Nonsense about Jeffries

So I have just had the misfortune of finally watching a fight of Jeffries. It was Jeffries vs Fitzsimmons, the first fight. I say misfortune because it really shattered the small illusion I had over Jeffries. I will admit that I am a romanticist. I love the black and white, I love the informal weigh in ceremonies, the less derogatory and more (in my view) nuanced trash talk, the infighting, wrestling... but this is simply not the case.

Jeffries is garbage, people! I have great appreciation for Fitz, he has shown timeless skill and technique in other fights, but against Jeffries he looks terrible. He looks almost portly, middle aged and simply bad. He has two main course of fighting: windmilling and stepping back and forth. No punches. Occasionally he will feint a jab. And what does Jeffries do? He holds his arms out like a little infant getting a plane ride from his father. He has comedic footwork, it looks like he's dancing but I do not think that is the intention. I had to pause several times to make sure it was a real fight, not a mock up of their actual fight. But no, it is the real deal.

There are so many things wrong with Jeffries. He cocks the left hand back every once in a while to feint a left hook, but his weight remains square over his right foot. Fitz has nothing to worry about but he backs off anyway! He finally knocks Fitz down with a jab. I dont even think it was a balance issue, he was simply surprised that Jeffries threw a real punch and it brought him back to the fight! Jeffries is wide open throughout the match, and Fitz is simply too inaccurate and rusty to land much on the constantly, predictably ducking head of Jeffries.

Then there is the fight against Gus Ruhlin, a man I'm not familiar with. Nonetheless, Jeffries looks awful as usual. Coming in with his hands nowhere near his face, wide looping swings, very simplistic infighting... I would love to hear from a more knowledgable poster on why I am wrong, but as of yet I am firmly on the anti-Jeffries side. I was shocked, seriously shocked, from the footage...

 

So it was indeed a reenactment... he still looks terrible in the Ruhlin fight. The Sharkey fight is unwatchable.

 

There is limited footage on Ketchel, and most say it shows Ketchel to be at his worst but you can see his talent and abilities. His infighting is more sophisticated, he has better defense, better footwork, a wider variety of punches... they even share a common opponent in Johnson and Ketchel performs marginally better. Of course there is controversy over Johnson's willingness to fight at his best against each, and of Jeffries' and Ketchel's physical condition at the respective stages of their careers. But you can see glimmers of what once was in Ketchel. You can't see that in Jeffries.

That's really my main gripe. In most old footage you can see the remains of good talent and ability in bad quality film from subpar performances. Most film of Langford is terrible, but he still looks terrific in what you can salvage. But in Jeffries there is no redeemable quality. There is none. How do you excuse coming in with no defense and your hands down? He never met anyone strong and powerful enough that taught him to adopt a better defense. How do you explain Ruhlin running circles around him? Jeffries is so confident that he chooses to waste rounds and energy chasing after his man while hitting air? Or is he simply unable to cut a ring off?

I dont get why I have to have proof on why I was a believer in Jeffries.