Cleveland Williams vs. Jeffries

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Melankomas, Nov 19, 2025 at 11:36 AM.


Who would win?

  1. Cleve

    6 vote(s)
    46.2%
  2. Jeff

    7 vote(s)
    53.8%
  1. Melankomas

    Melankomas Prime Jeffries would demolish a grizzly in 2 Full Member

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    Two prominent left hookers, who wins?
     
  2. mr. magoo

    mr. magoo VIP Member Full Member

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    Two very dissimilar eras to make any fair or accurate prediction
     
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  3. Mandela2039

    Mandela2039 OFFICIAL THREAD DIDDLER Full Member

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    Cleveland Williams wins VIA evolution and protein bars
     
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  4. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak banned Full Member

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    Williams would eat him alive.
     
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  5. McCallumsJab

    McCallumsJab Member Full Member

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    If you can't see boxing evolved from the 1910s, nevermind the 1900s into the 1950s then you need a trip to specsavers
     
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  6. Devon

    Devon Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Jeffries is a sitting duck for those combinations of Williams.
     
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  7. Melankomas

    Melankomas Prime Jeffries would demolish a grizzly in 2 Full Member

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    Poll is even right now, it’s a hard fight to predict for me. Cleve is just on another level of explosiveness, speed, size and power that Jeff has ever encountered. However, he isn’t particularly mobile and will be taking the fight to Jeffries which is Jeff’s favourite type of fight. Assuming his chin holds up and survives the early onslaught, I can see him slamming those short hooks on the inside before eventually finishing Williams. Getting on the inside comes with plenty of risks here, though.
     
  8. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    This.

    However I am probably going to take the guy who was beating elite fighters from the opening gate, over the guy who generally came up short in his biggest fights, even in his prime.
     
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  9. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    But of course Sullivan twenty years earlier would have killed Williams.
     
  10. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak banned Full Member

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    Sullivan was a force of nature, a top of the food chain predator who didn't play about with his feed.
     
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  11. mr. magoo

    mr. magoo VIP Member Full Member

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    That’s reasonable. I generally don’t contemplate these types of matches anymore. Things like glove size, ring size, the rules, the training methods, the techniques widely used by fighters of one era as opposed to another and the weight parameters dictating placement of divisions were just way too different in 1900 than they were in 1960. Williams might be shocked by a man who can fight for 25 rounds in one evening while Jeffries might be equally surprised by a 6’2 215 lb man who can throw a lightening fast left hook like Cleveland . At the end of the day they fought in two different sports that just happened to have the same name.
     
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