Johnson- Jeffries: What am I missing?

Looking at the film, three of the many things i think you are missing are:

1. The Clinch. Johnson was a master . Notice how his hands are always on the inside, meaning that it is almost impossible to load up combinations on him, because he grabs (and with no taping and those glosves this is possible) the biceps to prevent it. You need to find a way to break the hold and then strike. Presumably this is another thing which made feinting important. Fighters would actually bend arms back and control range. This is a massive disadvantage for modern fighters who are not trained in this.

2. No neutral corner rule or standing 8 count. I only just noticed this myself. When Jeffries goes down, and he gets back up, johnson is right there to hit him (like Dempsey was famous for against Willard). Johnson immediately was able to finish him off. Jeffries (unerstandably since he was never off his feet before) didnt seem that skilled in what to do and how to defend in such circumstances. I am guessing modern fighters would be equally clueless. A Standing 8 count or neutral corner may very well have changed teh course of the fight.

3. Did you notice, when we hit that 15th round, we were one quarter of the way through the fight! Imagine the Ali Frazier 3 trilogy all happened on the same night. The fighters would still only be 3/4 of the way through the fight! I am guessing this would change teh pace of many fighters and teh type of training. I doubt many fighters would elect to carry the extra 20 or 30 pounds, and i also doubt that we would be seeing the same level of combinations we are used to.

 

Jeffries was actually moving pretty good for the 15th round.

 

thumbsup

 

Film from then is crude in itself. They looked a lot more fluid than that in real life no doubt. Also, from what the film said Jeffries had boasted that no man could beat him in the clinch and Johnson set out to disprove that. They were scheduled to go 45 rounds and I don't know if you are aware but that is no easy feet.

 

It's a different time period, and I'm not sure what's so hard to understand about that. All you can do is be good in the time period you're born in. Fighters didn't look the same nor did they fight the same. Their training regime was different and so were the skills they worked on. So if you distinguished yourself as the best of the best when everybody else was exposed to the same thing... well that's a unique talent. Johnson rose above the rest who were privy to the same fundamentals and training, and yet he rose above all. That speaks volumes on what he could do if techniques and training were different, he'd simply adapt and move forward, which he conclusively showed he was capable of.

 

when watching that you have to remember it is a guy coming out of retirement with zero tune ups, against a guy who was known for showboating and playing with opponents and who also has a very old school style. this is not a recipe for an event that will impress anyone.

 

Jeffries had not fought in 6 years, had to lose 50+ pounds ( some say 80 ). Holmes doesn't get credit for beating Ali, yet somehow Johnson gets credit for beating the shell of Jeffries.

Bob Fitzsimmons who saw the fight live said Jeffries wasn't a quarter of the fighter he fought. He was shot. To make matter worse, Jeffries had an acrimonious split with his old trainer Billy Delaney. Corbett ran Jeffries camp and didn't do him any favors as a trainer or in the corner.

Johnson hired Billy Delany to work his corner. Back then the films were limited, so this was a key advantage for Johnson as Delaney knew Jeffries like a book.

Finally, the fight was outdoors in the desert in July. Not wise for an older fighter. Initially, the fight was scheduled for San Francisco.

You can see several rounds today, and many of them are very close.

If you use a round by round scoring by the press, Jeffries won the 4th and 9th, and with many rounds being close. If this was a 10 round match, a draw under the rules of the times could have been the call. Johnson takes over the fight in rounds 13-15.

 

Jeffries was down to fighting weight 14 months before the fight .He had a year and half to prepare for it. Many of the rounds were not close, three Jeffries boosters, Fitzsimmons, Sullivan,and Burns said this, Fitz ,Johnson could have finished it any time he wanted.
Jim Corbett in Jeffries corner with Jeff's brother Jack, said during the 7th round,"your brothers getting licked what shall we do?"

Sullivan ,Johnson toyed with Jeff.
Burns said Jeffries was a plaything in Johnson's hands.

Delaney made a statement after the fight saying Johnson didn't need mine or anybody else's help in winning this fight Jeffries has always been afraid of Johnson and wanted none of his game.
A draw after 10 rounds ?
Johnson knew Jeffries like a book too, he attended all his fights! And hurled challenges to him,after he pulverised Jeffries brother he leaned over the top rope and said I can do you just as easy too!


You are absurd!
If it had been a 10rounder Johnson would have gone to work on the White hope a lot earlier.Jeffries finished the fight with blood cascading down his chest and running down his legs cut and puffy eyes and a broken nose.Photos show the rivulets of blood on his torso and legs.

Stop rewriting the truth to make it fit your vanilla agenda,anyone with half a brain can see Johnson is kicking the sh*t out of Jeffries .They can also see that when Jeffries goes down Rickard does not begin a count and that Jeffries corner men help him regain his feet.

Jeffries got his a*se kicked and after his public statements about Johnson and his race he f*cking deserved it!

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnMJL36_oCs[/url]

 

Absolutely. Is it really that hard to imagine him being better defensively than Young, Walcott or Byrd?

 

All three of them were ko'd in their primes,Johnson was not.:think

 

What sold me on Johnson, was the Burns fight, and I know that might sound strange.

Study it however.

Johnson is fighting a much smaller man, who has a track record of demolishing much bigger fighters, and therefore relies heavily on speed and technique.

Compare Johnson’s reflexes with his hands to Burns’s, and then compare their foot movement.

Johnson is able to nullify this pound for pound fighter at every stage, on the very aspects that should be his assumed advantages.

When you look at it that way, it is easy to see why the bigger guys were in trouble!

 

Many times in boxing's history, subtlety and simplicity trumps flashy gifts.

 

Yes, but I don’t think that this is one of them!

I think that if we had faultless footage of Johnson, he would look like Muhammad Ali.

Eccentric in his style, but obviously dominant based on reflexes.

 

This is correct, Burns was considered the best in-fighter of his generation, but against Johnson he was helpless.

 

One fantasy fight that nobody ever asks.

Jack Johnson vs Rid**** Bowe.

Might be interesting, I mean bad for Bowe.