Condition of Jeffries hands/left arm vs Sharkey I,II, Ruhlin I, per 'In the Rin

Adam Pollack,
'In the Ring with James J. Jeffries'
http://www.winbykopublications.com/books.html


p. 124 (prior to Jeffries-Sharkey I)

"One issue being discussed as a potential hinderance to Jeff's career was the fact that he has hand problems. 'In the fight with Ruhlin . . . Jeffries broke his right hand early in the encounter. The weapon is still weak . . . The left hand has also been broken by being struck over the back of the member by a club . . . Jeffries is in the position of a great race horse with bad legs.' Sharkey's manager said that Jeff's hands were weak, and that a punch on Tom's skull would not hurt Tom, but hurt Jeff's hands."



pp. 133-134 (after Jeffries-Sharkey I)

"After the fight, Jeff's thumbs were in poor condition, badly swollen and discolored. Jeffries said that during the fight, his hands caused him a great deal of pain, and as a result, he was unable to hit with much force, for every blow caused a twinge of pain to shoot through his arm, causing him to flinch. That was his explanation for why he did not punch even harder or try to finish Tom off. 'I would have put Sharkey out if it were not that my hands were in such poor condition. During the fight I hurt them by hitting Sharkey on the head.
"Jeff said that his hands were not well even going into the bout. ''If my thumbs had not been injured I would have whipped him in nine or ten rounds. My thumbs have been in bad condition ever since I boxed with Van Buskirk.' Jeffries had fought several times in the past year and had not had sufficient time to heal his hands. 'I am going to rest until my hands get in shape again, as I can't hit with them.' One writer confirmed that Jeff's hands were a bit swollen before the fight started."

p. 288
(Jeffries-Sharkey II, round 2 comments)
"Jeffries later claimed to have reinjured his left arm when punching Sharkey hard in this round, which thereafter affected how hard and how often he could throw the left."


p.308 (Pollack summarizes Jeffries after Jeffries-Sharkey II)
"After the fight, Jeff ... said that the injury to his left arm that he had suffered in training bothered him during the fight, and as a result, he could not punch as hard or as often with his left, and had to rely primarily on his right. This explains why Jeff relied on his right so much, when ordinarily he mostly used his left."

p. 652
footnote 895
(post-Jeffries-Munroe)
San Francisco Bulletin, Aug. 28, 1904
(Pollack summarizes) "Speaking of the past, Jeff said that Sharkey caught him out of condition. He had hurt his left arm in training," (for Jeffries-Sharkey II) "and he could barely use it. He dropped Sharkey with it in the 2nd round, but it hurt so badly that he never lead with it for the next 10 rounds. He had to fight with his right. The first time he fought Sharkey, his hands were so swollen and sore it pained him every time that he hit him."

 

I bring this up because the Sharkey fights are often mentioned in discussing Jeffries abilities as a hitter, particularly in comparison to Firtzsimmons treatment of Sharkey.

I think it likely Jeffries was not as his best as a hitter either time he faced Sharkey.

To be sure, hand problems characterized much of Jeffries early career; and Jeffries later admitted that, at this period of his career, he did not know how to hit properly.

However, I think it very likely that the Jeffries of Ruhlin I, Fitzsimmons II, Corbett II and Munroe was a more potent offensive force than anything Sharkey had had to face, and perhaps comparable to Fitzsimmons (albiet not so opportunistic a KO puncher).

 

I'm not looking to 'excuse' the hand problems Jeffries had early in his career. By his own later admission, Jeffries at that time had not yet learned to punch properly.

I am suggesting that Sharkey might well have never faced the sort of punching he would have encountered from a pugilistically matured and healthy Jeffries.