Is this a winnable fight for Jeffries? Which version of him would best suit this matchup? Should he have a more aggressive, take one to give one attitude, or should he try and box with Jimmy?
Young from 75‘ - 77‘ was very hard to outbox. Boring but effective. Jeffries has to make it a war, to have any fair chance of beating him, and even then it will be tough, because Young is hard to KO. If its a 12 Rounder, I would go with Jimmy. 15-25 Rounder, Jeffries would break him down.
I will go with James J. Jeffries over Jimmy Young. If it is a 12 rounder, Jeffries would be more aggressive. In a 20-25 rounder, Jeffries would break him down slowly.
Why not the comedian? I don’t think he beats either Jim or Jimmy but let’s respect the concept of DEI. Also, in terms of equity, I don’t think that James J or Jimmy Young would’ve done particularly well at stand up - Jefferies has them easily beat in that realm of competition.
Young not only survived, he beat Lyle over 12 rds twice,and drew with Shavers.I'm not a Young fan but I don't see Jeffries stopping him and he couldn't box with Jimmy.imo
How likely do you think it is for Jeffries to use his aggression to outwork young and win a decision?
Not very,imo Jeffries was generally a reactive fighter,that doesn't work against a cutie like Young. Jeffries was an attrition guy,he wore you down,that worked against smaller older guys ,coming out of retirement,it wouldn't work against Young who was hit and survived it against Foreman,Lyle, and in the 2nd fight Shavers.
Jeffries was not a bigger puncher than Foreman, Lyle or Shavers. He could possibly win a decision if he fights the right fight. No KO.
Young makes Jeff look very bad throughout the fight in an ugly matchup. Jeff would at least attempt to keep it lively with his aggression, body shots, and walking Young down to try and time him with hooks. Unfortunately, his slower feet, hands, and older outdated technique and fundamentals wouldn't allow for him to land with much frequency on the cagey Young. I expect Young to take a decent lead and then hold onto that sticking with his risk averse style. The crowd would be very annoyed with the lack of action, clinching, and few solid shots landed by either guy. The problem with fighting Young is attempting to break him down or drain his gas tank is very difficult because he tended to have a lower punch output to begin with and was able to roll with or brace for shots at the last second. As such, I don't see a real route to victory for Jeff. You can forget about some miraculous come from behind KO given all the times Young managed to survive brawls with big punchers in his own era. And Jeff winning a decision is out of the question unless Young just gets into one of his discouraged and disinterested moods not really trying his best.
This would be about as exciting as counting grains of sand on the beach . Jeffries plodding after Young who refuses to engage and dances circles around him. I’m guessing that the winner would be determined by whatever the judges had for breakfast that day.
If anyone was to ask me, "Give me the most one-sided matchup you can think of that would go 15 rounds", then this would be one of them. A plodding, clubbing puncher who made his bones on shipping punishment to his face against a slick, slippery, speedy boxer with no punch and a great jaw and defense. I could not see Young losing a round over 15.
