Can Sullivan,Corbett,Fitz,Jeffries,& Hart Truly Be Called "World" Champions?

Seriously ? A hint ... JL.

 

HaHaHa!

 

All of those men made multiple conflicting statements about what they would and wouldn't do.

In Sullivan's case, he even arranged a title defense against a black challenger, who didn't show up!

The name Jackson seems to be cropping up a lot here.

I think that he is the elephant in the rooom.

Jeffries I have held up as the exception here.

I wouldn't approve of his decision, but I would probably accept him as a legitimate champion, based on how he won the titles.

What he then chose to do with them after that, would not impact my judgment.

 

Sullivan, Corbett, Fitz, Jeffries, Hart, Willard, Dempsey and Tunney all deserve asterisks next to their names and championship reigns for drawing the color line.

Sullivan stands alone as he really was not a heavyweight champion M of Q man like the rest but a hinge to it .. he was already clearly past his prime by mid 1883 and held on to his title as it was under morphing circumstances .. whatever, he clearly wanted no part of Jackson who would have likely thrashed from about 86 forward if such a match would have been made. Muldoon is quoted as saying in his bio while training Sullivan for Kilran that he did Sullivan a big favor by avoiding a Jackson match. There you go. How a prime , 1882 version of Sullivan, raw and wild but fast and murderously punching would have done , who knows ? Goddard gave Pete trouble so it would have been interesting.

Corbett did fight an injured Jackson under terms he was able to dictate and then clearly wanted no part of a rematch. TO his credit though he did fight Peter at all ..

Fitz , whatever.

Jeffries suffered the most because I feel he was even money to beat Johnson in 04 or 05 , chose not to fight him and was disgraced at the end of an otherwise terrific career. He certainly would have done much much better tan he did in 1910.

Willard won the title and did not fight Wills who may have been too much for him.

Dempsey is documented to death and Tunney never even fought one black fighter.

 

I don't think that we can consider Jackson to be in the picture any earlier than 1888, which means that there was very little overlap between him and Sullivan.

 

Wrong again. Baer was part Jewish. Bear was up to fight Max Scheming as he wanted to show the world a jew could beat a German in a fair fight.

[url]https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/max-baer[/url]

[url]https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-this-day-a-heavyweight-champ-is-born-1.5229301[/url]

 

Hart fought Johnson and beat him. His reign did not last long enough to fight anyone else.

Fitz fought Harris Martin and Straight Rollins. After beating Corbett, he defeated one other guy and lost. Which contender of color did he duck?

Corbett fought a prime Peter Jackson and offered him a re-math in New Orleans or Jacksonville. Jackson balked. His fault, and no security was not an issue.

Jeffries fought Hank Griffin 2x ( once as champion ) Bob Armstrong, Peter Jackson and returned old to defend his lineal title vs Jack Johnson

YOU SUCK.

 

You said Baer did not have Jewish blood. Wrong again. How many links would you like? Bahahaha. Time to change out this punching bag...I've got better things to do today.

 

I disagree .. an argument could be made for 86 or 87. He was certainly far superior to what Sullivan was fighting .. even 88 cuts four years off his reign and legacy .

 

I happen to like both of you guys (McV and Mend) but you remind me of this old Star Trek ..

This content is protected

 

He wasn't even fighting in the United States in 86 and 87, and he was behind other fighters in the que.

There is simply no way that the fight was going to be made, until 88 or later.

 

Beyond '88, Sullivan was a mixed bag. He was retired and then not retired. He drew the color line and then said he would fight Jackson. He was deathly sick and then recovered. A good percentage of those who witnessed Jackson fight thought he would not be a match for John L but then again, the question is did he DESERVE the match-up.