"Jeffries was crude but Johnson could compete today..."

Just like Marciano manhandled Louis right?

And we are not going to take the 6 year layoff and losing over 100lbs in such a short amount of time into consideration for Jeffries either?

TBH Im actually impressed that Jefferies was able to last so long and take the fight to Johnson. Its prolly a fight that should of raised his stock.

 

"I could never have whipped Jack Johnson at my best. I couldn't have reached him in a thousand years."

- Jim Jeffries

Want the citation or will you take my word for it?

 

And he struggled mightily against small men, which was my point.

 

Big deal. Neither could have beaten Tony Tubbs. And you can take that to the bank.

 

Jeffries, after the rush of the event, would settle and add that he thought a fight between him and Johnson, prime for prime, would have been very close.

Johnson's muscular physique likely startles newer fans into believing in his skill. It's not what he invented, but how efficiently he could execute those ideas.

He was not guilty of winging punches often, preferring the shorter ones, being especially effective during in-fighting with his rests and sneaky uppercuts. He had the ability that Lennox Lewis would later show of 'shutting you down'.

All this is irrelevant mind. Dempsey was said to fight like McGovern, hell, even Ali like Corbett. And there we hit the nail on the head. Most if not all style are interpretations of tried and tested methods of fighting.

These 'leaps' are not, and have never been as big as history makes out.

 

Johnson couldnt compete today, not against the Klits anyway, but he was better than Jeffries, Corbett, Fitz and would do better than them

 

fodder for some prelim cruiser prospect on an early free show on SKY... the equivalent of a late stage Bobby Crabtree.

 

"I don't think I'd ever been able to beat Marciano."

- Joe Louis

Paraphrased, of course.

 

Well, I rankd them equal high. Both Jeffries and Johnson in my Top7, Dempsey in my Top15 and Fitz and Corbett somewhere between 20 and 30. Johnson and Jeffries if brought along rightly would be huge forces in today´s hw division. I´m pretty sure of that. Dempsey and Corbett would be the men to beat at cw and Fitz would rule anywhere from mw to lhw. They just had the talent and brain for boxing. I tend to think that any fighter of this class would do good in any era if he would be brought along there - for example Lewis, Ali in the early 20th century. Perhaps not in the weightclass they fought back then though.
I don´t buy in the myth of modern nutrition and training and natural developement put today´s fighters ahead of the fighters of the past. And neither do I believe that past fighters would be too tough for today´s crop. :bart

 

Vitali would be the only fighter that would fight Johnson
if he was around today - and thats cause Vitali aint the
full quid, but Johnson would win that fight easily.

Some serious underrating of Johnson around here Ive noticed.

But it is one of those things that we'll never know, so everyone
has their own opinions on it.

 

Yes. What newspaper said this, and where can I read it? Jeffries spoke to the press and said if he was younger he would have beaten Johnson plain and simple. That citation can be tracked down.

Much of the internet or boxing history is hearsay. While its true sometimes fighters contradict themselves, I have never seen this direct quote.

If you watch workout clips of a prime Jeffries, or read the full clips he had skill. But the heavyweight divison isn't all about skill. Power, durability and stamina play into the results, and Jeffries had this as much as any modern champion today.

 

Louis had trouble with mauling type of fighters, and this can bee seen vs Godoy. Louis said he did not think he would have beaten Marciano because part of his weakness is he did not like to be crowded, and preferred to operate in a certain range.

I think Louis caught Marciano on one of his best filmed night. He was on then. If the older Louis fought the Marciano who looked like he did vs Cockell, Savold, or Moore, he might have a different statment...even if he lost.

 

Louis destroyed Godoy in the rematch, delivering a brutal beating.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZayulM8qw2A[/ame]

 

"I didn't like to be crowded and Marciano always crowded."-Joe Louis

Louis was great at making adjustments for just about any style of opponent but he was much more comfortable when he was doing the stalking. Not sure how a fight between the two in their primes would have played out, as Rocky himself would still be a work in progress until the LaStarza rematch. And older Louis fought a very smart fight in a losing effort.