Jeffries of July 4, 1910 v Willard of July 5, 1919

Probably Jeffries. He worked himself into good shape for the Johnson fight while Willard looked like the pillsbury doughboy against Dempsey.

 

If Jeffries, according to some, was a top 10 HW, or at least, ranked much higher than Willard on rank and ability. If so, being 2 years older, and a little rusty, shouldn't be too much to overcome with a skills/ability difference the other way. Nor do I think Jeffries was as far gone as made out. I think the sun, and the man he was up against made him seem worse than he was. If Jeffries was everything his supporters say, he should still win this, if not, it will be a close fight he likely might lose

 

I would say that Willard had made better used of his inactivity, than Jeffries had made of his inactivity. Willard had always known that he was going to have to defend his title again eventually, and he engaged in a lot of exhibitions. He probably had less of a summit to overcome to get back into fighting shape.