James J Jeffries Feats of Athleticism

I think you were confused on quite a few things.

 

It was common practice for fighters to dry out then.

 

I don't think that's right considering Jeffries apparently boiled to the weights he fought at anyway.

There's ther odd exception, but almost any fighter has to take a few against a world class smaller fighter until they can over power them, so the comment about him taking punches against smaller opponents plays both ways.

 

Jackson was a shell when he fought Jeffries. Jeffries said so himself.

 

I'm not sure exactly what you mean here.I've already said I credit Jeffries with a top chin.
Jeffries finished boxing with a nose that had been broken twice, ridges of scar tissue above both eyes, and a cauliflower left ear.That after just 24 fights for a total of 22rds.
Compare that to Fitzsimmons 89 fights 326 rounds.Johnson78 fights711rds.Both were virtually unmarked when they retired and both fought into their late 40's, in Johnson's case he was in his 50's.

 

Jeffries seems to have done it for the Sharkey defense, but he had clearly seen the error of his ways by the Munro defense.

 

Didn't he do it against Johnson though?

Maybe he just didn't take Munroe seriously enough to bother with it. Dehydration isn't good for you, but the idea of it destroying your performance is a bit of a myth.

The only thing I know of it being tested with is cycling, so not the best comparison, but you could actually be pretty dehydrated and have no negative effect on performance.

 

I was meaning having a size advantage usually means giving up some speed. So if a world class big fighter is in with a smaller world class fighter, it's pretty common for them to take a few before getting the KO.

If he fought bigger opponents he wouldn't be giving up as much speed.

 

In the run up to the Munro fight he said that he had come to believe that the practice was misguided.

Of course after that he split with Brady, who had encouraged him to drop the practice.

 

I'm not convinced that was the case I don't think he took the Munroe fight seriously at all,he looks flabby by his standards in the photo below.

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Though to be fair, many many people picked Jackson to win, due to Jeffries inexperience.

These things are often more obvious in hindsight.

 

Oh I see, my slow brain at work.Jeffries was actually a cautious performer he rarely charged in looking for immediate results.

 

I haven't read that, after nearly 6 years out of the game and with his well publicised drink and health problems, I rather doubt Jackson was accorded much of a chance of making even a decent showing.
Jeffries was the 10/6 favourite

 

True, Munroe being the big exception, which I think was just him wanting to put Munroe in his place, combined with him noticing he was a slow starter. In truth he also had more trouble than he should have against Bob Armstrong. Hard to say how much it was just a bad night, and how much Armstrong showed his limitations. Jeffries may have underestimated him a bit too, as he was planning on having two fights that night. He may be one who wouldn't do so well in other eras, I think the longer fights suited him a lot.

The lack of film doesn't help matters, but at the end of the day, he beat a load of the best heavyweights in his day, and the rest is speculation.

 

I think it's the sort of fight a lot of up and coming fighters have, but not really a career defining win.

Jeffries actually rated Jackson pretty highly.