That kind of depends upon what you think Jeffries was. For example my interpretation of Jeffries is very different from McVea's.
I think Jeffries style match him under his ruleset of the early 1900's. Not sure how he would transend to the 50's and up.
Exactly. These fantasy matchups which involve 19th and early 20th century fighters with mid 20th century fighters and beyond are too hard to gauge because of how different the game was
It would almost certainly be fair, to say that Jeffries was one of the most remarkable natural talents, in the history of the sport. He basically won the title as a novice, learned on the job, and then retired in his absolute prime. Hunting and fishing were his true passions.
I am curious about your interpretation. How would you describe James J. Jeffries' style of boxing? Slugger? Swarmer? Out Boxer? A Boxer-Puncher? A combination of two or three styles? I know he seemed to fight out of a slight crouch position, often, which seems like the stance a swarming pressure fighter would use, but, for some reason, I do not picture him as a constant pressure type boxer. What do you think?
Under 50's rules.over 15 rds he has three hurdles.Walcott,Charles and Moore. I don't think he beats all three. I'm not sure who beats him probably the first two, Jeffries relied on wearing you down,he would have to be drastically more pro active than he generally was ,I don't think he has enough time over 15 rds,he may lose to all three.
Do you think Moore and Walcott’s age can work against them in the 15 round long run against Jeffries?
I would say that he started out as a counter puncher, and evolved into more of a pressure fighter. Perhaps always a bit of a chimera.
I can't get over the fact that Jeffries had only 20 pro bouts. How good was Jeffries´s workrate and head movement ?
Hard to judge. His head movement seems pretty good in this training footage against Gus Ruhlin, and he was described as being defensively efficient in a few of his fights. I'm not sure how good his workrate is though, but judging from contemporary reports it seems fair to say that Jeffries' peak was around 1903-04.
Jim had nearly 400 fights that were listed as exhibitions. Considering how Jeffries and his times were, my Grandfather always believed that some of those were real fights. Personally, I have to agree with his thoughts on the matter. It is hard for me to believe that Jeffries had only 20 real fights in his career, and nearly 400 "exhibition" fights. I suppose it is a matter of opinion. My gut tells me Jeff had many more than 20 fights. In any event, padding his record, or not, means little to nothing in my own evaluation of him except to say he certainly had more ring experiences than 20 bouts.
Surely there is serious research about that. My bet is @janitor should know something about those exibitions.
