Would A Dempsey - Jeffries Fight..?

Depends on how much the ref allows Jeff to take. Jeff was known for his ability to take a punch. If Dempsey goes all out and hurts him and knocks him down twice, then a modern ref would likely stop the fight. But old time refs were different and may allow Jeff to continue. Jeff could pick it up in the second half.

Jeff is probably too durable to be ko'd early but again, depends on refs.

 

Total war of attrition with conditioning playing a big factor. People forget that although both were punchers, both could at times move and box, especially Jeffries, who outboxed the aggressive Fitz in fight 1 and Sharkey in fight 2. Dempsey was more likely to try to grind it out methodically after finding that early bombs would not get iron-jawed Jeff out of there. Jeff might do a combination of both inside body punching and outside jabbing. Very interesting competitive fight.

 

Dempsey didn't win against anyone near the caliber of Jeffries.
I think the Dempsey of the Gibbon's fight might lose this match.

 

An uncertain encounter

Jeffries is a difficult boxer to judge. He could be ranked among the top ten or outside the top twenty. Highly praised by those who saw him fight, but harshly criticized by those who saw other fighters. Certainly, he possessed great athleticism, especially conditioning and extraordinary stamina; great determination; and a much-improved technique by the end of his career.

Dempsey is the best boxer of all time... in the first round. He holds the record for most fights won by knockout in the first round. Virtually half of his knockouts occurred in the first round.
His style is a combination of power, speed, intensity, with extreme aggression. The Dempsey of Toledo, the best Dempsey before Hollywood, would be a danger to any boxer: he might win or lose, but he would be a significant threat. Dempsey's major flaw was his endurance. His style was very taxing on energy and aerobic capacity. His intensity dropped quite rapidly.

Jeffries is a fighter who wears opponents down, methodical and patient. Dempsey is explosive. To beat the Grizzly, the Mauler must knock him out or weaken him in the early rounds; otherwise, his opponent, bigger and heavier, and also more durable, will demolish him little by little.

 

Dempsey wasn't a wharfbrawler or an aged gymbox instructor or an aged trap setter... He was a come forward destroyer who could brutalize with both left and right. Jeffries would be cut to pieces and pounded down like a chicken breast.

KO4.

 

I think it's 50-50 very interesting match up, I'd favor Dempsey but Jeffries would be in it to the end.

 

Jeffries was shook up by both Fitz and an even less likely candidate in Corbett.

Jeff could take some but I’m not sure that Jeff’s chin was as well upheld as many believe.

Dempsey would easily find Jeffries, hitting him hard and often from opening bell.

IF Jeff could soak it, sure, his chances of winning would slowly increase thereafter.

Personally, I don’t see Jeff standing up to the early punishment, being KO’d or stopped by rounds 4 - 6. Dempsey too fast and punching too hard.

 

I’d favour Jeffries, who in spite of his clumsiness and leaky defense on the front foot, was an accurate puncher and likely an impenetrable brick wall that Dempsey couldn’t stop.

I personally doubt Dempsey hit substantially harder than Fitz, Choynski and Sharkey who hit Jeffries with the kitchen sink across multiple rounds. When Dempsey’s quick starting pace slows down and he begins feeling those consecutive body shots as well as the constant clinching, I think Jeffries would either finish Jack or win on points.

 

Interested in thoughts as to how Jeffries should approach this fight, crouch vs. stand-up, and also lighter-heavier. My understanding is that, under Ryan, Jeffries trained down for speed and, also, fought low to avoid body blows, which he disliked. Under Delaney, Jeffries rose in weight and also fought less low-stanced, finding that, with added weight, receiving body blows wasn't such an issue, and also finding that, even a bit heavier, he was faster when he fought less low.
I suspect that, on the whole, Jeffries was a better fighter under Delany's approach. Question is whether fighting more 'up' would give Dempsey more target.

 

Jeffries was versatile and adaptable. He sometimes boxed cautiously, and sometimes walked guys down and attacked. My guess is that knowing Dempsey was an attacker and very hard puncher, he would start off cautious, move, and counterpunch, as he did with Fitzsimmons in their first fight, using his jab to the head and right to the body, mix it up with some clinching and leaning, and go from there. He might change it up as the fight progressed, depending on his confidence in his ability to handle Jack's speed/power/volume. Or, he might sense that the best way to handle the forward aggression is to go in and smother and work the inside and lean his body weight on Dempsey and dig body blows. It's a heck of a fight between two really tough guys.

 

The Gibbons of the Dempsey fight would clown the best version of Jeffries. Far lesser skilled lightheavies gave Jim fits.

 

If Dempsey didn’t hit substantially harder than the likes of Choy, Fitz and Sharkey then it would hold that Jeff might cope with Dempsey’s power.

Just me but I personally think that Dempsey did hit that much harder than all 3 with a superior delivery system - including the argument that prime Dempsey had superior speed and movement.

Then there’s the question of Jeffries’ own power - a total of 45 rounds vs Sharkey without yielding a KO - yet Fitz turned the trick twice in less than a total of 10 rounds.

 

I can't see Jack doing a Willard on Jefferies; even the bigger Johnson had to beat on him for round after round before Jefferies went down.

Could Dempsey go 20 rounds? I don't think he ever went even 15 rounds in his career.
Might turn into a blood bath as Dempsey pounds on Jefferies who absorbs a lot of punishment while losing a decision.