Chuvalo In The Late 1890's/Early1900's How Far Could He Go?

Ruhlin.

Jeffries's footwork there did everything that it's supposed to do back then -- quickly close the gap without exposing him to punishment. He doesn't need to cut off the ring.

Ruhlin's running isn't exactly sticking and moving. It's running; he's not standing in jabbing/combinations range a lot of the time. And when he is, he gets hit.

Jeffries knows that Ruhlin will need to move into the danger zone to land any lead lefts, and he also knows that this is a long fight. You can't fight on the retreat as well with the type of lead left that people threw back then. Ruhlin would need to commit. So Jeffries follows Ruhlin around and waits for an opening. Whenever this opening appears, Jeffries quickly crosses an impressive amount of distance with his punches to land against Ruhlin. Notice that Ruhlin rarely manages to either stop or try to throw punches without Jeffries nailing him.

As for demonstrating strength, watch Jeffries shrug/shove Ruhlin off right before he lands the left to the body that knocks him down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNJpppvKfSQ

That is my take. The film's bad enough that it's hard to see everything, though.

 

I actually agree with Mendoza that Corbett could adapt to modern rules. His speed, reflexes, mobility, and the fact that he's a "thinking" fighter give him a larger margin of error than a lot of his contemporaries. I just don't see him using modern techniques.

I strongly disagree with Mendoza about Johnson. He'd beat Chuvalo pretty handily in the early 1900s, and I haven't seen anything on film that convinces me that Chuvalo is suited to those rules.

 

Thanks, McGrain. Glad to hear I'm not a delusional voice in the wilderness.

 

:huh

 

Fighters reach the era they do in their own era for a reason.

The eras may change, but the common attributes among the greats do not.

Some guys are unlucky in that they are born into the wrong era, but fighters who are generally loosing to the B tier of contenders, are simply not going to be world beaters in another era.

 

Look, I just finished an extremely good bio on William Muldoon and the man was way ahead of his time .. he stated pure and simple that the sport of boxing constantly was evolving for the better as is the natural nature of sport, at least to some degree ... however, he also said why this is true as a whole certain fighters would have adapted and excelled in any age while others were creatures of their era .. Many of the great fighters would have been great at later dates but many would not ..

 

That's the thing about posting on public forums: multiple people answer your posts.

If you're that shocked by me contributing to a thread in my area of interest, you could always conduct your conversation with Bummy via PM...

...Or put up a big sign that says "Private Thread: No Girls or Cross_Trainers Allowed!" like a kid in a treehouse club. Either works.

 

Thanks. This'll probably be one of my brief forays into ESB. Not sure how long I'll be back this time.

In any case, it's nice to see how things are going. You seem to be posting a little less these days as well, from what I've seen.

(Your posts seem just as insightful and well-written as ever, mind you, but less frequent. Eh, maybe it's just me.)

 

He's fighting for Scottish independence man! Who has time for boxing?