How washed up was Jim Jeffries

No deception on my part.
I've taken this from the link, in good faith , I would be a fool to do otherwise as I wanted it to be verifiable.


Because Jeffries was in L A could he not also be in Chicago in Jan ?

I know there were no jets ,but he wasnt exactly travelling by horseback was he.

I am unfamiliar with the distances involved as I am English. If you are right ,then I am wrong . Baseball is unfathomable to me at the best of times.

 

What part of my earlier post do you not understand?
Ive never said Jeffries was still the" California Grizzly Bear.".
A trawl through my posts will verify this,and I'm getting a bit pissed off with your inuendos. I talk straight, I am not allways right ,[ neither by the way are you, you alleged Marciano had his front teeth taken out by Louis,when in fact he had a bridge,[see how misleading a photo can be?]
You also poured scorn on my contention that Burns jaw was swollen up to nearly twice its normal size , saying he would look like a Hippo , [news reports confirm I was correct].

,but I am honest and straight forward.
I found some pictures that appeared to suggest,Jeffries must have shed his weight a lot earlier than is commonly supposed ,[and I am taking your word for the provenance of the photos ],are you not prepared to take mine?

 

I cant believe some of the contentions being made in this thread.

Did i honestly see somebody write that Jeffries was better off taking the time off because his body was not involved in taxing wars? That just defies belief. Surely i misread that one, I wonder if any of you guys expect Ike to be released from jail and clean up the division because he has been looking after himself by not fighting while this silly Klitchskos have been taxing their bodies by training and fighting.

 

Was there any call by the public for jack to fight johnson or is it a revisionist claim of ducking?

 

Sixteen months from the fight though and not 300lbs.

New York University Journal of Law & Liberty [Vol. 5:270

On July 4, 1910, James “Jim” Jeffries stepped into the ring to
fight John “Jack” Arthur Johnson. Jeffries was the former heavyweight
champion of the world. In May 1905, he retired undefeated
from boxing because no white man was left to fight him.​

​

2 Johnson

was the heavyweight champion of the world. He was black and the
only man who could arguably challenge him was Jeffries.​

​

3

​

​

Sixteen months earlier, Jeffries explained the motivations for his
return to the ring: “I feel obligated to the sporting public at least to
make an effort to reclaim the heavyweight championship for the
white race. . . . I should step into the ring again and demonstrate​

that a white man is king of them all.”
Jeffries had decided quite a while earlier and ,began to train accordingly, to suggest that he lost 300lbs in a year is disingenous to say the least
.
​

 

Where standins were used I believe I've noted it.
I've seen re-enactments with some big lump and another guy whose only qualification to impersonate Fitz was the fact that he was bald.
Jeffries did in fact re-enact his bout for the cameras with the real Fitz.
I haven't seen it myself.

 

There was media interest in matching Jeffries with Johnson, Martin and McVea, at various times.

 

This was written by the Editor of the L A Times.
"The color line gag does not go now.It is "pay or play" in the fighting business.Johnson has met all comers in his class ; has defeated each and everyone one.

Now he stands ready to box for the world's championship.
he is a man who would wear that honour with decent grace,if it fell on his shoulders.

The public, through the daily newspapers,demands a fight for the championship,on behalf of Jack Johnson.

Jeffries must heed the call he wants one hard fight ,to show he is in that exalted position by ability as well as by the kindness of nature.

Johnson is the man who will give him a chance to show the best that is in him
If he can beat the negro ,Jeff need never fight again.`"

This was just after Johnson's easy defeat of Mcvey for the second time.

W Naughton ,writing in the Police Gazette.

" By beating Sam Mcvey again the other night ,Jack Johnson the dusky hero of a score of fights,has placed himself in a position to,legitimately claim a fight with Jim Jeffries
There does not appear to be a ringman in all the wide area where pugilism holds sway with sufficient inches and heft to meet the worlds champion,other than Johnson".

This was written on the 28th of September 1903, of course Jeffries ignored this and, defended is title against 8-3-2 Jack Munroe instead.
Then retired.

 

Not really. Not like they were for say, a Sullivan vs Jackson fight. There were some sportswriters who wanted to see the color line broken and Johnson was their best candidate at the time. But from what I've read the public pretty much looked upon Johnson as a boring, safety-first fighter and weren't too excited about him against Jeffries (or anyone for that matter). He didn't produce the thrills that Peter Jackson did decades earlier.

 

Interesting stuff guys. It never occured to me that johnson was ducked by jeffries.

It's a shame after such a great career he became a woeful champ.

 

You are missing the point. Whether his weight was in the 270s 16 months before the fight, or the 300s 24 months before the fight makes little or no difference. The fact is that during his time away from the ring he BALLOONED well out of the healthy range of his fighting weight. That takes a toll on a person regardless of age, activity, or occupation. To suggest that simply because he had months to drop all of that weight he was fine and dandy is ridiculous. It would be bad enough had he only been out of the ring five years and still maintained his conditioning. As it was he was out of the ring five years and got fat as a pig. Losing that weight takes something out of you, and the means by which you gain so much fat is detrimental in itself, in short he obviously wasnt eating salads.

 

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He also became quite a cigarette smoker as well in his retirement ... could not have helped ..

 

You are missing the point [yet again] I never suggested he was fine and dandy, now show me ONE POST OF MINE WHERE I do so.

Jeffries had 18months to lose whatever weight he had gained.

He probably drained himself by losing it too quickly ,but he was not anywhere near 300lbs by the middle of 1909.

For the first time in his life Jeffries found himself in the ring with a man who was not only his equal in strength, size, but superior in boxing ability and, in a total reversal to what he was accustomed to, was in his prime whilst he was demonstrably past his.

George Foreman retired at 27 came back 10 years later, 40 to 50lbs heavier ,went 12rds with the world's champion without sitting on his stool once, and gave him an interesting evening into the bargain. He was 40lbs over what he had been when he won the title 18years earlier but he did it the right way, he took numerous tuneups, gradually regained his reflexes,and judgement of distance, built up his stamina, and refused to be pushed over his head until he felt he was ready for better opposition, despite promoters giving up on him and ,the press castigating him for the quality of his opponents.
That Jeffries did not do so is whose fault?
That Jeffries embarked on two nationwide vaudeville tours that netted him a fortune , instead of going into training immediately he had resolved to fight Johnson is whose fault?
Jeffries saloon had failed, his brother Jack , who was in charge of it, could not manage a dog fight. Jeffries had gambling debts[these were waived after Rickard prevailed on those holding his markers to let them go,]he wanted $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
He got it ,and he earned it ,he later said ,all the money he received , [if he had won, the movie rights would have trebled in value,] was not worth the hiding he took, too bad ,too late. Count your money and wait awhile ,then you can say you were beaten by "drugged tea".

THIS IS 1909.

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The end.

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