Jim Jeffries, is it reasonable to assume that, prime of prime , he would have beaten every heavyweight champ before Joe Louis?
He would definitely have a chance. Jack Johnson would be tough, so would Tunney and Dempsey could always win because of his offensive style.
Frank Loiterzo summed it up well. He said "Jeffries might have beaten Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali in the same night, or he might have lost to people like Michael Dokes." This is essentially where we are at with him today. We just don't know!
I'm not entirely sure.Didnt he struggle against both Corbett and Fitz when both past their best ? Can we say for sure that he'd have even beat the JJC of the Sullivan fight ? Something to ponder on . I don't see him beating Tunney either, and Dempsey s a beast at his best .
No. Johnson would always clown him. Stronger, more skilled, can play the short or long game. I believe that Havana Willard beats him, also. Dempsey destroys him in the most brutal fashion. Tunney clowns him. Baer kills him. Why, you ask? Because Jeff ate punches from wharf brawlers in an attempt to outlast them. Eating punches from guys like Willard, Dempsey and Baer in hopes of outlasting them... Fighting out of that stupid crouch when you have advantages in length and height would be disastrous against longer and taller athletes like Willard and Baer and against Dempsey, who also has the speed, good luck.
Johnson and Tunney would be the worst for him IMO. I think Johnson was the best ocerall, while Tunney is a bad match up. I think Dempsey would do better H2H overall, especially against bigger heavyweights, but I think Jeffries would be able to beat them. I don't think it's impossible he'd beat both.
Burns, and he likely beats the technical man mountain known as Primo. Even then, I have my concerns, and if I have my concerns about somebody clearly beating Primo... the concerns about him beating others runs deeper.
It's true .. we have no clue if Jeffries was a 1900 version of George Chuvalo or a 1993 Tommy Morrison with a granite chin ..
Jeffries beat quite a few big fighters. Also, beating Fitz twice is better accomplishement than beating dozens of 200+lbs fighters.
He didn't beat quite a few of anything as he only fought 22 fights. Only two of the guys he beat were over 200 pounds, the great Ted Van Buskirk and tough but severely limited Jack Munroe. Beating an ancient Fitz who he outweighed by 40 pounds isn't exactly the stuff of legend.
Although I tend to agree with your previous post I do find it a little unfair. I don’t think JJ always clowns him. Took him a lot of rounds to beat what I’d consider a Holmes Ali. Six years without a fight having to drop 60-70 pounds I think would kill any man. I think you’re right in that boxing was advancing rapidly in proper technique. Techniques I think men of those days didn’t possess till decades later. Probably a physical freak and would succeed in any generation with that kind of stamina athleticism and chin but his style was not suited to handle men 20-30 years ahead of him.
