Do you thin the legendary Jim Jeffries is under rated? I see that he fails to make even the top 15 greatest HW of all time but Jeffries has an outstanding record. At a time he wasn’t only considered the greatest HW ever but possibly the greatest pugilist up till the 1910s. Anyone else think Jim is underrated or am I just flat out wrong?
He was looked upon as a superman in his own time but there hadn't been that many to compare him with had there? Jack Johnson 1.Fitzsimmons 2.Jeffries 3.Jackson 4.Corbett. Bob Edgren 1.Jeffries 2.Dempsey 3.Fitzsimmons 4.Langford George Barton 1.Johnson 2.Jeffries 3.Fitzsimmons 4.Dempsey Jack Root 1.Jeffries 2.Louis 3.Fitzsimmons 4.Corbett. Dumb Dan Morgan 1.Jeffries 2.Corbett 3.Dempsey 4.Fitzsimmons Harry Grayson 1.Dempsey 2.Johnson 3.Jeffries 4.Sullivan Tony Galento 1.Jeffries 2.Dempsey 3.Sullivan 4.Tunney Gus Wilson 1.Dempsey 2.Johnson 3.Tunney 4.Jeffries Tommy Burns 1.Dempsey 2. Jeffries 3.Johnson 4.Fitzsimmons
Burns rated Jeffries #1. Dempsey was down the list. If you haven't seen this video, enjoy. This content is protected
Yes I think that most people under rate him today. While he was active he was built up into an invincible superman, while today some people see him as a prehistoric version of George Chuvalo. The truth no doubt lies somewhere between.
Though the hype around him did vary. He was highly rated for the first win over Fitzsimmons, as well as his second win over Corbett, and win over Munroe. But in other fights like the Sharkey ones he did face more criticism.
He had a trajectory a bit like Johnson or Klitschko. Went from early skepticism, to being seen as darn near invincible later in his reign.
It was filmed in the 1920's. His order had JD 4th. His career was over by then, as he was refereed to millionaire fighter.
Jeffries invincible aura was such that, even in 1910, after a nearly 6 year layoff, Jeffries was still about a 2-1 favorite in the betting before the fight. And I agree, Jeffries is underrated by many today.
Maybe I’m wrong but going back in time, courteous deference to past champions for its own sake held for longer than it does today. So much so, statements suggesting that the likes of Fitz, Jeff etc. could take out at least two of the more recent/current champs in just ONE night often abounded. As to Jeff, even from the POV of the same contemporary writer, he could be contrarily described as being able to assimilate tremendous amounts of punishment while exhibiting marvellous defence at the same time?? I tend to lean toward the former description as being more accurate and a more prevalent attribute in Jeff’s armoury. The end point for Jeff was that he did dominate those who passed the biased eligibility filter. From that platform, I think Jeff was built up via some hyperbole to be a fighter of the quality that he actually wasn’t - see above contradiction in terms. Correct me if I’m wrong - but I don’t think Tunney was too fussed re Jeff as to his being trained to lay in wait, absorbing punishment before stepping it up against a fatiguing opponent. Jeff also benefitted greatly from advantages in sheer size, strength and resilience. Some reasonably sized opp. might be highlighted but the upper echelon victims for which Jeff receives most credit were decidedly smaller and several much older. As such, there is also the true extent of Jeff’s power to consider. In this regard, we have Fitz whose results against a couple of common opponents are dramatically more impressive. Even though we know Fitz could punch well beyond his weight it still doesn’t speak greatly for Jeff who was so much bigger and heavier than Ruby Robert. A counter to the above power assessment could be that, stylistically, Jeff wasn’t accented as Fitz on unleashing his power early - but the waters are muddied when Jeff often only increased his offence against opposition that was already wilting somewhat. In the realm of speculation, I actually believe Jeff could’ve been that much better than he was given more positive moulding as a fighter and some extra confidence on Jeff’s part. One thing that seems to ring loud from broad readings is that Jeff was never in love with the game - the primary attraction to boxing being that it was a singular means to earning a lot more money in much faster time than any other vocations available to him (or available to anyone else, really)
In terms of where his legacy should place him- clearly underrated today. No one heavyweight has had their legacy tarnished more by a single loss - in which the fighter had no right to even be on the ring with his opponent than does Jeffries. In his prime He defeated the two previous lineal champions preceding his reign 2x a piece in convincing fashion. (Corbett and Fitz) also Defeated his number one challenger in Sharkey 2x. Also before drawing the color line as a champion he faced and defeated 3 color heavyweights something of a rarity for the era. H2H is something different. He does look somewhat prehistoric and he doesn’t look great in the Johnson fight. I think his athleticism was gone by that bout and I think that was a big part of Jeffries’s success. I think he was a large tough man, that was a great athlete if not the best boxer.
Tunney was not a fan of Jeffries ,he said he made his name off old men,but that is usually the nature of the game inst it. The next day fight reports of the second Jeffries v Fitz fight stated Jeffries won because he was 12 years the younger man and so much bigger than Fitz.
True, the loss to Johnson has unfairly de-rated Jeffries to some extent in many eyes. Tbh, if anything, it was the best advertisement for Jeffries ability to absorb punishment - even an older, well beyond prime Jeffries. The beat down cannot be underrated, it was brutal and big Jeff somehow took it, round after round before it became all too much by round 15. I do believe Johnson protracted the fight somewhat but Jack did in fact exercise a degree of caution in the early rounds. Perhaps Johnson’s own conditioning for their fight was the strongest testament to what Jeffries once was. IMO, Johnson was in the best possible shape ever for Reno - at his absolute fittest and strongest. Though it was likely Jeffries couldn’t recapture his old form it was clear that Johnson, in his meticulous preparations, wasn’t taking any chances.