Outboxing Jeffries - What Fighters Can Duplicate...

What do you mean, he was counted out. As for not being prepared for that kind of punch, he was boxing for many, many years.... did you expect Fitz to say "watch out Jim, i'm going to throw a solar plexus punch now"?

 

No, it´s also no excuse for Corbett´s KO- loss, but I just meant, many people say something like "Corbett was nothing, he was KO´d by a MW", but that´s not right, Fitzsimmons KO´d many very good fighters at HW, so it´s no shame, Corbett was unlucky that he got caught with such a shot.

 

Corbett was in the ring, sparred in exhibitions, and trained hard for Jeffries. Layoffs were typical for the time period. Braddock took 2+ years off before facing Joe Louis. Willard if I recall was also in-active.

In addition, Corbett knew Jeffries like a book from their sparring partner days in 1897, and came up with a quick body shot while bending over, while somehow getting out of the way the moment after the punch was delivered, which took Jeffries a while to counter. The ring size was a huge 25 x 25 for this fight which helped Corbett. Those who are familiar with Corbett said it was his best effort, so why should you be skeptical if he was close to his best? Read the news report I posted, and you will see.

As for Jeffries, historians and reporters say his skill level went up as his career continued. He was not at his best skill wise vs Corbett in 1900.. Corbett was a true master boxer. Good enough to go 59-0-4 at one point if you count news decisions, and short 3-4 round fights exhibition matches.

 

Carnt download the fight round by round thingy, but do know this, Corbett trained very hard for this fight..he (if you belive him), was never the same boxer after his marathon with Peter Jackson..to question Corbett's stamina is an insult to a ring giant.
Sure Fitz won their fight, a rematch should have happened..alas Fitz didn't want it..wonder why?

I find the Jeffries fight very interesting, no one expected much less than a Jeffries win..it was poorley attended, no film was used, and ive never seen any photo's..
That said, Corbett did outbox Jeff for most of the fight, he did get put on canvas somewhat more than his version of fight went, but he was winning it.

Maybe oneday Corbett will get his dues in boxing history...Nat Fleischers bio on Corbett is well written and worth finding.

Ah well come on then and abuse me for thinking Corbett was a boxing giant, i always have thought so for the past 35 years..and i guess i always will.

Oh and WHO has those Corbett and Tunney sparring sessions?

 

Try this link to read Jeffries vs Corbett I. It needs no down load to read it. To make the print larger type in 100 on the open window on top between the minus and the plus sign. Let me know what you think.

[url]http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive...639C946197D6CF[/url]

 

You can cry "supermiddleweight" all you want but there can be no doubt that Fitz was a king-sized hitter. Early-round KO wins over top heavyweight contedners Tom Sharkey, Gus Ruhlin, and Peter Maher should be enough to establish this fact beyond dispute.

 

MENDOZA thanks for that link. ill read this over and over!!

 

Sorry but i think it says more about the pathetic state of the heavyweight division in that they get knocked around by a supermiddleweight. Hagler and Foster and Spinks were wonderful hitters as well (and the latter two were LHW's), but that didn't translate in beating heavyweights (cruiserweights, actually, except for Ruhlin) like Fitz did.

 

But they all fought in the era of giant padded gloves. Pinpoint punching precision isn't rewarded in the modern era of boxing like it was in Fitzsimmons' day.

But in MMA with 4oz gloves? Well, that's a different story. Despite the fact that smaller fighters are penalized far more severely against larger men in MMA due to the presence of grappling, those tiny gloves pay big dividends if you can land "on the button".

Here's 43 year-old former lightheavyweight champ Randy Couture against 6'8 265lb heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia.

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And a little fancy defense from the old man, as long as we're thinking about him.

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Back in the very early days of MMA before weight classes were mandatory you'd see this sort of thing more freqently - 168lb Igor Guelas KO'ing 6'8 270lb Gerry Harris with one punch in the Ukraine IFC, 5'9 Igor Vovchanchyn beating the holy heck out of 6'8 300lb UFC tournament finalist Paul Varelans, 190lb Jiu-Jitsu fighter Vitor Belfort beating 6'8 290lb Jon Hess, 6'5 350lb Scott Ferrozzo, and 6'2 260lb UFC tournament finalist Tank Abbott in a combined 3 minutes, etc. - and these are in fights were the larger man was allowed to *tackle* the smaller man, conferring an even greater advantage to size.

It's no surprise that in the bare-knuckle days weight classes were an afterthought, or that weight classes proliferated as gloves expanded. A hard-hitting heavyweight doesn't need to land on the point of the jaw to send your head spinning when he's got a bludgeon attached at the end of his arm.

 

Fitz was a freakish hitter. Here's what we should focus on. Nat F thought thought he hit harder then Demspey, Louis, or Marciano. Let's not say where, but assume he is on that level, is that proff enough? I think so. Many of Fitz's Ko's were a bit more than traditonal 10 counts. He kncocked guys flat, took their wind with body shots, and in some cases did even worse.

 

Great examples! :thumbsup

 

It's a small glove thing. Using today's massive mufflers even the Mighty Fitz wouldn't be KO'ing heavyweights because his magnificent accuracy would be neutralized by the padding. There could be no "solar plexus punch" with modern equipment, because the total force of that blow would have been diluted over several times the area.

Small gloves keep all that power focused in a small area and pay huge dividends for accuracy.

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Jeffries did mature into a verry good boxer late in his career.

The fact that he won the title after a dozen or so fights ment that he had to learn to box on the job.

 

Could Ali outbox Jeffries over 15 rounds? Does a fat dog fart? Does a bear **** in the woods? My god Ali would win every round. Sure Jeffries was durable and strong but he never fought anyone like Ali. Jim would be at the end of an 81" jab all night long and hard fast COMBINATIONS as well. Jeffries was considered a giant in his day but he would be an average sized HW in the modern era. and while Jim could certainly punch, I don't think he would hit Ali often enough to do any real damage, especially to a man who took the bombs of Frazier, Shavers and Foreman and was'nt KOed by any of them. Ali was also significantly bigger than Corbett and Fitzimmons and a helluva lot faster as well. Jeffries would be in culture shock seeing a fighter that big who moved that fast. Put them in a phone booth and see who walks first out and I'd pick Jeffries every time. In a boxing ring with rules Ali wins and by a wide margin as well.