James J. Jeffries vs. Gene Tunney

- first scenario: scheduled for 15 rounds
- second scenario: scheduled for 25 rounds
both prime

 

25 rounds for Tunney would be pushing him out of his comfort zone. I see Jim wearing Tunney down. Jeffries by decision as he takes the last 10 rounds with increasing effectiveness.

15 rounds and Tunney would outpoint Jim by Majority decision.

 

Tunney boxes rings around him. Tunney wide UD either way

 

Tunney by decision, tho Jeff pushes him at the end.

 

Interesting one. For sure Tunney would pile up the points, but Jeffries brings a lot to the table, and would be hammering the body in effort to break Gene

Over 15, I'd lean toward Tunney over 25 I strongly favor Jeffries to get to him and break him.

15 is no short fight either, and with Jeffries pacing for the shorter distance, you can't write him off.

Jeffries was bigger and stronger than Dempsey, and I think had a far better ring IQ. I certainly think Jeffries was leagues ahead of the shot Dempsey that Tunney beat.

 

He's also far better clincher. This is one of the main reasons why Tunney handled old Dempsey with relative ease - Dempsey was unable to beat Gene in the clinch. That's not going to happen with Jeffries, who was much bigger, physically stronger and likely more skilled at grappling than Tunney.

 

In hindsight, an aspect occurred to me that could speak well for Tunney. Jeffries already had his hands full with Corbett (1st fight). In the end, Jeffries won via knockout in round 23/25. But until then Corbett partially outboxed Jeffries and stood an excellent chance of winning the fight. Corbett was an excellent technician with great defense and footwork just as Tunney (maybe his handspeed was even better).
Anyway, all in all I assume that Tunney was a bit stronger than Corbett.

Corbett made a good fight against Jeffries (at that time 25 years old), but he was already 33 and beyond his heyday. Why would prime Tunney not be able to do the same, just better? But of course, such comparisons are always difficult, every fight is different and Jeffries was a tremendous fighter.

Nonetheless, I would like to read other people's thoughts on this cross-comparison. Maybe @BitPlayerVesti (if you like) and of course everyone else...
What do you think @cross_trainer about Jeffries vs. Tunney? You seem to be very interested in old boxing history too.

 

Good point over 25 rounds this is extremely close and I would favour Jeffries to win this, conditioning over that distance would be crucial. Jeffries with the experience over that distance would see him through for me, over 25 rounds have the mentality and previous experience of going those extreme distances consistently is absolutely massive, and the athleticism and endurance strength Jeffries had I would have to favour him here.

Tunney would probably win by decision over 15 rounds, but I don’t think Jeffries is a comfortable night work, he would be very competitive. Jeffries was very good as was Tunney.

Very good topic.

 

This is a great point, a lot of contemporaries saw massive and rapid improvement in Jeffries boxing ability during his reign.

 

Jeffries could be outboxed over 15 as Tunney gets on his bicycle and avoids Jim's punches.
Over 20 rounds, however, Jeffries catches up to the fancy boy and Bolivianizes him.

Anyone note that Jeffries was always chewing gum, even during fights? Maybe because that didn't have mouthguard back in the day?

 

Well, a past prime Dempsey couldn't get Tunney out despite two attempts, and Dempsey came from a much larger talent pool and more developed phase of the sport than Big Jeff.

Still...I think the people who are favoring Jeffries over a longer distance have a point. Getting mangled by a wrestleboxer who has 30 pounds on you may be manageable over 10 or 15 rounds, but a fight to the finish is another matter.

Jeffries wore down Corbett when he was still green himself. Corbett, while an inferior boxer to Tunney, was (EDIT: probably) better at the clinch tricks. Tunney isn't putting Jeffries out, either: Jeffries got hit by fighters Tunney's size with the small gloves, who were known as hard hitters for that size, and he didn't go down. Even Johnson had to wail on Jeffries's desiccated corpse for a while before it dropped.

The longer Jeffries can make the fight distance, the better his chances. At some point, he just outlasts Tunney despite his inferior boxing skills.

Jeffries loses over any civilized distance, though.

 

Interesting matchup that you don't see often among fantasy matchups. Also, it's between two great fighters that I believe get underrated.

The Corbett-Jeffries fights give some clues. While it is true that Corbett almost won their first fight, he was past his best and Jeff was still green and improving. Their respective skills in 1900 made this a competitive, exciting fight. The fight showed that Jeffries could be outboxed over the course of a long fight but was always dangerous and capable of ending any fight at any time with a single shot. For their 1903 fight, Corbett decided on a change of strategy - instead of moving the entire fight, he looked to conserve energy by developing a defense for Jeffries' pulverizing left hook to the body. He could place his glove in a way that would enable him to catch the blow and deflect it away. It worked for a round or two, but then he misjudged and instead caught the left hook with his ribs. From that point on, it was all Jeff, who at times was even outboxing Corbett. Jeffries could endure much punishment and come back with power to win, as he demonstrated in his bouts with Fitzsimmons. He could go 20 and 25 rounds in gruelling fights and up through his prime years was never knocked off his feet.

Tunney was the consummate boxer. Like Corbett, he was a thinking man's fighter who studied his opponent before each bout and developed stragegies accordingly. He always entered the ring in top condition. I believe his toughness doesn't get the recognition it deserves. He is remembered for being down for 14 seconds and therefore 'knocked out' by a past-it Dempsey but the long count incident speaks more of his ring IQ than of a poor chin. That knockdown was the only time he visited the canvas in his entire career, and he deliberately stayed down as long as he legally could to more fully recover. And when he did regain his footing his footwork kept him out of trouble for the rest of the round after which he regained control of the fight. He is also remembered for his fights with Harry Greb, in which he took a lot of punishment, but learned a lot. The championship distance in Tunney's era was 15 rounds, and he had no trouble going the limit.

While I believe that both could adjust their pace to whatever championship distance they were fighting I believe that a 15 round fight would work to Tunney's advantage. He would be piling up points while staying out of trouble and stick to boxing at range. But Jeffries would always be dangerous and capable of turning the tide with one punch. I believe Tunney could weather the storm and win a close, hard-fought decision. A 25-rounder is harder to call. The distance would favor Jeffries, who would carry power throughout the distance but would have more time to wear Tunney down. I believe this fight would also go the distance with Jeffries doing better in the later rounds. Tunney could still win it, depending on how much he has left in the tank at the end. I see this as more of a toss-up but will pick Jeffries by a razor-thin margin.