If you mean he had a tremendous size advantage in 7 of his major fights then yes he did, it's undeniable.It doesn't mean he was a complete dub though, he was a very tough man who had some power.
I understand your argument. The point that you perhaps miss, is that Jeffries was a novice when he fought for the title, and basically learned on the job. On paper he was being thrown to the wolves. Were the sub 200 guys of that era supermen? Fitzsimmons certainly was, arguably the p4p goat. Sharkey was not, but Jeffries went into that fight with one arm out of action. Corbett was a cute spoiler. All of this is irrelevant though. Even if Jeffries was as bad as you say, he would still stand out as great based on his title reign!
He was no more of a novice than Corbett who had one less fight when he won the title. Jeffries had twice the amount of fights that Leon Spinks had and he had39lbs on Fitz and was 12 years younger ,I'd take that over experience!
He was a champion of opportunity. Had every opportunity to be great. Past prime contenders, mediocre contenders, the color line which allowed him to duck black fighters like Johnson at the end of his reign. I consider him a notch below atg. He could be a great top contender in most if not all eras but it would be very hard for him to win a title after 1960.
Both men’s levels of experience are hard to determine, when they won the title. I think that we have to consider Jeffries to be among the least experienced title challengers in the division’s history.
Both men's records have been extensively researched by Adam Pollack.Jeffries defended his title 7 times .4 of those defences were crap. Munroe was nothing,Finnegan was a joke,Ruhlin had been half killed by Fitzsimmons,Corbett was thoroughly washed up and hadn't fought in 3 years!
I have to pull you up on that. His "past prime contenders" were regarded as being much better than those of the previous era, and the subsequent era. If they were the best available, and he was fighting them regularly, then what more can you ask? The colour line likely gave him minimal advantage. For much of his reign, there wasn’t actually a black contender worth fighting him! There wasn’t much to duck until Johnson came along, and there was minimal overlap there. If he couldn’t win a title after 1960, then that would be irrelevant. He still had the best title reign before Joe Louis!
Munro was the contender that the media wanted him to fight. It was like "does he fight Johnson or Munro". Finnegan was a fringe contender. Ruhlin was the best contender available, given that Fitzsimmons declined the fight.
Who was this that regarded them as much better than those of the previous era, and the subsequent era? I am 100% certain that Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey were better contenders than past prime Corbett and Fitz. He ducked Jack Johnson and fought guys during his title reign that he had already beaten! It is completely relevant when considering if someone is an atg which is short for "All time great". Emphasis on the ALL TIME part. How can someone be great in every era without being great in every era or at least winning a title? I have to call bs there. Nah Dempsey's was better. Prime Brennan, Prime Carpentier, Prime Firpo, Prime Gibbons, and even Miske. Are better than prime Sharkey, prime Finnegan, past prime Corbett, prime Ruhlin, past prime Fitzsimmons, past prime Corbett, and prime Munroe. If you just look at prime fighters he fought Sharkey, Finnegan, Ruhlin, and Munroe, then Jeffries' resume looks a lot less dazzling. I think the names Fitzsimmons and Corbett just make some people excited when they read them. I wouldn't consider Marciano's win over Louis or Holmes' win over Ali to be very great. If we are going to start treating wins over past prime fighters as we do prime fighters then Holmes and Marciano get a significant legacy boost.
The color line was a cultural phenomenon. Jeffries was expected to announce he would not fight blacks. The American public of that time demanded this announcement from its white hwt champions. Lots of implications if a black were to beat a wht hwt champion and as such be able to claim superiority over the entire white race. Most that are uneducated about the subject blame the fighter....Jeffries, Dempsey etc when in fact this had little to do with the individual fighter. It was no accident that it took a CANADIAN, Burns, to give a black a title shot. As a Canadian he was unbound from Americas racist ways and the resulting phycological implications of a black becoming worlds hwt champion.
"I am going into this fight for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a Negro." - Jim Jeffries before the fight
From 25 and over rounds Nobody beats Jeffries.....for 15 rounds he beats most heavys...in a street fight no striker beats him...what moire does anyone want...agree to disagree with Mr d w with whom I'm usually on same page....thank you
