Pick A Linear Heavyweight Champ To Beat Jeffries Under That Era's Rule Set

Were one of the rules at that time that you could stand over someone that you knocked down and hit them again the instant that they got up? Hell! the police would have to enter the ring to stop Tyson literally beating Jeffries to death.

 

In a 25 plus round fight I do not see many who would beat Jeffries.

Certainly not Fighters not trained for marathon fights.

Johnson certainly is a good possibility. Dempsey power may be enough to cripple even Jeffries. I don't see modern hwts being able to last 25 plus rounds. Most would be stopped from shear exhaustion.

 

I would say most champions would Jeffries hardly knows what it's like to fight equally big or bigger men his strength was not tested and his chin did not feel the power of a quality big man. I suspect what Johnson did and Jeff's reaction was partly due to finally being in the ring with a near peer in size and greater strength. Going 25 rounds with a much weaker less powerful foe is something he will not be doing he isn't taking any big men the distance.

 

Leon Spinks

 

I see many, many both champ and not who would ensure that the 25th round never happened.

 

I think the very small gloves might work against Marciano. Wouldn't do to be hitting shoulders and elbows and hips in a 25 round fight. They fought with 4s, right?

 

Marciano
Johnson
Tunney
Holmes
Dempsey
Langford
Ezzard Charles
Louis
Ali
Frazier
Joshua
Lewis
Holyfield
Fitz (Not lineal but prime)
Corbett

Those are just guys off of the top of my head...

 

Jack johnson. It'll obviously be more competitive than the old Jeffries fight, but johnson stops him around the 19 th.

 

What nonsense.

This ain't no endurance exercise to see who has the better stamina. You could tell me that Jeffries can fight for 50 rounds but in a real fight it won't mean sh#t because he won't be seeing the 3rd round against prime Tyson.

 

Jeffries went 25 rds just once.In that second fight ,against Tom Sharkey , he waited till Sharkey came in and countered him Sharkey did all the leading and forcing.Jeffries was only once in a fight scheduled for more than 25 rds,against Johnson ,[45rds,] he went out in15.

 

Langford would fight any man.....except Jim Jeffries.

To beat Jeffries in a long bout said fighter would need to be trained to fight distance. Modern hwts only train for 12 rounders and they would find it extremely difficult to go 15 let alone 25 rounds.

Jeffries beats most other hwt champions in a 25 round bout.

 

That statement was made on Langford's behalf by his manager Joe Woodman in1905 ,whilst Jeffries was the reigning champion, it was a blanket challenge in which Woodman challenged anybody to fight Langford saying," we exclude Jim Jeffries," since at the time Jeffries was over 220lbs and Langford was 155lbs I don't find it at all surprising that Woodman would draw the line at his light middleweight fighting Jeffries!

A year later a 156lbs Langford was badly thrashed by a 187lbs Johnson.

This thread isn't about modern heavyweights only being trained to go 12 rds , and struggling to go 25rds with Jeffries its about the prospective chances of linear champions against Jeffries.It's about which linear champion would defeat Jeffries. I can think of quite a few.How much of a factor the 25rds distance would be could depend on how merciful the referee was towards Jeffries. If Jim Corbett could go 23 rds with Jeffries I'd take Ezzard Charles , with the luxury of fighting at a much slower pace than he was accustomed to , to actually embarrass Jeffries.
Jack Johnson is more proven over the longer distances than Jeffries.

 

The original question concerns fighting Jeffries under the conditions Jeffries fought. The larger fighters today have difficulty fighting 12 rounds. They won't go 15 let alone 25. Jeffries is a lot better than given credit for here. Experts rated him very highly including Johnson. Those fighters not trained to fight marathon distances will NOT fare well vs Jeffries. This includes Ali. Under modern rules the scenario changes.

 

Totally agree. I might not rate Jeffries very highly but I can't deny that he could take a punch and keep on coming to knock 'em out. He had great stamina, great chin, and kept his power late. Even against Johnson it wasn't until like the 15 rd that he got stopped and that was a past prime version too.

 

It would be great is it were possible to greatly enhance the available film of Jeffries. The enhanced film of Sharkey and Ruhlin that is available is still too poor to analyze. The training footage of Jeffries is sharp and you see excellent athleticism and some good techniques being employed. It's so unfortunate we have little to work with and because of it his greatness as a fighter has been lost to time.