I think Corbett, Fitzsimmons, and Jeffries would all beat Mercer. To be completely honest about it, I'm not even sure Mercer would beat Tom Sharkey.
Or ..... you little kids like to discredit those old-timers by saying Mercer was "far more skilled", but you've never seen the others fight or if you have only seen 1 of their fights.
LEts say Mercer is at his absolute best, Lennox/Holyfield form, he may well beat the lot, I certainly see him easily beating Sharkey and walking down Fitz to KO him. Technically he is likely much better than Jeffries, better defensively, sharper puncher and that should see him beat Jeffries who has no strength/size advantage to overcome his technical defeciencies The trickest fight for Mercer would be Corbett, with Corbetts speed, skill and movement. We saw this could trouble Mercer against Holmes, but Corbett is nowhere near as good as Holmes and may struggle to keep Mercer off him. The longer it goes on the better for Mercer as he'll have longer to get the KO
Doesn't matter what era you transport him to, Mercer would always be an inconsistent fringe contender who would come up short against the top guys. Doesn't matter who the top guy is..he's probably blowing his chance the fight before...rather he be upset by a wash up or never was. Lewis and Holyfield used him as a tough tune up, this and knocking out Morrison is his claim to fame at the pro level. Maybe him, Ruddock, and Ike should have a rumble to see who the real GOAT is?
I disagree here. Allthough Jeffries took the superficial facial damage, Fitz was in a horible state after that fight from Jeffries body punches. He had broken ribs, he claimed that it hurt when he breathed for a couple of days afterwards and that he couldnt lift his left arm. He also fainted a couple of days after the fight. I get the idea with Jeffries that even when he looked like he was loosing his body punches were taking their toll on his opponent. We must also consider the curious inversion of tactics between the two fights. In the first fight Jeffries fought deffensivley, Fitz was the agressor, Fitz got his face beaten up and Jeffries was virtualy unmarked. In the second fight Fitz fought deffensivley, Jeffries was the agressor, Jeffries got his face beaten up and Fitz was virtualy unmarked.