I think James J Braddock could have beaten James J Jeffries

Thanks for the info. :good

Was Griffin really the best prospect around ?
I know he grabbed some attention in training, sparring with Carnera. Other than that, he was just another heavyweight prelim fighter.

 

Thought Griffin was the #3 contender. At least that's what I learned from Cinderella Man.

I don't know all that much about Braddock. I'm not convinced there were technical progressions in his comeback. But I don't really know for sure, I haven't studied it. I just think his right hand was badly injured. With his injury healed and his body having grown and developed into a HW from age & work on the docks, Braddock became reinvigorated. Maybe working on the docks with just his left hand improved his left hand. I don't know. You can really start to throw your left with a lot more force knowing you got a right hand behind it. Braddock was sinking in water when he was practically a one handed fighter out there prior to his comeback.

 

As it was with Tunney, Jeffries officially peaked just before retiring.

Before this his crouch and right hand where still attending school. The speed and horsepower was always there but most recognized that, whilst champion, they were watching a flower in bloom.

The reasoning for Braddock is sound though there's probably a little underrating (misunderstanding) on Jeff's behalf.

The big man was quick, very quick. His style of boxing was basic and thorough, but effective. He didn't slack off in rounds, used his considerable strength advantage and powered on down the championship stretch. Imagine a speedy, tentative Max Baer and you'll be far closer to the truth than those who dismay the heavyweight's iron man as a hittable road block.

Interestingly, though the big punch was there Jeffries more-so relied on his technique of spearing you with the left, jumping into clinches and sapping your strength, jumping out and repeating; he also had a lethal hook and right to the body.

Perhaps Ted Spoon could lend Braddock a draw against the younger Jeffries if the circumstances permitted. On each mans best night though, there would be a few revelations; Braddock would find Jeff more elusive than expected, faster than he had anticipated, and overwhelmingly impassive.

The Cinderella Man may not go down, but he is getting beaten up.

 

Wow. Braddock is the least of the heavies. He did not have power, size, weight, and only modest skills. Braddock best stuff was toughness. Mis-match fight.

 

As he excluded the black fighters who might beat him, who exactly was around when he was at the top of his game? A 36/37 years old Corbett ,and a 40 years old Fitz.

Jeffries could OUTLAST just about any white fighter who was around, which is an entirely different thing

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I agree with the second part, which is rather what I posted, Braddock was not outstanding in any one category.
Not elusive, average speed, decent, but not awesome power, decent but not brilliant boxing ability. He survives but does not beat Jeffries ,imo.

 

though by the mid - late 20's Boxing style & craft was refined and perfecting, leading to it's culminating excellence in the 1930s, 40s and beyond. and though Braddock benifited from this time, psyche/mentality of boxing style and presence, Jefferies was one of the toughest, hardest, stongest and deadliest men ever to step in a ring...

I just don't think Jimmy Braddock has enough here, Jefferies could break many a man down from any Era.

 

I doubt Corn Griffin was ranked at all, or even rated as much of a prospect until a few days before he faced Braddock.
He was just a young fighter who had looked good in a sparring session with Carnera.
He'd been KO'd twice within the previous 10 months, in 1933, by Buck Everett and Bob Godwin.

He forms part of the Braddock legend because it was an impressive and unexpected crushing KO win that marked Braddock's "come back".

Also, I'm not sure Braddock became a top 10 rated contender until he beat Lasky, just a few months before the Baer fight.
Maybe Braddock had a big following already because of his dole queue underdog story, not because Corn Griffin was anyone special.

If he improved leaps and bounds in 1934 - '35, all I can say is that he must have been utter **** before then ..... because he's clearly mediocre against Max Baer.

 

Braddock scaled 194lbs when he won the title, he was 6'.2.5"tall.

He would be bigger ,and heavier than all but one man Jeffries ever beat .

Your statement is patently absurd.

Braddock had a good right cross, not in the Baer,Louis mould , but heavy enough to stop anyone walking in with impunity. I pick Jeffries , but,[as usual,] he is going to take some stick along the way.

 

INteresting thread as it feeds off the endless debate over the caliber of the 19th century heavyweights ... I personally feel Braddock decisions him after the power punching Carnera flattens the glass chinned Jeffries in a round or two ... :nut

Other than being dead game, having a semi-decent right hand and defeating the most over rated fighter in heavyweight history in Max Baer in a horrible fight, I see next to nothing in Braddock ... he was slow, his jab was fair at it's best at best, he did not throw combinations, he did not go to the body, he did not hit nearly hard enough to get Jeffries attention as Baer walked through his punches like nothing, he was not terribly well conditioned nor was he strong defensively ... Jeffries , caveman club and all, would have beaten him to a pulp ..

I find it astonishing just how under rated the old guys have become to many here ... I appreciate the advances of technique and that styles make fights but as a whole many here simply view them as a separate species and it is a very questionable over sight ...

 

Good post.
I especially agree with your assessment of Braddock. He was a mediocre fighter. He looks mediocre, hid record is mediocre, he was mediocre.
His career highlight is an absolutely appalling championship fight, winning the championship with his mediocre performance being better than Baer's abysmal one.
I might even be inclined to consider him getting beaten up by Joe Louis for 8 rounds after a 2-year layoff (and briefly sending Louis to the floor in rd. 1) as his best achievement !

 

How was he even the #1 HW prospect in boxing though ?

 

His victory over baer shits all over james j