Ellis by decision or a sudden stoppage..he was faster, smarter, and had a better jab, better defense and chin than Big John. That is all, except to say that Jimmy's oft mentioned sneaky, potent right hand would be Big John's undoing.
I see Jimmy Ellis scoring a late stoppage of Big John Tate, Jimmy would be outscoring Tate with his darting left jabs and combinations. He scored a clear cut victory over Oscar Bonavena, in 1967, even scoring a knockdown. Tate would be lumbering after Jimmy, TKO 10.
Tate. Decision bout and wins going away. Jimmy is not going to like this guy's workrate and combination punching. I think he is forced into a defensive posture early and never does close the gap anywhere remotely enough to do his best work.
I think Ellis is more polished and versatile and would pick him to take a decision , but not confidently
For a big msn Tate was surprisingly agile. He had good fundamentals and his chin was decent. I think he might take a close decision.
I like Tate by decision. He was a skilled boxer who could move around pretty good for a man his size. At 6’4” 230 lbs he was lit bigger than Ellis who I don’t think had the kind of power to score a come from behind knockout as Weaver did
