Johnson- Jeffries: What am I missing?

No, it's boxing.
Tennis and Badminton are different.
Boxing and boxing are the same.

 

regardless of anything else....what a gift that bit of video is to any boxing history fan

 

Well, maybe it looks like a washed up slugger coming off a 6 year layoff being carried by a well conditioned superior boxer.

There are some dreadful fights of Muhammad Ali's out there on film too, getting pummelled on the ropes, looking fat and lazy, no techniques whatsoever.

 

I would suggest that you watch the Johnson Flynn fight if you think that this is anything that would be unfamiliar to the old timers.

The crucial point that you are missing however, is that many referees of the period simply didn’t score jabs.

This meant that while the jab was still a useful tool, you couldn’t afford to rely on it too heavily.

 

Off the top of my head, I don't know how many rounds Johnson vs Jefferies was scheduled to go, but, it really makes me laugh when I hear comments that fighters who were scheduled to go 20 or 45 rounds did a lot of "loafing". I supposed the expecation is that guys scheduled to go 45 rounds should throw caution to the wind and come out swinging for the fences in round one and not think at all about pacing themselves. Of course they fought at a slower pace, how could they not and expect to go that distance?

 

The sport has changed from a strategy standpoint but if anyone is so fast to discount the older guys skill they are kidding themselves .. speed is speed, power is power, the ability to take a punch is the same and stamina if anything favors the old guys .. I see plenty of skill in the film .. just like baseball was a different game from a hitting perspective before Ruth, it does not mean that all the older players could not have adapted and excelled .. some could have , others could not have .. it is on an individual case by case basis ..

 

These fighters are crude compared to Langford and the fighters from the 1920s+. I don't care if they went 45 rounds; why did they still rarely ever throw combinations? That's because it wasn't a thing back then! The jab wasn't even really a snapping tool back then. Johnson's jabs look more like left straights. He also leaves his right hand down; a perfect target for the counter left hook. These fighters weren't devoid of skill. However, they'd be laughing stocks among those who succeeded them.

 

Bear in mind that I don’t have the full story myself here.

I just have a few articles that criticise decisions where the winner used the jab as their predominant weapon, and I am trying to find out more.

When Sam Langford fought Sam McVea in Paris, in 1911, the contest was declared a draw. It is apparent from fight reports that McVea controlled the fight with his jab, and landed a lot more punches.

Le Vie Grand Air was one of the two publications granted the rights to photograph the fight, and they wrote that “the decision was incomprehensible”, that “that Langford had shown his enormous superiority”, and attributed the decision to “the English preoccupation with the jab, as opposed to punches that do more damage”.

Le Boxe & Les Boxeurs criticised the decision because” Langford was was much the aggressor and landed the heavier blows, while McVea’s were generally of the jab variety”.

McVea admitted that Langford deserved the verdict, and Langford credited McVea for his jab, but said that he deserved the decision because McVea had fought to survive.

All of this is detailed in Clay Moyles biography of Langford.

 

It looks like they're just practicing footwork, movement, and distance. Very light sparring.

 

Keeping hands low does not mean said fighter is open for counters. Counter hooks have been thrown and were taught by trainers during Jeffries time.

Low guard was employed to better protect the body while head movement, boxing defense such as blocking, parries, slipping and clever footwork were used to avoid head shots.

Problem we have today is the boxing public has been so hugely dumbed down they think they are seeing great boxing with Tyson Fury while degrading the all time skills of a Jack Johnson.

This is what thirty years of watered down boxing has done. Tyson Fury is a rank amateur and if you think otherwise add yourself to the list of Boxings lost souls.