancer who tapped.