Muhammad Ali v. James Jeffries (15 rounds)

The question asked was who would win a Jim Jeffries vs Muhammad Ali boxing match over 15 rounds.

My answer is Ali wins easily by decision, maybe even gets a late stoppage on cuts.

 

No doubt Jeffries hit hard ,but he was ,for the most part hitting much smaller ,older men.I should have added the ridrer imo ,to my opinion on Foremans power I usually do ,my mistake.I have no more insight than anyone else ,and my opinion certainly carries no more weight with anyone except myself of course.Opinion seems to be pretty unanimous that Ali beats Jeffries,even Mendoza ,a big fan of James J,concedes that. Over the longer distance say 25 rds , possibly things might be different ,though I think Ali had excellent stamina,and over the longer route he would pace himself accordingly

I didnt mean to appear defensive ,I was just a little puzzled.

 

Low blows and body shots are two different things. Nobody can survive a low blow.

 

No they werent ordinary by any means they were the greats of their day,and he beat them,it wasnt his fault he was bigger than his contemporaries.I think its great to see Chuvalo looking so well ,I watched him on ESPN recently, I feared the worst ,given the punches George took ,but he was insightful ,lucid and very funny,good to see.

 

Some of the blows were not low, but Ali bitched about them anyway.

 

I thought Ali rarely complained about much in the ring ,one that does stand out was Wepners rabbit punches. Ali did complain about Cooper hitting him on the break in their first fight,which was one of Henry,s specialties,Ali was pretty green about in fighting then.

 

Probably not as bad as he did after Fitz had gone to work on his ugly mush. Despite the size difference Fitz was probably a somewhat harder hitter than Ali.

Corbett and Fitzsimmons might have been small but they should not be taken lightly. I personaly consider them both to be top 20 all time heavyweights and if they are not then they must be top 30.

 

Fitz may have hit harder than Ali but he never threw half as many punches ,nor with such speed and accuracy,I see Jeffries head ,bobbing like a cork from Alis quick one twos,till his eyes close.Fitz and Corbett make my top 20 too ,but the prime versions ,not the coming out of retirement 33 and 40 yearolds Jefries finally bludgeoned into submission.

 

This is really is a tough fight that could go either way (and usually does each time i sit down and try to predict). Jeffries gets a bad wrap from most on here, due to the use of the Olympic games world record theory, which simply is largely misunderstood.

The facts that we know are interesting to consider. The closest fighter that Jeffries fought to Ali was James J Corbett. An all time great fighter. Corbett was very, very similar to Ali. He probably wasnt as hard hitting as Ali, and certainly didnt seem to have the same chin as Ali (or heart for that matter), But his dancing tie up style was very similar. He would hit at range and tie up his man, like ali, relying on superior speed to beat opponents. There are varying reports on the Jeffries Corbett fights. The consensus though seems to be that corbett managed to land plenty on Jeffries and greatly trouble him, but eventually Jeffries did catch him. More than anyone, Corbett probably had a style that worried Jeff and this is like Alis. That is pretty close to a fact.

Ironically though the closest Ali fought to Jeffries was Probably Joe Frazier, who caused Ali Massive problems by being very busy, and constantly coming forward and landing punches and wearing him down. This is almost certainly how jeffries would fight ali. Constantly coming forward and throwing the thunderous body punches and hooks from the crouch. Although Jeffries also used his jab a lot more than Frazier. He is bigger and faster than frazier and is likely to be more difficult to deal with in the clinch. Like Frazier in his fights with Ali, Jeffries career proved that he would not stop, even after inhumane punishment.

People can argue that Jeffries fighters were smaller and not as strong etc. However, what cant be argued, is that the injuries that jeffries suffered were injuries that were far greater than Ali was able to dish out on anybody he fought. That is a fact. What this means is that it is very unlikely that Ali would hurt Jeffries enough to stop him.

Ali was that good in his prime that it is difficult to imagine anyone beating him. But then again, Jeffries really was that good also. In all honesty, neither of these fighters ever was beaten in their prime. Both had world class chins, heart, stamina, strength, speed etc. Their styles are differing, there times are differing, but if these two guys fought, there is no doubt whatsoever, in my mind, that neither outclasses the other. The winner will be the fighter with the most heart and who wants it the most. Who that is, i am just not sure and it is a toss of the coin. And, IMO, it would be by decision.

 

I am not sure that they cared about that sort of thing back then.

If Jeffries eyes closed they might just cut them open with a scalpel. The cut away a peice of his lip once to let him continue.

 

I concede that Ali was a bigger,(30lbs),taller(2ins),stronger,harder hitting version of Corbett,he also had a far better chin,and resistance to body shots,factor in that Corbett was past his best when he made a fool out of Jeffries for the better part of 22 rounds ,and you have Jeffries up against .it imo.I dont see much similarity between Frazier and Jeffries,andI would dispute that Jeffries was faster,he doesnt look it on film,Frazier was a non stop swarmer Jeffries wasnt ,he was a patient half crouching banger,who threw shots one at a time,watch him on film.I dont see Jeffries winning this fight whatever tactics he adopts,if he stays off he gets jabbed silly ,if he comes in he gets caught with fast combos ,and tied up once he,s inside.He isnt koing Ali ,andhe lacks the skills to beat him in a boxing match,accounts of Jeffries fights stress how much punishment he took ,this isnt a good omen for a figth with the fastest Heavy of them all ,and one who could hit appreciably harder than people realise,have a look how many big bangers he stopped.Jeffries for the first time in his l;ife would be up against a man as big as himself ,but with more speed ,skill ,reach ,refexes,andjust as much heart,add Alis chin,I dont see where Jeffries is superior,except in strenght ,and that will only take you so far ,Chuvalo,Foreman ,Lyle,Liston,to name just a few were all probably stronger than Ali what happened when they fought him?