1904 James J. Jeffries vs 1882 John L. Sullivan

I think from what I have gleaned from fight reports Sullivan was the bigger puncher and usually the more aggressive.Jeffries was probably the most durable heavyweight up to, and including his era.I pick Jeff and Id like to be there!

 

I remember seeing two quotes by Sullivan (c. 1902-1904) that bare on this subject. One concerned he (specifically, as he was at his best, in the 1880's) versus (the present) Jeffries, and he said that Jeffries would have certainly won. Sullivan said his (own) mode was to go tearing in, and this would not have succeeded against a heavyweight of Jeffries punching power, strength and modern science. Sullivan cited the advance of boxing along with Jeffries individual qualities.
And around the same period Sullivan made a comment on the current heavyweight crop, acknowledging their quality while asking that the fighters of his own day not be discounted, ending by saying roughly 'Oh, to be twenty-two again!'
I take these two comments together to mean that Sullivan thought that the present champion (Jeffries) would have, in the composition of his native ability and modern boxing science, been beyond the powers which Sullivan had possessed twenty years earlier; but that Sullivan would have relished coming along in the present day, gotten on the same playing field and made challenge of that days quality.

 

Without sufficient footage of either man, I am unwilling to make a judgement. However, Jeffries was clearly susceptible to getting hit. His defense was clinching.

If Ruby Robert really did come that close to stopping him, I suspect Sullivan could to. Does Sullivan finish what Fitz started? I think so. I couldn't prove it though.

Sullivan always struck me as a very natural fighter. Jeffires, conversely, struck me as a natural athlete with a tremendous pain threshold. Those are different things.

 

Very interesting post. Impressive.

 

Thank you. I enjoy fighters of every generation. I believe they are all meant to be cherished.

 

Do you cherish Adrian Broner?

 

Hahahahahahahaha!

What a disappointment that clown has been.

 

John L out boxing opponents really ? you must be getting confused with his rival JJ Corbet no ? of all the dozens of articles I have read about JLS over 50 years, nether have I seen in print he was a boxer ( as against slugger ) as for a fighter of around the 1890s being any thing but a boxer, I doubt very much, now Louis or Ali they were boxers, not the grappling shoving ( from what I have read ) Sullivan. keep well buddy.

 

Thanks for the kind words. I said outbox Jeffries, and no one else, as Jeffries was routinely out boxed, outslugged, out grappled or whatever by more than a few of his opponents. He was easy to hit and was smashed and bloodied by Corbett and others. His modus operandi was to outlast the other guy, no matter how much punishment it took. Johnson threw him around like a rag doll. I think Sullivan could as well.

Stay safe, amigo.

 

It's unanswerable.

To the extent that we can even throw out guesses, I'll go with Jeffries. He came from an era when boxing was bigger, more organized, more globalized, and had had 20+ years to adapt to MQ rules. Ironically, Jeffries enjoyed all of these advantages because Sullivan had built Jeffries's sport into a massive business in the first place.

Sullivan apparently agreed with me about his chances, so that's also nice. And Jeffries has almost the same size and weight advantage against Sullivan as he did against Sharkey.

But really, who knows.

 

Like your style hombre, will look out for your posts in the future.

 

His nose was broken he had deep gashes above and below his eyes and his mouth was cut.That would not be allowed to continue today.
I agree Jeffries was never in danger of hitting the deck, and he said it never occurred to him that he might lose.

 

Fitzsimmons punched himself out. If he were younger the onslaught would have persisted. I understand you had to kill an opponent to end it, but Jeffries was suffering a lot of abuse and had no recourse but to wait for Fitz to tire.

 

Sharkey went very close to beating Jeff, JohnL was similar in style, faster,and hit harder in my opinion, he was also 3 inches taller and heavier, you have to imagine he could beat Jeffries. The one caviat is that we don't know if Sully could survive 25 rounds of attrition against a beast like Jeff, but I think I'll side with the older fighter.