The Jeffries fight was arguably Corbett's best performance, and he has the same stylistic advantages over Liston that Ali had. Albeit, much smaller and with less volume
I wouldn't say that. Smaller opponents have survived Liston before, and Corbett had a big speed advantage
What? Another crazy scenario? C'mon, Mel. This match-up, like some others, is not worth the effort of a response. I've been avoiding participating in these type of discussions, but enough is enough. You are wasting everybody's time. Come up with some arguably competitive match-ups.
You're completely right, I'm sorry I have no idea what I was thinking making this matchup. As if a chump like Liston would stand a chance against the great Gentleman Jim!
Mel, I respect your deference to the old timers, I have mucho respect for them myself. While Corbett might’ve posted an outstanding performance - it was still relative to his age and inactivity. It was also relative to Jeffries - who wasn’t necessarily aggressive for a good number of rounds. I also don’t know that Jeffries was that quick himself. As much as we can glean from available accounts and vision, Liston was a far better boxer with notably great power that he proactively employed....and there was his insane reach and consistently applied jab also - I personally think that the Maine version of Liston sees Jeffries 1 version of Corbett in 2-3 rounds maximum.
Do you think Liston's knee and shoulder problems could factor in? Liston, with the aid of many doctors, apparently tried postponing the Ali fight due to his injury. Do you think this increases Corbett's chances?
Nah. Corbett’s own prearranged parachute plan of having his second crawl into the force a DQ, saving Corbett from imminent death, will be enacted well before anything goes awry with Sonny. If you don’t want to miss a sure bet, you better not lay your money on Corbett.
Not sure if I agree, especially if the rules included a significantly extended period of rounds like everyone's favourite pantywearer was used to. What's most admirable about Corbett is his confidence; his absolute faith in his abilities despite doing some of the most r3tarded **** you've ever seen in a prize-ring is genuinely more of a compliment to Jim than an insult given how adamant the praise by Tunney, Loughran and Britt was. Those men had tremendous ability from the film we have of them, and their praise of Jim's IQ and speed was maintained across decades. Lighter weighted fighters seemed to be amazed by Corbett's speed, and he kept up the pace with some of the best of them in the speed and intellect department. There's a good chance Corbett was the last heavyweight to have such significant athletic intangibles before Ali came around, and I think their confidence in athletic ability despite making basic errors is comparable in that regard. With this context, I think there's little doubt that Corbett could survive a short distance fight with Liston. He'd almost certainly lose; Corbett had a 73 inch reach to Liston's 84 with that monstrous jab compared to Corbett's b!tchhits, he didn't have the power of Ali. I think he would be smart enough to realize he was outgunned and limit his output as significantly as he could and survive in a round length Sonny was used to pacing himself under, however in a long distance fight like 20+ rounds I think Jim just sprints and clinches while maybe throwing a few slaps at a time. By the time he's taken Sonny to waters that he's only been to, I think Liston would likely find himself a victim of the rear uppercut of doom.
Mel - anything related or relative to Corbett’s rear is ominous, I’ll give you that. As to some of Corbett’s moves, I’m not so harsh. Yes, some in their own right don’t look so great - but then you have to go to his fights against Fitz and his first fight against Jeffries for ultimate effectiveness. If we take Jim down a peg or two, then we’d have to do likewise with Fitz and The Boilermaker. A woefully inactive Corbett was thoroughly outboxing and beating Fitz up (including dropping him) until and including part way through the 6th round. The way I read that fight is that Jim began slowly but surely gassing thereafter which allowed Fitz to progressively take control. Of course old and again inactive Jim apparently outboxed Jeffries for many rounds before again starting to feel the pinch. Per reports he also apparently rocked Jeffries at some point - an eye opener since Corbett wasn’t considered a hitter while Jeffries was considered impervious even against the best of punchers. Perhaps Jim shares some common ground with Greb in so far some people not being too impressed with Harry’s training footage while, at the same time, being unable to refute his record and the quality of opposition he defeated. We only have one real fight of Corbett on film - and just before first bell Jim appears quite taken with being filmed - a real ham - Bob on the other hand looks like he couldn’t give a crap. Disinterested, Bob peels away while Jim remains fixed, still grinning at the camera. Maybe Jim deliberately tried to put on some “cute” moves for what was truly an historic, first time filming of a HW Title fight. Some of his footwork did appear reasonably fluid, some of his evasions not so fluid. Pretty cool to see Jim Jeffries (Corbett’s sparring partner as at the time) climbing into the ring at the end to aid the stricken Corbett - first time on film for Big Jeff. Sorry to waffle but gotta give the old timers their share of air time.
