How long would Jeffries have held onto the title, if he wanted to continue

A long time, if he had continued to draw the colour bar.

It might even have been Willard who eventually dethroned him.

In practice however he retired for a reason.

The best available white challengers were not drawing big gates, and there didn't appear to be any sort of standout on the horizon.

It was coming down to Johnson or bust.

 

Public opinion was all that could have made him retire,increased pressure to fight Johnson would have made him hang up his gloves within a 1year/2 years of the Munroe farce.

 

So realistically what were his options?

Hart or Ferguson might have been a credible challenger going forward.

There was a bit of momentum behind Al Kaufman a few years later, and Philadelphia Jack O'Brien.

Go down under to fight Squires perhaps, or fight the British Champion in his own back yard.

 

Financially there were slim pickings among the white challengers.
Jeffries was disappointed at his purse for Munroe and retired because there was no decent money to be made off white challengers. Public opinion was increasingly becoming more strident and asking him to defend against Johnson.As Johnson improved and began collecting bigger scalps that public opinion, which wanted him to prove himself against the best regardless of race would have increased.
Since Jeffries had a pathological fear of losing his title to a black man,and knowing that if he did he would be forever known as the champion who lost to ,and therefore gave a black fighter the title ,he got out while the going was good.
There was never a chance that as the reigning champion he would consent to such a challenge.
Burns would not have been perceived as a viable match imo, too small, though he would not have had to chase Tommy halfway around the world as Johnson did.The way Burns disposed of Hart doesn't augur well for Marvin's chances against Jeffries,he was too easy to hit to beat Jeff imo, and his rep rests almost entirely on one highly controversial decision win over Johnson.
No Jeffries did the right thing ,he got out on top , undefeated and financially well fixed.
Coming back and bravely taking a sustained beating and the subsequent humiliation that accompanied it destroyed him mentally, and severely and unfairlyimo, damaged his reputation at the time,but at least he and his loyal followers could say,he was too old and had been out of the game too long to do himself justice.Had he continued as champ , fought Johnson and been beaten, his fall from grace would have been steeper and more longer lasting.

 

What if he actually fought Johnson around 1907 and beat him? That would make him clear case for top 5 HW ever in my opinion. He already has some really nice wins against Fitz (twice), Sharkey (twice), Ruhlin, Corbett (twice). Had he added Hart/O'Brien and Johnson or McVea, his resume would up to anyone not named Louis/Ali.

 

I agree.

In hindsight he should have fought Johnson as soon as he became the standout challenger, instead of waiting for him to get good!

He might as well have got McVea out of the way early as well!

The way to do it from Jeffries point of view, would be Johnson in 04, then go after McVea.

 

I think that was the thinking behind Frazier's camp taking the Foreman fight when they did,ie before his rough edges were polished.It didn't turn out too well.

 

Jeffries retired in 1904. if he stayed in shape, he could have been champion for years, probably until 1909. Remember Jeffries retired at age 29, and by that time was a better boxer. He had a transformation in style being more like Corbett, but with power.

I think if the purse was large enough, he would have crossed the color line. What fighters say and what they do changes when a big purse is there for them. Always has in boxing. The only person who stood on principal against $$$ was Ali, and he was brain washed by the black muslim group and given talking points.

Jeffries would have beaten Johnson in 1904, 1905, and 1906, I'm fairly certain of that.

 

Well there are two possibilities to this.

If Jeffries could have beaten Johnson in the right circumstances, then the sooner he takes the fight the better.

If Johnson would always have had his number, then I would say that he got out at about the right time.

If he could have beaten Hart but not Johnson, then it might have been worthwhile from a legacy standpoint, to take one last fight against Hart.

This would have given him a win over the heir to his throne, and the man who had beaten Johnson.

 

Correct. And i think that your second text was the case

 

That is another option of course.

Make terms with McVea before Johnson does.