One thing that strikes me when I watch Jeffries is that he's very reliant on his left hand. He moved very well for his size and he wasn't reckless when he hurt Ruhlin - maybe that's why he's not among the best finishers?
Ruhlin was retired on his stool ,Fitz had half killed Gus 5 months earlier. You're right about him relying on his left. It was believed Ruhlin had a meltdown,panic attack against Jeffries, who shook him badly early on with a hook to the body,Ruhlin claimed it was a foul, the referee totally discounted this idea. This is the only snippet of film in which we see a prime Jeffries being the aggressor and intiating the action.
Ruhlin took a bad beating but the extent of his injuries seem to have been really exaggerated, both in the reports at the time and in the years since. . He basically seems to have been badly marked up and bruised, and went to Everhardt baths where he slept a lot. You can find interviews in the days after of him commenting on how exaggerated it all was.
He was too ill to be moved from MSG and spent the night there on a cot with a Doctor in attendance. He then spent a week at Billy Madden his managers house ringside reports state he was unconscious for 12 minutes after the stoppage.There are plenty of contemporary accounts ,I don't know why you would discount them.Gilbert Odd has a detailed report in his book on Fitz.
I like the strength of how Jeffries pushes Ruhlin when he attempts to cover up/clinch - very explosive. However he is reliant on his left hand in the clip. Also not sure how that low guard would translate just a generation later.
In earlier clips of the fight ,Jeffries doggedly advances towards Ruhlin with his left glove down below his waist ,wide open for right hands.
Yes from footage I’ve seen I don’t think Jeff’s style translates very well at all beyond the era he fought in. But i feel that way with many old timers - pre Dempsey. Obviously Johnson with his defense would do better but I believe the sport made big jump in evolution during the 20s.
I've gone through loads of reports, many of the next day reports mention he was taken to Everhard's baths after the fight. It was obviously a bad knock out, but it really seems to have caused a frenzy of hyperbole, and multiple reports mention him getting taken to turkish baths or Everhard baths after the fight. The Brooklyn Citizen- 11 Aug 1900 (page 1) RUHLIN IS CHIPPER TO-DAY. Story that the Pugilist Died of His Injuries Is False. SPENT THE NIGHT AT BATHS. This Morning He Went to Madden's Home—The Crowd of Newsboys and Others Gave Him an Ovation at the Other End of the Bridge—Believed to Have Been Over-trained. Gus Ruhlin, the Akron Giant, who was defeated by Robert Fitzsimmon at Madison Square Garden last night, and for several hours after the fight was at times unconscious, and in great distress, is to-day out of danger. After he got to his dressing room last night he collapsed again, and became as unconscious as he was when the Cornishman put him to sleep in the ring. His manager, Billy Madden, and one of his trainers, Charley Goff, put him into a carriage and took him to Everard's Baths in West Twenty-sixth street. After his arrival there he again became unconscious and as he did not revive with the application of the simple restoration at hand, Dr Guy D. Lombard was called in. The physician remained with him until 4 o'clock, by which time he had permantly recovered consciousnes. The physician made an examination of Ruhlin and said he was in no danger but that he had better remain and rest until daylight. He said he was satisfied there were no internal injuries. The pugilist, he said, was merely suffering from shock as the result not only of the many blows he received in the solar plexus but also when his head struck the floor the last time he was knocked down. Ruhlin and Madden left the baths at 6:30 o'clock this morning, saying they were going to Madden's home in Seventy-sixth street, Brooklyn. A paper in Manhattan printer a story to the effect that Gus Ruhlin had died as the result of the injuries he sustained at the hands of Bob Fitzsimmon last night. Another paper published a otry of the Akron giant having left Billy Madden's houe on Seventy-seventh street for Philadelphia. Instead of being a corpse, however, Gus Ruhlin was very much alive this morning. After he arose from bed, which was about 8 o'clock, he sat down to an exceedingly substantial meal consisting of a porterhouse steak and potatoes. He complained of no illness, and in fact did not seem to be disturbed in the least by the distressing ordeal he had just passed through. At 9:30 o'clock Ruhlin, accompanied by Billy Madden, was seen at the corner of Seventy-seventh street and Third avenue. When a car bounded along marked New York, Ruhlin jumped on the step very spryly. He seemed as strong as ever. At about 11 o'clock Ruhlin boarded Third avenue car going in the direction of Harlem. A number of newsboys at the corner end of the bridge recognised him and set up for a cry that Ruhlin was around and in a few minutes hords of these youngsters, as well as many other people followed the car and gave him an ovation. The defeated fighter spoke to several of his friends who noticed him and to them he said he felt in good condition considering the curcumstances. Ruhlin's collapse, which is attributed by his attending physician to the severe beating he received, is looked upon by experienced handlers as a proof that he was either over, or undertrained. Ther former idea is the more believed, as it is said the strongest of men will give way after powerful exertion if they are over-trained. But Ruhlin is not the sort of man who worries over a defeat or a trouncing. He takes such events as a matter of course and then dismisses them from his mind. His most ardent friended who are in a position to know say that he was over-trained. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle- 11 Aug 1900 (page 18) RUHLIN ONLY BRUISED. Loser Up and About To-day—Fitz Got $15,750 as His Share. All rumors that Ruhlin was in bad hape as a result of his terrible beating at the hands of Fitzsimmons last night were set at rest by the appearance of the loser both in South Brooklyn and in Manhattan to-day. After leaving the Turkish bath in Manhattan Ruhlin went to his manager's home, in Bay Ridge, this morning, at 5:30 o'clock. He was around the house awhile and then he and his manager, Billy Madden, went to the other side of the river again to deposit their receipts on this fight. Ruhlin was badly bruised in many places and his face looked as if he had been sliding downstairs on it. His profuse bleeding during the battle worried his friends, but his manager declared that he did not have a hemmorrhage, as reported. The World- 11 Aug 1900 (page 2) [extremely hard to read] Dictated to an Evening World Reporter BY GUS RUHLIN I see I am dead or dying from the result of my fight with Fitz last night. Well, I am not. I am [unreadable] all right, for Fitz gave me lots of fight and I think he can punch the hardest blow that ever landed on me. I lost as you know. I did my best under the circumstances, but I was not in anything like the shape that I was in when I met Sharkey. I went sstale and the hard body blows I got in the second round took the steam out of me. . . . HOW A KNOCKOUT FEELS. I didn't feel the knockout blow really, I couldn't even tell where it landed. The bright light disappeared and a dazzling flash seemed to replace it. My mind was clear and I could hear the shouting but I couldn't move. The next thing I knew I was in the dressing-room. I did not fully regain my faciltied until I had come from the Turkish bath. Now I realize my mistake in giving myself too much work I have paid the penalty which is defeat. But I will meet any of the big fellows as soon as I have had a month's rest and will have $5,00 backing. If Fitz will give me another chance I should be glad to meet him. If I do, I think there will be another story of the fight. The Buffalo Review- 13 Aug 1900 (page 2) NOT BADLY HURT. Stories of Ruhlin's Condition Were Greatly Exaggerated. NEW YORK. Aug 12.—Gus Ruhlin is not in a bad way, notwithstanding the report os sensational newspapers, and in two or three days he will be in as good condition as he had ever been. In order effectually to dispel all misunderstanding on the part of the public caused by the printed misstatements yesterday, a reported visiter the hom of William Madden, 318 Seventy-sixth Street. Brooklyn and interviewed the manager of the fighter on Ruhlin's condition. "I cannot understand how any paper could have printed any such fakes about Ruhlin," said Madden with emphasis. "While Ruhlin was exhausted and tired as the result of hi punishment , the heat and his overtraining, still he was never at any time in danger of collapse, either temporary or permanent, at any stage of the game. After he was taken to the Everhard baths and had rested there a while after the fight, he was taken to my home and had a long and refreshing sleep. "When he got up he went for a walk, then drank a couple glasses of beer and got a pencil and paper and figured out his share of the receipts of the fight. The he returned to my house and rested for the remainder of the day. He went to bed by 9:30 o'clock in the evening and was sound asleep in a few minutes. You can say to the New York public that in a day or two Ruhlin will be in as good condition as ever. There was absolutely no foundation to the sensational reports that have been published."
I think Burns looks pretty good,light on his feet, moves in and out very easily,has a good judgement of distance , shows good anticipation,and respectable power,which he knows how to create opeings for. Apart from the power , can you say the same for Jeffries?
Not impressed by this. Not at all. But it's only a snippet. It has no context. So, I am not going to judge harshly.
Jeffries was left handed, and leaned on that left jab and left hook almost exclusively. That's why (I don't have the exact words in front of me) that Johnson said he knew how to deal with Jeffries' left and wasn't worried about the right hand.