The underlined are valid points ,but saying he had underated defence is not.imo he was easy to hit ,As late in Jeffries career as the second Fitz fight the challenger was described as hitting him at will ,and when and where he pleased.
The height of Jeffries is hyperbole by people of his time which is apparent in pictures of him with opponents most notably shaking hands with Fitz and other pictures.....he was never a solid looking 225 except in his fight with Johnson where he looked solid....either way he was much bigger and far more powerful than Fitz who was 170+-
The problem with Jeffries threads is the arguments are never over...,since the era had poot film sportswriters could write anything they want to build upon their own favorites hell if his height had been listed at A 6'5" there would be endless debate on his true height being that..... With Jeffries all we have is results and the liberties taken by sportswriters and fans his video is of no use but saying he can barely take the power of Fits but would walk through Shavers is silly
He was undeniably a very tough hombre with good speed ,and power,for his size, it 's not a stretch to say he would be a handful for any heavy up to 1940/50.
So now we're cherry picking facts and sources? Boxrec has eyewitnesses maintain Corbett basically put on a clinic and jeff looked lkke a complete novice trying the same punch over and over. I posted the account on this thread
It's cherry picking because I use a lengthy report from New York newspaper, rather than trying to interpret a sentence from a short part of an Atlanta Newspaper. That someone posted it on boxrec doesn't make it gospel truth. The quote doesn't even say what you think it does.
The Pollack biography covers the first Jeffries Corbett fight in considerable detail. Basically Jeffries came to the party with a stupid plan, to try to box with Corbett. Corbett seems to have won most of the first fifteen rounds. Jeffries manager Brady saw the title slipping away, and actually ejected Jeffries trainer Tommy Ryan from the ring, and took over himself! He told Jeffries to fight a more aggressive fight, and pressure Corbett. The change in tactics worked, and Jeffries seems to have won most of the rounds, from round fifteen onward, probably helped by the fact that Corbett was now tiring. I am not sure whether that mitigates Jeffries or not, but that seems to be what happened.
This is probably the most detailed report The sun., May 12, 1900, Page 2, Image 2 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...asetext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=range&page=1 Here are some quotes through out the contest, these quotes aren't an overall representation of the fight, they are purely to show how inaccurate GCC's version is. You've got the full report linked, and I've explicitly said these quotes are picked to illustrate a point, not represent the fight as a whole, so don't be an idiot. 4th round "A left in the stomach and a right that grazed the jaw sent Corbett to his corner puzzled. Jeffrie's attack seemed to be wearing him down." 5th round "Jeff drove his man to the ropes with a swing which he brought back-handed to the mouth and Corbett clinched. Corbett did more left-hand jabbing, but Jeff chased him across the ring like a bull and ripped in blows to the body that made Corbett grit his teeth. Jeff landed a hook on the jaw which nettled Corbett and the latter clinched hard to save himself, for Jeff was on top of him with tremendous blows when the bell ended the rally." 6th round "Jeffries chased his man into a corner and hit him over the eye with a left at the same time driving a right to the heart." 7th round "[Corbett] swung right and left forthe head, Jeff countering on the body." "Jeff reached the jaw squarely with the left" 8th round "Jeffries bored in with a left-handed body punch that made Corbett clinch" 11th "Jeff was slow and cumbersome, but he swung a left under the ear that took the smile off Corbett's face." 12th "Jeffries landed heavilly on the ribs" "Jeffries got in close and drove the left into the body" 13th "Jeff landed a righthand smash over the heart and a left near the solar plexus which made Corbett more serious." "Jeff was looking for a knock-out now and he rushed Jim to a corner, where he got the right to the cheek" 14th "Jeff paid no attention to the left hand jabs, which were shot rapidly in his face, but now was fighting to wear his man into a state of submission. He kept boring in and with a left he shook Jim up so that Corbett clinched" "This round was in favor of Jeffries, who did the bulk of the work" 15th "Jeffries rushed with vigor and getting him on the roped he hit Corbett heavily on the neck with a right." "As they got away Jeffries shook his opponent's head with a right on the ear and then ran in with a left on the neck." "Jeffries, with sheer weight and strength, almost pushed Corbett over with his left against the jaw, but Corbett grabbed him around the neck and kept his feet" 16th "Jeffries, however, forced the fight, and reached the body with a couple of heavy lefts." "This round was even up" 17th "Corbett was getting away rather slowly when Jeff put a tremendous left to the jaw and almost sent Corbett down with a right to the body" "Jeff had the round on work" 18th "Jeffries got to the neck and body with effect" "Jeffries rushed in with a left to the pit of the stomach and put another to the side of the head." "Jeffries wound up the round with a left in the body and a terrific right over the kidneys. This round belonged to the champion on work." 19th "Jeff advanced another time and rained the punches in so hard thaat Corbett clinched. Jeff piled in again with tremendous vigor and knocked Corbett down with right swing on the jaw" "Jeff landed a right swing over the ear and brought a little drop of blood from it. Corbett danced away as well as he could and landed a few jabs, but Jeff had the power and strength to keep up his attack, which preceptibly wekened the former champion and took away from him much of his speed." "This round was Jeff's, ad Corbett finished very tired". 20th "[Jeffries] drove in the left to the ribs" "Jeffries rushed incessantly, but now Corbett had made up his mind to keep away no matter if he did not land a blow." "Jeffries finally got to him with a left hook on the neck and Corbett clinched." "It was Jeffrie's round on work" 21st "Corbett began to run like a racehorse as soon as they came up." "Jeff kept on working until finally with a couple of left on the jaw, he had Corbett worried" "Jeff jolted him on the jaw with a left and made him clinch, when he put the right into the stomach. Jeff was doing the real fighting now, and whenever he landed a punch Corbett weakened" "The round was concluded by Jeff getting to the body and kidneys. It was the champion's round." 22nd "Jeffries rushed away across the ring and landed a left on the stomach that almost sent Corbett down. Then he cut loose and with frightful smashed he nearly lifted Corbett off the floor" "The champion put a right over the heart that did damage" "Corbett received two more punched in the stomach and clinched. Jeffries would not let him run now, because he kept on top of his man with tremendous blows. Jeffries never let up in his attack" "Corbett was visibly worries and clinched at every opportunity. Jeffried worked a left and getting a right to the stomach he made Corbett retreat" "The round belonged to Jeffries on work" 23rd "Jeff finally rushed his man toward the ropes and put in a couple of lifht taps to the jaw. Corbett retreated, but Jeff, bounding forward, drove a left to the stomach. He followed it with a heavy right high up on the ribs, and then shot the left outstraight from the shoulder with the force of a hundred-ton weight. The punch caught Corbett squarely on the point of the jaw. He reeled a moment and fell over backwards, his head striking the ropes. For the moment it was not thought that he was knocked out, for he tried to rise and seemed about to do so, when his eyes rolled and he sank back helpless."
Jeffries was the original body snatcher! He rarely threw a punch above the collar line, unless it was freely offered!
Exactly. Jeffries threw some headshots earlier in the fight, including a lot of, but not exclusively left hooks, much of which were dodged (though a not insignificant number, just not on the button), but Jeffries primary attack was to the body, and while he was being outlanded, the body attack did it's job in sapping Corbett's strength, Jeffries also upped the work rate, and seems to have won them all from the 17th onward, including droping Corbett in the 19th. In the last few rounds Corbett was pretty just trying to survive, and in an increasingly bad way. It was no lucky punch.
Now either we go with the eyewitness accounts and Jeff's admittance or we omit all of it.....the problem with that eras fighters is the variables in reporting and the inability to see for ourselves the abilities described
I dunno, do others believe Jeffries was not the listed height, & can you link the pictures? Usually Fitz is listed at one sixty five. Either way, the size differential between him & most every opponent, like with Corbett, is huge. Corbett was a bit over one eighty, but at his height had the muscle mass per square inch of...Below the average rehydrated MW of today. However good these men were-& Corbett's record is very unimpressive... Opponent size matters. And if Jeffries unlike Dempsey, Louis & other ATGs never beat anyone even of his own mass, let alone much bigger... We at least have no good reason to know if he was at least as good as them, or as good as many say.
The fact that he had to accept so much damage from Fitzsimmons in order win a war of attrition does not bode well for his chances against a modern heavyweight power puncher who is considered by man the most powerful the division has ever seen. After the fight, Jeffries explained, that tho Fitz was able to get to him, that he won because of his strength. "It was a fierce fight, the fiercest I have ever had but I won. yes, I got a good beating... I never was tired at any stage (a point that is not echoed by observers) and was stronger than Fitzsimmons at all stages." I don't see any evidence that Jeffries was the sort of power puncher that Lyle was or as crafty a counter puncher as Quarry... and certainly not as durable or slick as even an old Ali.
It's impressive he learned on the job with little experience and won the title with few fights. But it goes to show how strong or rather how weak the era was. They thought a guy 6-6'1 and 210-220+ lbs was a "giant". It wasn't uncommon for "heavyweights" to be under 190 or even 180. For a guy to get by on his brute strength, size, and toughness seems to indicate a lack of finesse or technique in the era. Guys like Corbett and Fitzsimmons seem to be the exception rather than the norm. Both of them were past their prime and much smaller and still gave Jeff hell.