Best five wins thread. Lineal / Ring Magazine heavyweight champions.

Pete Everett wasn't that good really.The difficulty I have with the Griffin fight is that I have never seen a primary surce for it, I'm not saying it's not out there but if the fight happened as claimed it's a hell of a win for a green Jeffries.

 

No but he has a win over Bob Armstrong around that time.

 

Its about as note- worthy as Johnson flattening a decrepit Fitzsimmons.

 

True and if we are treating the wins on a contemperanious value, it's a good win. If we are looking at the wins with hindsight it is a bit different. BTW I could not find any decent report of that fight. Bob was a bit chinny and Everett could punch so we can surmise what happened but it would seem a bit of a surprise.

 

When you are talking about a champion's worst wins, you are usually talking about nobodies.

 

A man who hadn't fought for nearly 6 years, who was 37 years old ,alcoholic and consumptive,qualifies as a poor win in any sane person's book.Tom Sharkey called him a physical wreck and said he would have been ashamed to fight him.Jeffries himself said he was just a shell.

 

Now there I would have to disagree.

Although Jackson was a wreck, he was still the kind of man that you keep a young contender away from, until you are sure that he is ready.

 

Or until you are sure he is the kinda man with one foot in the grave?

 

The thing with a guy like Jackson, is that even when he is shot, you never know whether he might pull something out of the hat.

No I wouldn't put a promising young contender in with that version of Jackson, in only his tenth professional fight.

 

Interesting, have you the date etc of these reports?

 

Adam Pollack in his biography of Jeffries was unable to find a date or site for this fight.
In his first autobiography ,"My Life And Battles",pub1910 Jeffries stated he was,
"17 years old ",when he fought Griffin.His second autobiography ,"Two Fisted Jeff",1929 said he was about 19 years old.The first reference of the fight was in1898 in the San Francisco Chronicle when they reproduced his then record.It stated the fight was in1893 in L A and the result was a15 round ko for Jeffries. Jeffries first publicly mentioned the fight in May1899.The Hank Lorraine fight in October 1895 was classed as an exhibition and presumably that is whyJeffries did not include it in his record.
Jeffries was 21 when he began sparring with Corbett and confirmed that Corbett did indeed knock him down.Feb27th 1897
Corbett went at the green Jeffries for real in one spar.
"The punch I knocked him down with was a right hook"Corbett.

 

Here's a few early references. The San Francisco Chronicle, 5th and 6th May 1898. Both suggest the bout happened in 1893.

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Jeffries' version from the Evansville Courier and Press, 11th June 1899. He says he'd never had the gloves on before in his life.

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Griffin's own account from the Evansville Journal, 16th July 1904. He doesn't mention a date and, as you'd expect, gives himself a bit more credit, but basically tells the same story that he dominated the early going but couldn't get the knockout and ultimately wore himself out in the attempt.

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