From what I have seen of Corbett - yes that is a bit of a stretch, imo. Would you favour him to beat any of the 4 I mentioned?
Yeah, I don't rank Corbett highly but he's better than Martin to me. He was very frustrating to fight against with all this movement and I doubt Martin would be able to deal with that.
Both guys waste Corbett. Any other answer is pure delusion. I would pick Froch over Corbett. I am damn sure going to pick elite true heavies over him.
I probably wouldn't, because they are much more of a known quantity. When you look at the best quality footage of Corbett, it becomes apparent that he was not so much primitive, as unorthodox. Also while he lost to the best men he faced, he always seems to have clowned them first. We should be open to the idea that he was effective head to head.
So that places you as a man who regards the great champs of the turn of that century as gatekeeper types now; guys that aren't capable of sustaining a ranking but that might box their way to a low one; that might challenger for straps but will be unlikely to ever get one; that never sink to the level of journeymen but that never become really serious contenders for the top slots?
Nah, mate. It places me as a man who regards the Corbett as a gatekeeper type now; a guy that isn't capable of sustaining a ranking but that might box his way to a low one; that might challenger for straps but will be unlikely to ever get one; that never sink to the level of journeymen but that never become really serious contenders for the top slot.
Batter? No, I think Ruiz has a decent chance vs Jeffries. Better? Yeah, for sure. Jeffries would do better than Ruiz or Corbett in this era. Corbett just doesn't impress me on film at all. And he's really small for a 'modern' heavyweight. I think Ruiz has a style advantage and would have almost 100lbs on him. Plus, I regard Ruiz as the better fighter.
Speed? And he didn't really anyone I rate particularly highly. Sure, he was doing well vs Fitz and Jeffries, but I think Fitz looks awful in an era of fighters that all probably look awful, and Jeffries is only someone I'd rate as slightly higher than Ruiz. And Jeffries was 40lbs bigger than Corbett, I think he'd do better based on that. I don't see either of them beating Usyk, Fury, or Joshua.
So you think of fighters from 1880 as intrinsically no worse than those form 1980 and take them on a case by case basis?
No. I'd like to, but I don't. From the limited film of the era, I think they look too archaic to seriously compete (with some exceptions). But that's not my overall thoughts when you get to the 1900s.
