Prime Lennox Lewis v Corbett,Fitz,Sharkey?

Only the second best white heavyweight?

Was any black heavyweight in the argument?

 

Since they were essentially chattel in the game and largely instructed on the outcomes when and if they were allowed to compete beyond the Battle Royale level, I guess we will never know. What we do know is that once allowed to compete on something remotely resembling an even playing field, there were one or two who became pretty good heavyweights.

Babe Ruth was a great great baseball player, much like Bob was a great, great fighter... but...

 

Do you think that any black heavyweight in 1902 could have beaten Fitzsimmons?

The rest of your argument is bunk, because black fighters could make a lot more money, than they could doing anything else!

 

If you think that black talent had the same recruitment and opportunity to develop in 1902 that white fighters did, I have a large bridge to sell you at a very reasonable price.

Now, if you are merely going to hide behind the resultant skewed representation of that era, you might as well be complicit.

 

No I don't think that the black talent had the same opportunities at world level.

They absolutely had the same opportunities at grass roots level however.

They could make more money boxing, than they could permissibly make doing anything else!

Any laborer could make more money boxing, than they could carrying sacks of ****!

Even the money that a Joe Walcott, or Denver Ed Martin was making, would look very tempting!

 

It is not alright, but Jeffries can only fight the available contenders!

 

Which black fighter from 1902 would you pick over Fitzsimmons then?

 

Really who?

I will grant you that Jack Johnson would have made a better challenger than Jack Munro, but was there a black contender available when he fought Corbett, or even Finnegan who would have made a better challenger?

 

There were white contenders willing to fight the black contenders, and they always had the option of fighting each other.

 

I am no apologist for the color bar, but I don't think that it made a huge difference to Jeffries early title reign.

I don't feel that Jeffries needed to prove himself against fighters like George Byers for example.