Jeffries discusses possible opponents after the Munro bout.

There were only two: Hart or Johnson.

 

I think we can assume Johnson is a non-runner Adam.

 

Jeffries is a horrible matchup for Hart,imo. Anything Hart can do Jeffries can do better.

 

That's what they said, which is why there was no great demand for the fight. Personally, I think it would have been a very entertaining/fun fight to watch. Hart was a Sharkey type. Bore in swinging hard, nonstop, and he had the condition and toughness to make it exciting. The guy got dropped here and there, sure, but he got up and pummeled away on his foes. He had survival skills too, and proven late rounds punching power.

You are all correct regarding Jeff-Johnson and the color line. Jeff was absolutely firm on the color line as champion, and consistently so from 1901 on, drawing the line on Martin, McVey, and Johnson, and never wavering in that regard while he was champion. I will have all the quotes in my upcoming Johnson book, which hopefully will be available in the next couple of months.

 

I think it might be an exciting fight but with only one winner,Jeffries.
I wonder what the outcome of a Jeffries v Sharkey fight might have been had they been of comparable stature?

 

If I recall your book correctly, most observers were not impressed by either Hart or Johnson in their match-up... or at least said so in print. Do you think this was in part over-deference to Jeffries? Sportswriters and journalists of this ilk can be the most intentionally biased sources.

 

Ralph Rose was a famous amateur athlete in field sports, setting numerous records in the shot put. he also threw the hammer and discus. He first talked about fighting Jeffries in 1904. He supposedly had a exhibition fight in 1907 (no follow up report) and went into training to fight Johnson in 1910.

Battling Nelson trained with him and said he had a great jab and was hard to get in on, but had bad technique which kept hurting Rose's thumbs. Nelson also saw Rose knock out a cow with a punch.

Rose was 6'6 and 245 lbs. when trained.

Rose died in 1913 from typhoid fever at the age of 29

 

Weird. Never about Ralph Rose wanting to fight Johnson. He was one of the "Irish Whales", a group of gargantuan potato eaters who dominated the throwing events in the early 20th century. The sons of Eire of this time were especially noted for their tolerant attitudes. I would love to read some quotes from Rose on this proposed matchup. And I will commence searching... Now.

 

he talked a lot of, in modern parlance, ****. he thought his athletic ability and size translated to fighting prowess.

he was beaten up twice by guys half his size in street fights.

 

Thanks for the info.:good

 

Jeffries was down against Munroe, he let go a haymaker missed and fell to the floor.Source ? James J Jeffries.See below.
Jeffries said he was ashamed of the defence against Munroe and regretted making it.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/35417116?searchTerm=jim jeffries&searchLimits=

 

Johnson did quite a bit of running and playing defense vs. Hart. Jeffries said he would fight Hart if there was a demand for it. There was not. According to this quote in 1904 by Jeffries, Johnson was considered a potential opponent.

 

Johnson never ran in his life, he did not need to. He took Hart apart but lost the decision because, according to the ref he was not prepared to lead. The same thing happened when Hart fought Ferguson. We have to wonder how Floyd Mayweather would have fared against these bigoted stupid referees?