Since there has been some controversy surrounding his historical standing, lets remove him from the timeline, and see what we are left with. How does the heavyweight lineage go in this scenario? Lets start in the summer of 1899, when champion Bob Fitzsimmons is looking for a suitable challenger.
Fitz probably remains champion until 1904. We might have seen a Corbett vs Fitzsimmons rematch. Fitz also cleaned out Ruhlin and Sharkey, so we can assume he'd fight them in a title match as well. Maybe Choynski would have received a title match as well. Fitz, who beat O'Brien in 1904, lost to him 1905, so O'Brien is the next champion in theory. 1897-1904, with 4-5 title defenses is what I see. But above and beyond this, Fitzsimmons stock would be way up there. He went 14 years ( Feb 1890 to July to December 1905, fighting 60 odd men ) without losing, save for the questionable DQ loss to Sharkey. That's pretty amazing, the only man to stop Fitzsimons in this 15 year period was Jim Jeffries. So taking him out, that's an amazing run. Who at the top can claim not losing for 15 years?
Now this is bigotry. When is your bash Gus Ruhlin thread? We've seen you go at every other white accomplished heavyweight of the times. Sorry to inform you it was the UK people who relocated to the Southern areas of the USA who were the slave owners. Jeffries was a northern guy with Dutch Ancestry who's family likely fought for the North in the Civil war, which was essentially fought over disagreements like slavery. He also enjoyed the company of other African Americans. If the press wanted to invent someone, they anoint Gun Boat Smith, who famously TKO'd Johnson in a 4 round exhibition match in 1909 ( while Johnson was champion ) as their hope. There is no doubt Smith deserved a title shot beating several men Johnson gave title shots too. So where is he connect the dots on the press " inventing " Smith?
Oh it was the English that were the slave owners in America? I thought it was Americans including twelve presidents! Have you heard of the MayFlower? Do you know where it landed? I'll tell you Cape Cod ,and the place where they settled was later called Plymouth in New England .Now is that North or South in America? Your grasp of your own history seems as shaky as your understanding of South Africa's!lol What has Jeffries birth place have to do with anything? Him being a Northern guy doesn't help your case in fact it positively weakens it! Tko'd Johnson ! Absolute bull****!
Lets not turn this into another thread, where Jeffries detractors and supporters, tip pales of manure over each others heads. Why not just try to address the original question?
I thought I had but it didn't come up! Anyway here it is . 1899 Choynski beat among others. McCormick Everett Hall O Donnell Drew with and lost to McCoy Sharkey beat McCoy McCormick Childs beat Klondike x2 Armstrong x2 Baker Lost to Byers I'd say these were the best contenders .
If you bothered to check, those early American presidents were you were referring to were English by decent. Duh. I'll spare you how the UK treated others in their empire at their height of power centuries back, but thanks for that lovely holiday you gave us in early July. I have shown you news reads that say Johnson was down and seeing stars to the point where his manager had to save him in the 4 round exhibition match vs. GB Smith in 1909. Smith had some pop, but he did not hit as hard a Sam McVey or Sam Langford in their prime from 1908-1914, which were top fighters Johnson avoided for title matches. ***Don't you think GB Smith deserved a title match vs. Johnson? Care to answer that, or should I expect a no reply yet again from you?*** IMO Smith was better than Moran ( who he beat ) and defeated Willard who KO'd Johnson. Smith also beat Flynn and Ross. These guys four were Jack Johnson title opponents! " And he never forgot it " Smith quoted in the book In This Corner talking about the punch that floored Johnson. Also, Smith officially defeated a prime Sam Langford, which is better than any single win Johnson ever had. To close on the topic of the thread, Johnson likely received more of a legacy boost than any other champion I can recall by beating a washed up 35-year-old out of shape man who had not fought in six years. So if Jeffries had never been born, Johnson's legacy slides backward.