James J. Corbett is underrated

@cross_trainer come back bud... Classic misses you

 

For me his resume doesn't justify high ranking, Sullivan was an alcoholic ,fat washed up 34 year old who hadnt fought for over 4 and a half years,yet he went into the 21st round.
Charlie Mitchell was165lbs,Kilrains best weight was around175/180lbs he weighed 205 lbs for Corbett,and was said not to have trained seriously,out boxing him over 6 rds doesnt amount to much for me. One hundred and sixty seven pounds Fitz ko'd Corbett with a single body punch.The McCaffrey fight was a bit of a farce with stop and start rounds of different durations. Choynski was a 3 fight novice .
Jackson fought Corbett with an ankle injury, but its a good result, though not a win.
Corbett could not master the crude Sharkey in 2 tries .
Gentleman Jim's rep really rests on his out boxing Jeffries for 23rds and his snore bore, draw with Jackson.That's not enough to place him highly ,imo.

 

Here is Jim Corbett's ring record, updated by historians.

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_J._Corbett#Professional_boxing_record[/url]

Prior to his match with Jackson, I have researched Corbett to be 59-0-3 , but some if the action was 4,3, or 2 rounds stuff and not official fights were Corbett was judged the better. Early " new wins " if you will. Be that it as it may, only a boxing master could achieve such a mark.

Corbett with his lighting fast releases ( which can be seen on film and up close ) mobility and technique were way ahead of the fighters in the 1890's.

I am still impressed with his straight right to the body.

 

He would get slaughtered by any decent technical boxer from WW2 and beyond. Charles, Walcott, Louis, etc clown him. No need to even elaborate on guys from Liston onwards.

 

Not in my opinion. He won the title from a washed up Sullivan, lost it to a hard hitting middle weight.

 

He was over rated for a long time, and now there has been an overcorrection, and he tends to get under rated.

 

Interested to see the counterargument to this on point, well researched, and clinically correct breakdown of the subject.

 

He is not over rated in his era and is viewed by many as a top 5 heavyweight...until at least the 1930's? Those alive in the times felt he was better than Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano. I don't agree with this, but he would be very competive with them and perhaps beat them in a 10 round fight! 12-15 rounds I side with the with Louis and Marciano. When he and the people living in the times died out I agree his accomplishments and reputation are under rated. Today his lack of good clear film that runs at the right speed hurts him.

 

I think we would have to conclude that anybody who ranked him over Louis or Marciano, was over rating him enormously in hindsight.

 

There is some footage of him moving / walking around but I think that's it.

 

Rating old fighters is challenging and almost fighter specific ... some are gateway guys and some cross over between eras .. I really get a kick out of and have a terrific interest in the old heavyweight champs but really have to keep them in perspective ... Sullivan had some terrific natural gifts that could have been finessed in another era and made him a somewhat small but tough M of Q champ but he wasn't. He was more of a tough man contestant than a skilled fighter ... as he was pick one other heavyweight champion you honestly feel he defeats in a M of Q bout ... not Braddock, not Burns , to me , no one ... Corbett was by all appearances a fantastic physical specimen .. extremely fast of hand and foot, defensive minded , well conditioned however be it in slow motion vs Tunney sparring or against Fitz he becomes painful to watch .. the stiff arms, the round house swings, the turning of the head as he punches ... to me he was a transition fighter bridging generations .. a breakout pioneer for his day without question but fighting a man from his era like Choynski or a hobbled Jackson or a relic of Sullivan is not swapping blows with Joe Louis ... No knock on Corbett who is a legend and deserves to be respected as one ..