James Jeffries vs Larry Holmes (1905)

We also hear from time to time the gloves are like MMA and virtually like fighting bare fisted so we'll throw in a couple of pics of those too.

Jeffries was a great fighter in his day, a top 20 resume based Heavyweight with everything taken into account. We need to keep it real tho. I'm sticking with Holmes.

https://www.thefightcity.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Choynski-and-Jim-Jeffries.jpg

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports...d-cerrone-just-40-seconds-he-returns-n1118511

 

Conversely, look at the size of the gloves in Jeffries/Johnson:

https://www.thefightcity.com/july-4...tt-sullivan-tommy-burns-fight-of-the-century/

 

Still nothing like MMA gloves or basically fighting bare fisted.

 

They're close to the larger gloves used in amateur MMA /MMA training.

https://www.amazon.com/Everlast-Advanced-7-Ounce-Striking-Training/dp/B001FXBFEG

These MMA training gloves probably have more padding on the knuckles, actually.

EDIT: More along the same lines are --

https://www.punchequipmentusa.com/product/shooto-sparring-mma-gloves/

https://www.bang4bangfightgear.com/product/shooto-gloves

https://www.northernmartialarts.com...2017/01/Shooto-MMA-Sparring-Glove-800x800.png

The main differences apparently being the more modern padding and open fingers instead of enclosed fingers in the MMA amateur/shooto/sparring gloves.

 

Take a look also at some of the gloves in these pictures:

https://www.thefightcity.com/oct-27-1903-johnson-vs-mcvea-ii-jack-johnson-sam-mcvea-boxing/

https://boxingfocus.com/amp/jack-johnson-the-hardest-fight-in-boxing-history

They're very small gloves, without much padding. But yes, glove size varied.

 

Not sure what we can learn from a 3 minute clip of a 15+ minute fight noted by writers for one fighter trying to avoid the grapple at all costs and ultimately failing.

This observation falls in line with my point about the more selective punching of the time, due to the limitations of the hand wear.

They aren't slipping because they are moving as fighters in their era learned to move in those shoes. I'm not sure why one would expect them to slip.....

 

Two contrasting perspectives on small gloves and modern boxing defense. From a pro MMA fighter and a former kickboxing champion, respectively:

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Shamrock also wrote in his biography a very little bit about the differences he saw between boxing and MMA defense. Although he fought half his career in the bareknuckle era.

 

i havent seen much of Jim but something tells me that Larry is the more athletic of the two. I would favor Holmes on points and he might even knock him out with his big right hand

 

Holmes wouldn't be slipping either.

 

Cause Jeffries would have him tied up while murdering his ribs.

 

No doubt.

 

Jeffries never went more than 25 rds and then just once, against a man 183lbs.

 

He went 20 or more rounds 5 times though and had a few late stoppage wins.

Weight is irrelevant, Holmes went 15 rounds with 200 lbs Spinks.

 

Forty five rounds was mentioned that's why I picked up on it.
You don't think a 6 feet plus guy 218 lbs in shape , has a size advantage over one 5 feet 8 inches and 183lbs over a 25 rds fight? Jeffries ever have any late round stoppage wins over a Holmes sized heavyweight? Do you think Spinks beats a prime Holmes?Do you think he goes 15 rds with him?