If by 15 rounds you mean the ruleset that was basically used through the 30's-80's, then i think Bowe wins it comfortably. He has a much more modern style whereas in Jeffries' day, gloved boxing was primitive. It was more half wrestling half one-punch-at-a-time, courtesy of years of bareknuckle boxing. On top of that, he'd probably complain about not having a middleweight in front of him whom he could easily bull around.
I think it's a close call. We're obviously talking about the version of Bowe from the Holyfield trilogy, not the fighter who got battered twice against Golota. An early 90's Holyfield doesn't possess the same concussive power level of Jeffries (who for the record I'd rate just below Liston, Foreman, Lewis and Tyson) and yet he managed to shake/hurt Riddick on numerous occasions over the course of their three fights. Jeffries could hang there with Bowe and slug given his sturdy chin and would probably hold his own successfully enough during the clinches. He was as durable a HW as they come, possessed immense mental toughness and was a superb counterpuncher with power in both hands- an expert at breaking up/blocking an opponents jab. Bowe at his best as an inside fighter and Jeffries usually liked opponents to come towards him- in his efforts to do this, Bowe would be eating counters all night long. Given Jeffries power and Bowe's porous defense (even at his very best)- this may well prove the deciding factor in the fight (Jeffries making Bowe fight his fight). He mightn't stop Bowe but I can see him edging a close decision with superior workrate down the stretch. Bowe at his best is a very 'live' threat in this matchup, but I just see him getting tagged a little too often for me to favour him. Jeffries CloseUD15 Bowe
Bowe would keep Jeff at bay and box from the outside. Jeffries would have his moments, but Riddick would come away with a points win.:good
It would be an interesting fight and tell us a lot about Jeffries ,for the first time he would not have a big size and weight advantage over a challenger,Bowe at his best was a very good inside fighter ,probably the best of the big men,he had a good jab decent power in his right,and could take a shot,the edge in durability goes to Jeffries,power too I feel.Bowe could be hit and Jeffries might get him in trouble with his shots,Jeffries would have to be more aggressive than we have seen on the footage available,waiting for Bowe to come in and then counter him ,wouldnt pile up many points,I think Jeff would need to go after Bowe and try and drain his stamina,at his very best I think he could pull it off,but he would take punishment to do it.
This is one instance where Bowe's strengths play strongly into Jeffries', and Bowe's weaknesses would make his "modern era" stylistic advantage less prevalent. I'd go with Jeffries by decision here.
I see Bowe winning this fight by late knockout. Bowe would've won the jab battle and would've been more active and athletic on the inside. I'm not ruling out a potential Jeffries knockdown of Bowe, but in the end, Prime Bowe would've finished him off against the ropes, maybe in the 10th.
Jeffries would absolutely butcher Bowe. Bowe was open to getting hit and liked to trade on the inside. Jeffries is going to have his way with anybody who likes to work on the inside due to his wrestling background. If Holyfield had Jeffries power he would have won all three fights.
I think Jefferse would get angery...he feared his own strength, feared killing someone...broke Sailor sharkeys ribs....was for the time super fast running the hundred yards in close to 10 seconds. He quit because he was tried of getting pounded, his trainer wanted him to absorb punsihment to wear the other guy out... So lets give Jeffereis Blackburn, to mak eup for a short 15 round fight. I picked Bowe because it was not a 20 or 25 or a fight to the finish. In a long fight Jefferies of course.
Bowe takes it behind his jab. Jeffries did'nt have a jab and neither did any, or at best, most of the men he faced. What little footage we have of Jeff shows a crouching stalking then lunging at his opponent type fighter followed by a long clinch. Against Bowe he would be facing a bigger more skilled opponent who made good use of a hard punishing jab and was a good infighter despite his size. Plus he was faster than Jim. At 6'5" 240lbs with modern boxing skills to boot, a prime in shape Bowe would wear down and stop the durable but limited Jeffries late in the fight.
Your description of Jeffries' style is accurate, though I will also add that it's going to be difficult to KEEP him on the outside. Jeffries was a "sticky" fighter--after he lunged in, he stayed on the inside and hammered you until you could force him off (or he chose to get off of you). This will probably be decided on the inside, not on the outside where Bowe can use his jab.
What makes you think that Bowe was in the same league as Jeffries in the speed category? Even the version that faced Johnson had superior speed to Bowe. Bowe is tough, very tough. But he is so open to the left hook, as demonstrated in the holyfield fight, where Holyfield simply didnt have the power to hurt him. Jeffries did have the power to hurt him when he landed. It would be no easy fight. Bowe would definitely hit Jeffries, and probably harder than jeffries had ever been hit before. And i agree that Bowe may be one fighter who jeffries might struggle to wrestle and push around. But at the end of the day, the Jeffries has too much power in the left hook and hurts and backs up Bowe too much. Plus, in the later rounds, his stamina would be far better. By the end of the fight, Jeffries would be landing at will, but as with Sharkey, it wouldnt surprise if Bowes Heart carries him the distance.
I think some people here don't realise the gigantic gap in gloved boxing development between Jeffries' time and Bowe's time. Bowe is open to the left hook, yes. To boxers who have been throwing the left hooking since high school. Jeffries' key opponent had to invent the left hook! They rarely threw combinations and didn't know what a jab was, either. What they did was wrestle and throw punches from there. Jabs, straight right hands (the punch Bowe is most susceptible to) were rarely used back then and it came straight from the unlimited-rounds bareknuckle pugilism. They hardly knew what glove blocking was either, because the style they had came from gloveless boxing and their current gloves were very small, making it hard to block. This caused them to keep their hands very low. If you think Bowe's defense was leaky, imagine what would happen to someone keeping his hands by his hips most of the time, using no glove blocking at all. On top of that, Jeffries never faced someone as big and talented as Bowe. Most guys he fought were lightheavyweights and a few cruiserweights and middleweights. Can you imagine a 37 year old middleweight who has been put away several times going 11 and 8 rounds with Bowe? Now, given Bowe's preference to fight on the inside, Jeffries could still do some good work, but i think Bowe will be happy to stay on the outside once he finds out he can hit him at will with long, straight punches and Jeffries doing no blocking at all. Under modern rules, Jeffries would get murdered. And vice versa.
The left hook wasn't invented by Corbett, and the jab (or something VERY close to it) had been used for quite some time when Jeffries came onto the scene. The straight right is the earliest punch we know of. Goes back virtually unchanged in body mechanics (except for the stance itself) to Humphries in the 1790's. Johnson used glove blocking quite effectively, and Jeffries' tendency to keep his hands higher would indicate that this was starting to come into fashion at the time. But you're right--they used slipping in preference to blocking, and Jeffries especially did. Yes, if Bowe is green and fighting under early 20th century rules. This is Fitzsimmons, after all. Conditions of the time gave more advantages to smaller men than modern rules. That's about the fight I see materializing, except that I do not believe Bowe will be able to keep him on the outside. Jeffries was wily enough to slip under punches (as many modern fighters do without the aid of gloves) and get onto the inside where he likes to fight.
There should be something in the rules to bridge the time differential; it was a hugely different game back then. I propose we change the general premise of this fight and all succeeding fights involving turn-of-the-century fighters. Unless explicitly expressed by the thread starter of course, instead of a 15-round contest, the person to knockout his competitor will be declared the winner. Let's just get Holmes' Jab to agree and begin the discussion anew.