If Corbett had beaten Jeffries ?

It massively elevates Corbett and does the reverse to Jeffries who would then be seen as a 50/50 versus Chuvalo ,Cobb and co.

 

Corbett v Johnson?

 

Totally agree with this. I've always felt Jeff was one of the most overrated champs of all time. He lucky punches Corbett coming off the ropes in the 23rd round of a fight he was losing and is thus considered a god. He is diced to pieces by an old light heavy in Fitz and again pulls out a haymaker in the 8th and we're throwing petals at his feet. And the legend is carried over generation by generation.

 

I think Corbett actually said he'd fight Johnson (until Jeffries was convinced to come out of retirement). Though considering the mess he was in thier second fight I think it would have been even more of a massacre.

Wasn't Corbett meant to have been much more racist than Jeffries?

 

I would say there were very few liberals back then. However, Corbett did fight Peter Jackson when Sullivan wouldn't, so I couldn't say.

 

Would have been more interesting to have had Johnson-Choynski II, who , I believe, was in Jeffries corner vs Johnson.

But surely Corbett was too old to make that match realistic. So was Jeffries.

 

It would elevate Corbett's standing significantly.

As more quality champions have emerged, his resume has slid down the rankings, due to its reliance on fights where he performed well, but did not win.

A win over Jeffries would have made that much less the case.

Jeffries legacy would have taken a hit, but he would almost certainly have become the second heavyweight to regain the title, whether from Corbett or somebody else.

 

As things were, Corbett campained very hard for a fight with Johnson! This only stopped when Jeffries accepted the challenge. If jeffries hadnt come out of retirement, i think it almost certain that Corbett would have got a a 6 or even 8 round fight with Johnson.

Johnson doesnt seem a likely candidate to stop Corbett the same way that Fitz or Jeffries did, so technically he is taylor made for Corbett. I think it actually might have been interesting to see what happens for 6 rounds. Johnson was a lot better at that stage, but if he trains and appears about as well as he did for the OBrien fight, Corbett probably beats him on points. Obviously Jack wins any rematch, particularly if it is a longer one. Actually now i think about it, if it were an exhibition, Jack almost certainly wears the cuffs and loses setting up a massive rematch where the film rights become huge and i would expect Johnson to carry him a long while to increase film sales. Would certainly change things a lot.

 

Exactly.

 

he was too old, but Corbett stayed in shape after retiring and whereas Jeffries didnt. Corbett certainly would have beaten Jeffries straight off the bat, just before Jeffries started his training.