Who does better against the following, Jeffries or Sullivan?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Melankomas, Oct 15, 2024.


  1. Melankomas

    Melankomas Prime Jeffries would demolish a grizzly in 2 Full Member

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    Regardless of who you think wins in these matchups and how decisively, who do you see performing better compared to the latter at their own peaks? Who performs better against:

    Jack Dempsey
    Joe Louis
    Sonny Liston
    George Foreman
    Joe Frazier
     
  2. Melankomas

    Melankomas Prime Jeffries would demolish a grizzly in 2 Full Member

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  3. Ney

    Ney Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Jeez you don’t make a thread easy, do you!? I have always wanted to see Jeffries in with a guy like Frazier, personally. He’s mysterious to rate for me, I am not completely sold on those who laud him or those who deride him.

    But truthfully, I regard Dempsey as someone right on the edge of a fair match with more modern fighters. Once you start talking about things like 45-rounders in blazing heat, 2 oz gloves & refs who let the fighters kill each other vs 12-rounders in air conditioned arenas with trigger-happy officials, 10 oz gloves…there’s a reason you’re not getting replies beyond just member ignorance. It’s very, very difficult to fairly compare across eras that vast.

    All I could say personally is I’d be very, very keen to see Jeffries in with these guys, as there is no doubt to Sullivan’s greatness.
     
  4. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    Very difficult to say.

    In general terms I would say that Sullivan was the better finisher of the two, but that Jeffries was significantly bigger and stronger.

    Sullivan was a seek and destroy closer and finisher, while Jeffries was a hybrid counter puncher and pressure fighter.

    They both obviously took a punch very well.

    That is what we have to try and make sense of here.
     
  5. Melankomas

    Melankomas Prime Jeffries would demolish a grizzly in 2 Full Member

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    If we take the most idealistic interpretation of their abilities; Jeffries as a crouching counterpuncher with competent defense but isn't unhittable. Then we have Sullivan who is much more fast paced and was the much more skilled aggressor, looking to break down your guard with his left either with feints or with jabs, to open you up for that blitzing right cross.

    With that context, which style sounds better against the names listed? They both sound like they'd do well against any of the names listed, off that alone.
     
  6. Ney

    Ney Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Stylistically yes, but could they mix it up with these men, who are at the highest level historically? You would need to hybridise the ruleset first. When the sport changes this much, it would be fight-deciding to place one completely in the others’ age.
     
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  7. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    Dempsey: I suspect that Jeffries crouching counterpunching style allows him to get through a bit too often. It might be better to send in Sullivan and pray that he gets Dempsey first in the inevitable train crash.

    Louis: Sullivan likely gets his brains scrambled coming in, but Jeffries crouch might give him some problems.

    Liston: Very bad match ups for Sullivan's come forward style, but Jeffries would at least be a match for him in strength, and this would give him something to work with.

    Foreman: Same observations as with Liston.

    Frazier: The best way to fight Frazier is not to let him get out of first gear, and Sullivan is a faster starter than him, or Jeffries.
     
  8. Melankomas

    Melankomas Prime Jeffries would demolish a grizzly in 2 Full Member

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    I personally think Jeffries would be better off taking the Fitz 2 approach against Dempsey; be an aggressor and land accurate punches to the body to wear Jack out, even at the expense of facial tissue. I doubt Jack hits significantly harder than Fitz, Sharkey, Munroe or Choynski did and Jeffries took their best. I think he could take more from Dempsey than Jack could take from him.

    With regard to the Liston and Foreman matches; do you think Sullivan feint-oriented straight punching style causes more problems for them than other swarmed matchups like Marciano, Dempsey, Frazier? It seems like Sullivan would occasionally fight upright as well, so he seemed more versatile than those 3 even though he only knew how to go forward. The Kilrain fight suggests he could also use a patient counter-oriented style as well. Sullivan’s combination of speed, power, accuracy and timing could very well bring shades of Louis.

    Sullivan very may well be the worse matchup for Frazier here given his fast starting style and his reported accuracy and timing. I’d consider Jeff-Frazier to be one of my favourite fantasy matchups. Still though, hard to actually predict a winner in that one.
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2024
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