Prime to Prime Jim Jeffires vs Ezzard Charles

I hate this type of match because its too hard to picture............... Jeffries was great, but also a hulk who plodded around the ring........... A guy like Jeffries is NOT gonna like slick fighters with speed and flash.......... Jeffries hammered Jimmy Corbett a couple of times, but Corby was in his late 30s by then......

As for Jim Jeffries beating Buzzard Charles, well, the ring would have to be small.... A 20X20 size ring favors Charles............. If Jeffries can corner and get his gloves on Charles, then Charles is dead... But I'm not sure Jeffries would catch Charles in a big ring......

No way in hell that Charles could KO Jeffries........ That would never happen......... But Charles could win on points over 10, 12 or 15 rds....... Charles would need to be in top shape in order to keep moving / running away from Jeffries.......... A stationary Charles gets mugged by Jeffries........

MR.BILL

 

Frankly, I don't know enough about Jeffires. But from what I know I would imagine Charles out-pointing him if he stays away from Jim's power. I know Jim liked leaning and clinching on men using his weight as strength and to wear his opponents down.

The question is, how long is the fight? If it's a 20 or 30 rounder there's a zero chance Charles can win. 15 rounds, Charles chances dramatically increase.

 

Charles by wide unanimous decision. Even if charles decides not to move, he can still pick apart jeffries all night long with sharp right hand counters the way Hopkins does to opponents. I do fully expect Charles to dance and box circles around jeff all night and cut up his face Andrei Chikatilo style. Charles hands will just be way too fast for jeff and his skill level will be on a whole different planet. Jeff was strong as an ox, but he was not a great puncher...and I don't think he posed a punching threat to charles the way foreman and liston would. If anyone knew how to survive, it was ezzard charles, tough man to knock out.

 

Interesting matchup, Bummy, but I would like to know what rules we are fighting under. Is this a 25 round fight or a 15 round fight?

On a fifteen round fight, I think Charles takes it on points-too clever and elusive.

A twenty-five round fight might be another matter, giving Jeffries more time to pound away at the body to slow Charles down enough to stop him. The wild card will be if Jeffries can avoid getting cut up so his size and strengh and stamina can tell.

I like Jeffries if the fight is scheduled for 25.

 

Jeffries would Ko Chalres. Chalres lacked the punch and durability to bother Jeffries. Jeffries was also pretty quick on his feet, and far too strong for Chalres.

 

I take it that you have not seen footage of Jeffries training for the Ruhlin fight.

He was as fast on his feet as any 220 lb fighter I have ever seen.

 

Jeffries despite his size/strength just couldn't punch that hard, he took forever to put away small men so Charles durability (which is far better than given credit for) won't really be put to the test against him. Jeffries struggled putting MWs away, his wins are partly due to absorbing allot of punnishment and outlasting his man. Charles would quite possibly be the biggest puncher he ever faced, certainly the best overall arsenal of punches and the best boxer.

 

I think the duration of the fight is very important here, owing to Jeffries habit of wearing down his opponents late.
Over 15 I see Charles winning comfortably by dec.
Over 25 Jeffries chances increase dramatically,he may still be out pointed but has a much better chance of acheiving a stoppage win.imo.
Three scenarios present themselves to me.
Jeffries by late stoppage [past 20 rds]
Charles by u dec over 15 rds
Charles by tko over 15rds and up to 20rds.
Jeffres best wins are over Corbett twice ,Fitz twice, and Sharkey twice,imo.
Lets look at them for a bit.
Jeffries stopped Corbett in 1900,in 23 rds ,Corbett was 33, had been inactive for 2 years,and had not won a fight in 6 years.
Papers indicate that Corbett was ahead at the time of the stoppage ,by how much depends on which paper you read.
Corbett scaled 188lbs .
Second fight in 1903,Jeffries wins this more emphatically a ko in 10rds.
Corbett was 36,had been inactive for 2 years and had not won a fight for 9 years.
Corbett scaled 183lbs.
Jeffries kod Fitz in 11rds..in 1899
Fitz was 36 ,and had been inactive for 2 years.

Fitz scaled167lbs.

Second fight.was in1902,Jeffries stopped Fitz in the 8th rd,after shipping enormous punishment.
Fitz was 39 and had been inactive for 2 years.
Fitz scaled 172lbs.
Jeffries beat Sharkey by dec over 20 rds , 1899, no weights are available for Sharkey.
Second fight Jeffries beat Sharkey by dec over 25 rds.
Sharkey scaled 183lbs.
Both fights were nip and tuck close affairs,and Sharkey ,hardly a defensive fighter with his come forward bulling style ,went the distance both times,despite conceding significant amounts of weight and 6 inches in height.
Sharkey was twice kod by Fitz, and early.

Charles best weight as a heavy was around 185-188lbs and he was 6 foot tall.
He was used to conceding weight to his rivals and notched up stoppages against men the calibre of.Layne 195lbs,Baksi 210 1/2lbs.
Charles twice outpointed Walcott and went the distance with Marciano in their first fight ,and into the 8th rd in their second.
Charles was the only man to go the distance with Marciano in his ttile defences ,and Marciano named him as his toughest foe.
Charles was slightly past his best in those fights with Rocky , he had been a very great light heavy , but never fought for the title.
If this match was over modern rules , there is a real chance that Charles could pull off a tko stoppage ,imo.
Jeffries stoically endured horrible punishment in several of his wins, he had a chin of granite , but modern referees may have retired him with the punishment he sustained in some fights.
Charles was not in Jeffries class for shipping punishment,,but then he was better defensively so did not have to.
Jeffries had a ko punch ,I think it has been overated through the years,but he could wear you down and stop you.
The fact that the 5 foot 8 in 183lbs Sharkey , a rough tough slugger ,but no Willie Pep ,went 45rds with the much larger Jeffries, indicates that Jeffries wallop was not in the Marciano class,imo.
If Charles could go 15 rds against a peak Marciano ,who, I beleive applied significantly more consistant pressure than Jeffries,I see no reason why Jeffries should stop him in under 20rds.
Charles had the ability to keep his distance when he needed to and Jeffries, though not the plodding oaf he is sometimes thought of as, would be playing catch up with the skilled Ezzard.

My pick has to be Charles,in an entertaining fight ,in which Charles superior boxing ability gradually asserts itself,leaving Jeffries face looking like raw hamburger after the fight.

 

Ring size, ref and duration are obvious keys to bout ... for all the above obvious reasons ..

 

Jeffries was a boxer, not a wrestler.
Jeffries' main tactic was a straight left !

 

He was a wrestler prior to his boxing career though

 

So what ?
Rocky Marciano wanted to be a baseball player.
Sugar Ray Robinson had more interest in being a dancer.
Greg Page true love was basketball.