Corbett vs. Jack Johnson

Was thinking about this at work the other day, would be a chess match starting off and end with johnson clearly winning rounds. And WTF is Corbett wearing vs courtney...

 

Corbett UD. He has quicker feet, and a higher punch out put. Corbett was very hard to catch cleanly on the head. Corbett did not let anyone clinch him at will.

Johnson did not hit harder than say Choynski or Jackson, neither of whom could stop Corbett even though they landed hard a few times.

This fight might look a bit like Johnson vs O'Brien, except Corbett was much tougher and hit harder than O'Brien, so Johnson would have to respect him.

Remember O'Brien out jabbed Johnson. He was the lone skilled guy in terms of being a boxer that Johnson fought while he was in his prime...and the results speak volumes.

 

I've been thinking about this fight the past couple days. I really don't know who would have won.
I don't think Corbett would have hit Johnson very hard. I don't think Corbett punched very hard unless his guy was in some trouble. Also, a lot of guys who tried to hit Johnson hard got discouraged in a hurry.

(I'd been thinking about Johnson-Corbett in conjunction with my poll on Jeffries vs Johnson: Who is greater? I can come up with reasons to favor Johnson, yet I wonder if Johnson could have taken '99 Sharkey (give Johnson a bum left), '00 Corbett and '02 Fitzsimmons? Plus a lot of observers felt Jeffries really got it all together _after_ that trifecta).

 

This fight was actually very close to happening. Over 10 rounds from memory, but talk stopped around about the time that Jeffries finally agreed to come out of retirement. Obviously Johnson was a near certainty at this time.

I am pleasantly surprised that Corbett seems to be given his chance here by most. Interestingly, he would have probably start favourite (prime for prime) by most (though not all) who witnessed both eras. I am not so sure but this fight could certainly go either way.

 

Wow!! John L on film. never seen that before!

Anybody with any kind of boxing skills beats Jack like a red headed step child. Anyone that can do anything about his wide swinging and standing there with his hands down below his belt line would smack that stupid smile clean of his face! His success was based on brute force with a little bit of size favor thrown in with it. JJ Had NO idea how to box. Im not sayin Corbett beats him but he seems to hold his hands a little higher and it looks as if hes heard of a jab as well so i may pick Corbett to win a fight I wouldnt spend a nickel to see.

 

An odd posting. Jack knew expertly the art of blocking and parrying, sidestepping, judged distance very well, and had little need to keep his hands higher against the foes of his day. He didn't move quickly forward gracefully because of the way he kept his back foot but he did that for balance and while he wasn't adapt at slipping he knew how to make punches miss in close, so yeh he had some idea about how to box. Corbett had so much in his movements that today would be amateurish but in his time of looping punchers his straighter ones were standouts. His jabs would easily have been picked off by Jack and inside it would have been all Johnson.

 

I do not quite understand what is being said above - Johnson not a power puncher? Johnson lacked speed? Not sure if I'm reading that correctly as he was quicker and knocked out a smaller Stanley Ketchel with a super combo in Rd 12 of their 1909 fight. He landed both dukes and wiped out the smaller and supposedly quicker fighter (mind you JJ had peppered his face and bloodied it up by the 9th round so he was clearly the faster puncher all fight long). It has been said by some boxing historians that Johnson's KO punch was the hardest punch in history. With that in mind, doesn't it follow that he could or would have had similar success with a bigger and slower Corbett?

I'm not saying Corbett didn't have a chance. Only that it appears that some are saying above that Corbett was faster and Johnson lacked power to overcome him which doesn't quite seem right to me.


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Corbett may have around the same height and reach but prime for prime he would be conceding over twenty pounds to Johnson.
Johnson man handled a lot of men who were considerably bigger than himself, let alone Corbett.Jeffries , Kaufman Ferguson.Martin, Klondike, McVey to name a few.

Corbett was more mobile because he depended on his legs to avoid punches, Johnson didn't move as much because he didn't have to, his anticipation , blocking ,and parrying of punches was excellent.

Johnson said Corbett had faster feet than himself, but claimed his hands were quicker.

Johnson was bigger stronger, and more durable, he also hit appreciably harder.

Corbett's draw with an injured Jackson is also somewhat misleading as a guide to his stamina , contemporary reports state there was little action and what there was slowed to a walk after the halfway mark.

Fitz wore Corbett down after a promising start by the Irish American why couldn't Johnson do so?

Fitz was 157lbs for that fight and kod Corbett with one body shot. Jack would wear Jim down in the clinches and take the steam out of his legs with uppercuts inside.

At long range it would be Corbett continually on the move as Johnson stalked him do you think he could keep one jump ahead of Jack and avoid being caught for 45rds?

He couldnt do it for 14 rds against a middleweight.
Corbett went 23rds with Jeffries in probably his best effort .
21 rds with a shot Sullivan.
27 rds with a novice Choynski. and into the 14th with Fitz.
The 61 rds draw with Jackson was stopped with nether man being in a condition to mount a winning effort.


Johnson went 26 rds with Giant Willard when he was 37 .
Beat Pat Lester over 15 rds when he was 48.
Beat Tom Cowler over 15 rds when he was 41.
Went 20 rds to beat Moran when he was a fat 36.
Went 10rds when he was 50 years old.
20 rds when he was 36.
And before he was champ, went 20 rds x10 times.

Corbett has nothing on Johnson for stamina.

The idea that Corbett would hold his own in the clinches is not supported by their results. Corbett was never an inside fighter, crude Sharkey gave him hell up close and Fitz did too.
Neither were Johnson's master at inside work.
If this fight is fought at long range who is going to be doing the running ,and who is going to be doing the stalking ?

The runner will be tired before the stalker and over 45 rds he will not be running, he will be walking, that man will be Corbett. Corbett named Johnson as" The Emperor Of Fistiana", bot he and Sharkey said he was the finest defensive fighter of them all.

For his part Johnson called Corbett The Father of Modern Boxing. I think Johnson was an improvement on Corbett as far as boxing ability goes, he didn't move as much simply because it wasn't necessary for him to do so.

Simply put he beats Corbett by a stoppage in the latter part of the fight, once Jim's legs have begun to tire, and he becomes a more stationary target.
The 45rds distance is a big factor in deciding the winner of this fight fight imo.

 

O Brien fought an untrained Johnson for 6rds in a no decision fight that Johnson could not lose unless the light punching O Brien knocked him out, hardly likely.. The smaller faster man boxed on the move , whenever Johnson got close to him O Brien was manhandled and punished. Over 6 rds O Brien had the elusiveness,and skills to keep away from anyone. This fight is over 45 rds with both men in prime shape. It is an entirely different scenario, as unbiased posters would recognize. Jack Johnson fought many skilled men, Denver Ed Martin with his 81.5" reach was an excellent jabber . George Gardner was noted for his jab. Joe Jeannette also.
The Courtney bout was an exhibition for the film camera.
The only film of Corbett in an actual fight sees him ko'd with one punch by a man scaling
157lbs .

Johnson had around 100 fights over 4 decades, Corbett, a listed 21. As to who has the most experience of varying styles it's a no brainer.

Which ,given who I am replying to is rather apt.

 

Very interesting fight. Out of all the champions who came along before him,Corbett would be the one to give Johnson the most trouble. Both master boxers would be looking to capitalise on the other man's mistakes. Maybe Jack's superior power would swing it for him in a very close one.