He didn't,plus he had a year and a half to reduce what surplus weight he did carry. Jeffries was down to within 10lbs of his fighting weight when he came back from the health spa in Carlsbad in October 1909, 9 months before the Reno fight.
And what did he weight in February 1910? ESPN classic reports and shows films of how fat Jeffries had become on his farm. Their narrator said he was over 300 pounds, and lost roughly 80. Jeffries losing weight was not the main issue. Six years of no fights, a poor camp of sparring partners as old or older as he was that had limited sparring, and his old trainer in Johnson's corner were bigger obstacles.
Jeffries came back from Carlsbad and said he weighed 235lbs papers considered that to be about right, that was in October 1909.Can we just concentrate on the thread for once? We don't need your hate agenda here, the thread isn't really about the Reno fight it's about Jeffries weight reduction. This is Jeffries a month before the fight. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1910-06-11/ed-1/seq-12/
And he went into light training a year and a half before he went to Reno,plus he was appearing nightly giving 3 rounds boxing exhibitions . No one pretends he was the Jeffries of old but one pr*ck would have us believe he took off 100lbs in a couple of months, he didn't, he was down to weight 9 months before the fight.
I've seen many photos of Jeffries and I never thought he looked good physically prior to this fight. Willard years later stated that Jeffries was a "sick man" going into the Reno battle.
There is a photo of him singing for the match with Johnson. He was clearly overweight. Way over 235. While many were picking him to win despite a 6 year lay off, they were assuming Jeffries could return to his old form. His muscle memory, reflexes, timing and stamina were badly eroded. Fitzsimons who sat ringside said it best. Jeffries wasn't a quarter of the fighter he fought.
It's verifiable he was 230bs 9 months before the fight. Fitzsimmons sitting ringside said it best when he stated , "Johnson could have ended it whenever he wanted to" :good Singing? Was he a crooner or a swooner?:rofl
