Joe Louis aside, how would peak Jeffries have done against the following; Jack Sharkey Max Baer Primo Carnera Max Schmeling Tommy Loughran Steve Hamas George Godfrey Tommy Farr Ernie Schaaf Bob Pastor Could he have gotten the title? What would the window of opportunity have been for him to win it, and how long would he have held it for?
I think I can safely say that, given the opportunity Max Baer had, James J. Jeffries would have taken the Lineal Heavyweight title from Primo Carnera. Then I imagine he could have retained it against James J. Braddock. Joe Louis would have then ended the Jeffries reign. I think James J. Jeffries could have beaten most of the guys on the OP's list, but probably not all of them.
He was an attrition fighter without gamechanging power amongst true heavies. Still, he probably wins as much of these as he loses. My favorite bout would be versus Max Baer, where he gets lit up by a free swinger who isn't 5 foot nothing.
I think that he would have been brought along very differently. Yes you get guys in that era who were thrown in the deep end early, like Sharkey and Baer, but it was much harder for an impressive local talent to step onto the world stage. Jeffries would have been brought along much more slowly, and would probably have been a more developed fighter when he fought for the title. As others have said, he is probably too good not to be champion at some point. As in his own era, his lack of love for the sport probably limits how far he gets.
