Had Jeannette Been Champion Would he Have Defended Against Johnson?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by mcvey, Feb 10, 2014.


  1. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    Two months after beating McVey, Jeannette lost to Sandy Ferguson!
     
  2. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    Oh , that's a relief, I thought it might be a serious book with real proof in it,and I would have to revise my opinions, no change then.:lol:
     
  3. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    All due respect McVey, but that's a ridiculous thing to say. The book is absolutely packed with primary sources. It's biased certainly, and a weak read in places, but it's full to the brim of reprinted newspaper articles.

    Unless there is some proof or accusation that they are made up, there's absolutely no reason not to take it seriously.


    But if you have Johnson twice signing to actually fight Jennette, why would the notion of offers from three countries be disturbing?
     
  4. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    I haven't read the book only extracts and I found some glaring inaccuracies in the little I did read. I'm allowed to be facetious occasionally.
    No doubt Jennete,[ and Mark is it?] will be along to boost it further.

    It isn't in the least disturbing to me . I neglected to say both the vetoed fights I mentioned were due to take place in the US .

    I've never read a concrete offer for a Johnson v Langford /Jeannette/McVey title fight, that involved what the boosters of those challengers call "big money". I've seen a lot of newspaper talk about defences in Russia in 1915. [yeah good luck with that.]$100,000 for a fight in Aussie I simply take it with a pinch of salt. Mr Botti who wrote the Jeannette book is good friends with "Jennette" who has recently graced us with his presence USA! This blurb from the book did catch my eye.

    "Jennette was unable to secure a title shot due to the fact that the world was fixated with finding a Caucasian boxer to defeat Jack Johnson in the "great white hope" era. "
     
  5. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    Well, Johnson said he would meet any man in the world for 30k and signed to meet Jennette in NY for 25k plus add ons. So that was his price I guess.
     
  6. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    I wonder if it was the fight that was cancelled?
     
  7. mattdonnellon

    mattdonnellon Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    I'll put my hand up and say(not admit) that I'm a Johnson fan, I like his balls. I think from around 1905-1910 he was in his era invincible, as dominating as any champion ever, Sullivan his only competitor.
    He had easily defeated the best fighters white and black and hadn't truly a decent contest after the Hart fight. He was a relative slow beginner, learning on the hoof and needing a bit of bulk for his effective spoiling, man-handling style to go with his speed, reflexes, ring intelligence and power. He might have suffered in later eras where the average contender was bigger, and stronger but in that time frame nobody had that mix of skill and strength.
    All this the regular posters know while there are no facts only opinions, I don't give anyone much chance of winning as much as a few rounds off Jack in that time frame. Personally I don't think it's given that McVey or Jeannette beats Burns, circa 1906-10. Sam I would be fairly confident of.
    The point of this rambling text is that we really don't know, or ever will know, how good the Johnson of 1911-15 was or could be, well I suppose we know he was fairly good, able to cope with the Moran's of the world but Moran was pretty average. His Moran and Jim Johnson performances would not beat title challenging and conditioned Langford, McVey or Jeannette. The question is could he step up to his 1910 level? If he could he'd beat all three handily IMO.
    The losing display against Willard suggests that Jack could still step up to the mark but we'll never know, hence these threads.
     
  8. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    The fight that was cancelled was 25k, yes.