Surprised I haven’t seen this one done yet, how would you see this going? Would Jeff have any shot and if so, how?
In victory, Jeffries had to take his opponent’s best before prevailing. Imo, he won’t take Holyfield’s best, ultimately seeing Big Jim KO’d or TKO’d. True that Jeff was past it when he faced Johnson but he didn’t “last” into the 15th - Lil Arthur carried him and could’ve KO’d Jim as early as round 4. Younger Jeffries successful and most celebrated absorption of punishment was generally against much smaller, marquee names. Holy wins sometime between rounds 6 and 10 - but I can’t definitely say no butts about it.
I can appreciate the creativity in putting together a thread that has seemingly not been done ( especially here. ) But frankly to me the winner is irrelevant. It’s not about the old school being outmatched nor even vice versa. It’s about the fact that it simply isn’t practical to make such a match. The rules were too drastically different. Training regimens were too drastically different. Even the equipment they used was too drastically different. Someone told me once in one of these threads ( well it’s two guys throwing punches at each other. ) if this is indeed the case then you might as well bill it as a street fight with no rules at all.. boxing in 1900 and boxing in 1990 were two different sports.
I would take prime Evander Holyfield by decision over prime James J. Jeffries. I envision it looking a lot like Holyfield vs. Old George Foreman (without the cross arm defense).
Methodical Slugger (Jeff) vs Boxer Puncher (Holyfield) Power: Jeff Hand Speed: Holyfield Chin: Holyfield Footwork: Holyfield Defense: Holyfield Body punching: Jeff Versatility: Holyfield Combinations: Holyfield Stamina: Jeff Technique: Holyfield Ring IQ: Holyfield Heart: Even Holyfield advantage 8-1-3. Holyfield should be heavily favored to win with only mild difficulty at best. The only really noteworthy qualities Jeff is bringing to the table are his durability, stamina, and body punching. Although Jeff was never even off his feet, let alone KOd when he was in his prime and only stopped once when completely washed up, Holyfield has the much more proven chin having survived bombs from numerous legendary punchers. At best, Jeff only had the slight edge in chin which is kind of cancelled out by the fact Jeff mostly fought very small light heavy sized guys such as Corbett, Tom, and Fitzsimmons. Either way, even if I gave this to Jeff, it makes zero difference and it simply means he takes a prolonged beating. As far as stamina goes, if the fight is set for 12, Holyfield would be having his hands raised in victory before Jeff's superhuman 20+ round stamina advantage would even be a factor. When it comes to the last 2 metrics Jeff is bringing, his power would honestly be nothing special in the modern era and nothing Holyfield hasn't seen before (I would estimate Jeff to be on a similar level to guys like Bonavena, Berbick, or Mercer at best). Jeff's body punching was evidently very impressive and consistent for an old timer, but given that Holyfield was incredibly tough, had far superior defense, and the footwork to maneuver around Jeff, I seriously doubt this would be a major factor that could even the odds for the Boilermaker. Perhaps he can manage to slow Evan down late so that he doesn't keep getting pelted by punches non-stop, but it wouldn't change much for the outcome. My verdict: Other than the very small handful of advantages Jefferies has, Holyfield has him beat in nearly every category. Holyfield could win this fight however he wants--either by boxing Jeff's head off with a combination of superb technique, speed, and athleticism he'd never seen before, or Holyfield willingly engages with Jeff in the trenches and still manages to outpoint him anyways. Holyfield wins a landslide victory with 9-10 rounds in his favor, maybe 1 even, and 1 pity round for Jeff where he might be able to momentarily stand Holyfield with a good left uppercut to the body. I would not rule out a Holyfield stoppage anytime after the 9th if he steps on the gas given Jeff's incredibly leaky defense and Holyfield's high machine gun-like workrate.
12 rounds and under, Holyfield by UD. The Real Deal won't KO Jimbo, but wins easily and clearly. 20 rounds and up, Jeffries by TKO. And I am NOT a Jeffies fan.
Jeffries demonstrated durability, based on absorption of punishment from the better known smaller men vs his widely perceived durability, is extremely at odds. Now if Jeffries didn’t even blink against any of those men then we might fairly say the full extent of his durability was unknown - Jeff possibly able to absorb even more punishment and power if necessary. However, we have several accounts of Fitz hurting and shaking Jeff, even Corbett managed to wobble Jeff. Fitz was a terrific P4P puncher no doubt - but he was still only about 175-185 lbs at best. Jeff tried to cover up, but didn’t do so very well. IF Jeff was so impervious to the blows of the marquee names that he fought - he wouldn’t have to have bided his time - he would’ve walked through the punches to land his own - he often got somewhat beaten up anyway - why not step it up and cut short any further and unnecessary damage? Though long past his best vs Johnson, one still might’ve expected to have seen a reasonable hint of the style, form, stance etc. that served Jeffries at his peak. Tbh, I saw nothing to write home about - and Jeff was in fact a much easier target for Johnson than the likes of Burns, Ketchel and Flynn. Johnson had a great uppercut but as great as it was, the ease with he kept hitting Jeffries with that punch absolutely flush was ridiculous. Even Burns knew to turn his head sometimes to take some of the heat off those punches. Jeffries was a literal sitting duck for the uppercut from the very outset.
He fought at a much faster pace, more movement, more output, throwing actual combos, and most importantly against far better competition that made him work much harder. That's how.
This is fun, Holyfield has a style that degrades backwards in time very well. I would have loved to see Dempsey try to bully Holyfield, or see Jack Johnson try his infighting gamesmanship. Holyfield would do better the more wrestling, holding and rough tactics allowed. So the wrinkle for the advantage of the old timers becomes a huge disadvantage. The call of Foreman vs. Holyfield is definitely apt. A big lumbering puncher, but I don't think Jeffries has the durability, power, or technique of Foreman.