On this day in 1903; Jeffries' finest hour

Jeffries had just beaten his number 1 contender Bob Fitzsimmons a year before this fight, in a fight where he was forced to use his size and strength to bulldoze Fitz rather than his skills. Before their fight Fitz said that he would either; "defeat Jeffries or make him into the greatest fighter the world has ever seen."

Soon after, Bob became Jeff's trainer. He despised the famed "Jeffries crouch" that hindered Jeff's speed and hurt his offensive abilities. Jeffries was mainly a reactive fighter, one who specialized countering while on the backfoot. You can read some fights where Jeffries is dancing around men who he outweighs by over 30 pounds rather than taking the fight to them. When Jeffries was forced to bring the fight to someone else or chase them, he always looked clunky and wide open. Fitzsimmons planned on changing that;

'When Jeffries first came out he was a big, strong, awkward young fellow, who possessed the right sort of material, but he was improperly coached and as a result he got into that dreadfully bad habit of crouching continuously. This is a very ineffective style, although it serves well if a fellow is determined to do nothing but defend himself. Jeffries fought me in our first battle in a crouch all the way; but later on when we became friends I taught him how to stand up and box his man. I got him away from that crouch entirely and he became a very clever boxer as well as a marvelous fighter. I had plenty of opportunity to coach him and practice with him while we were on the road in the same company.' - Bob Fitzsimmons

The first Corbett fight is probably the best example of a mover making Jeffries look bad, Corbett was decisively winning his fight with Jeffries on points until he got knocked out in the 23rd round of their 25 round fight. This made a rematch between the two easily promotable despite Corbett's age and inactivity.

Come fight time, observers were shocked; Jeffries, coming in upright rather than in his crouch, was the one who outboxed Corbett rather than the other way around. Fitzsimmons, due to his hatred of Corbett, wanted Jeffries to push the pace and knock Jim out from the opening bell. Jeffries, feeling the need to prove himself, showcased his abilities and carried Corbett for ten rounds. Despite weighing 230, he was as light on his feet as a lightweight.

The main thing everyone agreed on after the fight, was that Jeffries was the greatest heavyweight the ring ever saw;

"Jeffries surprised me. He made wonderful improvement. I never saw him so fast. I am certain that he was not that quick when he fought Fitzsimmons. His footwork has improved, and his hitting is cleaner. He did not employ his crouch in the manner that he did in our previous contest. No man living today, nor was there ever one, has any business with Jeffries. He is in a class by himself. He is just as strong as he ever was, much cleverer and in the ring tonight his speed was a revelation to me. It was my ill fortune to find him at his best and I have paid the penalty." - Corbett

"Jeffries showed wonderful improvement. He fought better and faster than he did when he met Fitzsimmons in this city. Jeffries showed grand science, and great hitting power. He boxed as well as Corbett, and was a strong as a lion. I was not prepared to see Jeffries outbox Corbett. He lost none of his overpowering strength by taking on the newly acquired cleverness, and every blow told. His class is so absolute that no boxer in the world can hope to cope with him and a new generation of fighters must come up before the championship will leave his hands. He has ten years to go with that grand physique of his, and then I doubt that the equal of his present self will ever exist. I believe that many years will elapse before a new champion arrives." - Referee Ed Graney

"Jeffries is a hard man to beat. He is so big and strong that one must conclude it is impossible to find a man that will be able to take his measure. Before last nights encounter I thought that a clever strong man could beat him, but when he stepped into the ring and showed as much science as Corbett I am forced to take my hat off and acknowledge his superiority." - Middleweight Champion Tommy Ryan

"Like Alexander of old, he has conquered the pugilistic realm and is sighting for new fields to invade, but just now none appear on the horizon. There is absolutely not a fighter in America Europe or Australia who is worthy of the big boilermakers attention, and he is right in the prime of his life too. Jeffries stands alone in a class by himself." - San Francisco Bulletin

Man, what I would do to get film of this fight just so I can see how this complete version of Jeffries fares against the other greats from time. Sure, Corbett was not the man he once was, but the fact that everyone who saw the fight unanimously agreed that this was the greatest heavyweight performance the world has ever seen tells me that Fitzsimmons turned Jeffries into something really, really special.

 

Corbett more so, Sullivan fought basically everyone there was to fight in the American and European theatres until 1887. Corbett’s success rests on valiant losses/draws and wins over has beens. Granted his best win, over McCoy (assuming you think it was legit), gets pretty underrated. McCoy’s heavyweight run in general is underrated.

 

Not true. A good chunk of the talent during the late LPR-early gloved era were British, debatably making up the majority of the talent worldwide. South Africa and Canadian talent pools were incomparable to Britain’s. Hell, the American talent pool formed largely in part due to British settlers starting from the 1840s or so. These are men who have been sparring with gloves since the 1730s so the skill and talent pool had well enough time to develop in the isles compared to its colonies.

Also I’m confused about what you mean by Sullivan’s ‘con’? His reign was certainly a sham/con after Kilrain if that’s what you mean.

 

Ah my fault