I looked again at the footage (wretched as it was) of the Jeffries / Sharkey and Ruhlin fights. I took a look at the JJ fight again. I'm assuming a modern ruleset and a referee that stands by the rules. That being the case: I pick Marciano to destroy him. Jeffries looks to my eyes as unimpressive in technique as most of the fighters from that period. Hands down low, he stalks his man leaning forward with all his weight on the front foot. Not really a jab to speak of he seems to rely on his brute strength and hooks to get the job done. Marciano is Larry Holmes in comparision. He seems quicker, more accurate and seems to punch harder than does Jeffries. He fights with higher volume and I'll bet dollars to donuts that the stamina edge is with Rocky too. Where Jeffries might well pull out a win is if the referee allowed clinching and wrestling ad lib. Jeffries is clearly extremely strong and I doubt even a highly conditioned fighter like Marciano could wrestle for prolonged periods without tiring out against a man of such obvious upper body strength.
Then Rocky. Although, looking at the Layne fight, Rocky fought half the fight mashed up against him. I suspect a hercules like Jeffries might welcome that. I'm assuming that Rocky knows better.
If we use historians input from those who either saw or knew Jeffries that lived to Marciano's time, don't they all or almost all say he was better? Yes. Jeffires was bigger, faster, stronger, proven to be able to take harder punches, more agile, and could be defensive if he wanted to. You have to see Jeffries 1901 sparring clips to get an idea of how he moved and boxed in his prime. Its night and day from the guy who showed up old and slow vs Johnson in 1910. Jeffries has about 30-35 pounds of weight and 7 1/2 inches of reach advantage and was even a better body puncher. In the clinches, Jeff would push Rocky around. Who hit harder is debatable. One thing that is not is this would be a great fight to see. I'd pick Jeffries in nine rounds or so.
I expect rocky the more accurate and disciplined volume puncher to slowly break down the old school bralwer who lacked defense. Over 15 both men would be be in pretty bad shape with rocky either getting a wide ud or a 13-15 round TKO. Rocky likely has to get off the floor once or twice, he never faced a relentless hard hitting monster like jefferies before. Rocky's conditioning and crouching style saves him from being stopped in round 7 when jefferies has him badly hurt with body shots and wild clubbing punches.
Of course they do! How often do we see old historians pick a modern fighter over someone, they saw in the flesh 50 years earlier, when they were young? Hardly ever... because that's how the human mind works!
Jeffries and Marciano are two sides of the same coin, very similar. Both fought out of a crouch, both had punch power (though I'd say Marciano had more), both had a good chin and both had workhorse like stamina. Hell even their physiques were similar, strong shoulders and giant legs I'd pick Marciano by late stoppage
Ironically enough that is how Mendoza's mind works as well except he chooses the path of least resistance and chooses the historians bias oooops I mean preference My self Rocky bests the actual **** out of Jeff even under Jeff's era rules and stops him in 6.....Jeff could barely handle the thrashing he took from Fits and Corbett and clearly lack the power to KO the great defensive wizard in Tom Sharkey he gets mauled and beat up by Rocky getting hurt frequently until he is stopped...
Marciano would smash Jeffries up ,bit by bit .JJJ a tough ,strong guy but ive got him coming off second best here .Rocky club's away taking Jeffries hardest shots to drop him in 14 .
,QUOTE="Mendoza, post: 19606690, member: 19227"]If we use historians input from those who either saw or knew Jeffries that lived to Marciano's time, don't they all or almost all say he was better? Yes. Jeffires was bigger, faster, stronger, proven to be able to take harder punches, more agile, and could be defensive if he wanted to. You have to see Jeffries 1901 sparring clips to get an idea of how he moved and boxed in his prime. Its night and day from the guy who showed up old and slow vs Johnson in 1910. Jeffries has about 30-35 pounds of weight and 7 1/2 inches of reach advantage and was even a better body puncher. In the clinches, Jeff would push Rocky around. Who hit harder is debatable. One thing that is not is this would be a great fight to see. I'd pick Jeffries in nine rounds or so.[/QUOTE] Tom Sharkey ,lighter ,cruder,and shorter than Rocky, goes 20 and 25rds , but Rocky can only manage 9rds? Jeffries did not fight like that training clip,he either slowly stalked, ala Ruhlin,[for whom Jeffries was training when he made those clips ,] or waited for his opponent to come in like Sharkey. The following rank them so. SI Marciano 9th Jeffries 0 SI Senior Editor Marciano 9. Jeffries 0 Herb Goldman Marciano 9.Jeffries 0 Steve Farhood Marciano5.Jeffries 7 BBCSports Marciano6.Jeffries 0 Boxing Scene Marciano6.Jeffries 0 World Boxing Marciano3.Jeffries 8 ESPN Marciano6. Jeffries 0 E S News Report Marciano9.Jeffries 0 Teddy Atlas Marciano 4 Jeffries 0
Wrong again Mcvey. Sharkey was floored in both fights with Jeffries. In the first fight Jeffries was green with few fights. He fought the second with an injury sustained to his shoulder In round two. Have fun with your thread. Two guys you really don’t like.