Anybody ever heard of Lockport Jimmy Duffy? He fought from 1908-1921 and has some surprisingly good names on his record. He beat Freddie Welsh, Jack Britton, Ted Kid Lewis, Johnny Dundee, and Charley White. He fought and lost to Benny Leonard and Packey McFarland. Those are some pretty impressive names and to actually have beaten some of them speaks volumes about what this guy could do. He's got a bunch of losses and draws, but what fighter with over two hundred fights doesn't? His record kind of reminds me of Holman Williams actually, who held victories over Archie Moore, Charley Burley, Cocoa Kid, Lloyd Marshall, Eddie Booker, and Jack Chase despite also holding a smattering of losses. He doesn't appear to be much of a puncher, judging by his lack of knockouts. I'm guessing that he was a very artful, elusive, and cutesy type of fighter.
He mostly relied on his left hand and moving in and out or sidestepping, with an occasional right cross or right uppercut. His punches lacked power, though, so in a lot of bouts you could read how he landed more punches than his opponents, but their punches, when they landed, carried more force.
Dude was huge for the era, really big lightweight, and i've got his reach down as 72" though i've seen other figures. I don't think he ever actually fought for the world title? Beat Freddie Welsh though which isn't bad and a couple of other really good fighters at or around their best.
Welsh was better at using his footwork to avoid punishment than at using it to get in close. Thus newspaper losses in the 2nd and 3rd fights.
