Best heavyweight Jim Jeffries could beat?

Jeffries is one of the literal examples of "primitave" boxers...

He looks awful. He gets beat by tons of light heavyweights. The contemporary writers and fight guys back then must not have known sh!t... Defensive and counter techniques were just coming up... Techniques only honed and revered by a handful of guys back then that are common now among even amateurs.

 

They could only judge according to their experience.
There had only been 3 heavyweight champions before him, and he was the first to retire unbeaten.

 

'Thirty nine years old Fitz had to wait two years for his chance after defeating the two top challengers Ruhlin and Sharkey in the space of two weeks.What physical advantages would Jeffries have over Louis aside from about ten /15pounds in weight,and half inch in reach ?'
Vastly superior stamina and strength?
Yes, against men 30+ lbs lighter ,and up to12 years older.
How many rounds does a 39years old 172lbs, 2 years retired Fitzsimmons last with a prime Louis?

 

I don't think we can say it is impossible.

 

It is never a sure thing in boxing.

 

Jeffries would do very well vs most all other heavyweight champions if we are talking 25 round fights.

Most every other heavyweight champion would need to alter their style, become perhaps different fighters going into a fight with prime Jeffries under the rules of his time scheduled for 25 rounds.

I can see a Foreman or Liston or Tyson ending things early but if they dont they have no chance.

Under modern rules Jeff would have a very difficult time.

There is close to zero film footage of Tom Sharkey. Impossible to tell how good he was.

What’s the use of all the negative bashing of universally considered great fighters, with no good film footage to evaluate them, now long dead?

 

The awful quality of film footage makes it impossible to make that determination. A few years ago on Facebook someone posted film of Ali and “corrected” the film to appear like primitive silent film. I had to look three times to see that it was in fact Ali! He looked as ordinary, sub ordinary, as can be. The best film footage we have, by far, of Jeffries, is while in training for Rhulin and he looks like an utter monster. It would be hard to find a heavyweight champion so universally praised as Jeffries was in his time.

 

I can. With no reservation. It rolls right off the tongue.

 

This is a boxing match we are talking about.

Nothing is impossible.

 

With only 3 heavyweight champions succeeding him their frame of reference was of necessity extremely limited!
Have you seen any footage of Jeffries actually fighting ,in which he even remotely resembles that training clip?

 

Again the training film footage QUALITY is OUTSTANDING. FIGHT FILM FOOTAGE is extremely poor. So incomparable.

I am sure he would look as good as the training footage. He was universally praised as a great fighter.

 

If you've watched boxing closely for a decade or two or three... you can make out a lot of significant stuff in his fight footage. He looks like garbage.

He was universally praised for greatness by folks raised on Jem Mace, who had never seen a prime Johnson, a Dempsey or a Louis, not to mention an Ali or Lewis or Fury.

 

No. I watched all of Ali’s fights live since 1970 yet he and his skills were unrecognizable when placed within silent film era quality media. He appeared, as Jeffries, Corbett and Fitzsimmons appear, like the keystone cops in terms of staccato movements and lack of any level of speed.

Jeffries was rated at the greatest heavyweight champion by Ring magazine into the mid 70’s. One of their main points was level of opposition. In six title fights he faced two ATG former champions twice each Corbett and Fitzsimmons, and an “uncrowned champion, Tom Sharkey, twice.

 

Film of the Ruhlin fight shows Jeffries in a half crouch wide open down his left side ,plodding stoically after Gus.Gus actually looks the more athletic and quicker boxer.

 

The Ring never ranked Jeffries as the greatest, that accolade was always reserved for Johnson. Corbett was way past it for their 2nd fight he hadn't fought for 3 years! Fitz for their 2nd fight had been retired for 2 years and was 39 years old.