was jeff merritt a journey man or a true contender ?

He was both. I mean he was a fringe contender of the early 1970s, a journeyman perhaps but he was hard punching dangerous and would have made a respectable opponent for any of the genuine top contenders. Some of them had sparred with him and noted his power. His record at the end of 1973 was pretty good.
But he had drugs issues and did do some crimes, robbery and burglary etc. Being KO'd by a feather fisted fighter could mean his chin was weak, but being a junkie it could mean someting else.

 

I believe he was managed by Don King, who also had Ernie Shavers when Shavers still had hair (pre-"The Acorn").

Both fighters had power, but Merrit went on a 2 loss & one draw streak with Henry Clark, Stan Ward, & Billy Daniels..then got into law problems. Don King cast his lot with Shavers....and then DK moved big-time into the "promoting world".

 

In those early 70's it seems didnt a month go by when a new young heavyweight dangerman was coming out of the woodwork and some picked up the Rings Prospect of the month award which marked them as 'One to Watch' although this did often act as a curse as soon after they would run into a Bubble-Burster Ala Norton vs Jose Luis Garcia or Forest Ward vs Bill Drover Norton of course came back very well indeed, Many did not

Morris Jackson, Ted Gullick, Big Jim Elder, Dave Matthews, Boone Kirkman Pedro Lovell Al Jones (Both) Al Lewis etc etc etc, And Along comes Jeff Merritt AKA Candy Slim, Apparently he had a bit of a Rep for impressive Gym Work..In the Early Days, Ali in his book 'Sting like a Bee' Details a Sparring session circa 1970 with an Eager to Impress Merriet, Ali was not in great shape but just ticking over, apperntly Jeff was not respectful and tried to make an impression, after two rounds he had bloody Ali's nose, I gather Dundee wanted to end the session, but Ali wanted another Round, In this third round Ali started putting some Shots together with a more serious intent apparently by the end of the session Merritt was wobbling and hanging on... But he had put his name on a few more lips.... Later on he Actually Broke Earnie Shavers Jaw in a Sparring Session Jeff had a seriously Dangerous Left Hook.. And a bit of attitude even in supposedly friendly training

The Bombing out of the Remains of Earnie Terrell in the first round and the Subsequent Dismissal of the vastly downside Ron Stander, Set the stage for Jeff Merritt...they were names if little else by that stage, It should of been his launching pad to at least a more noteworthy stay in the rankings, but there were rumours of Party's and Party Substancies, Drink and Feminine Entities... Candy Slim the Party Animal seemed to be taking over.. He wouldnt be the first to go down the Thad Spencer school of dedication route...

In a way Jeff resembled a Heavyweight Thomas Hearns were the Assemby Line had closed for the weekend ..and he had snuck out half completed, Good Jab, Vivious Left Hook, not much on the right side, and Sparrow Legs that were not going to Support a Jeff if his chin was Located to any degree, especially if the party Vapors were still in his system..

At his short best Maybe he could of beaten a Mac Foster or Walter Moore or a few other fellow Prospects if he could get the left hook home..and of course avoid their incoming but Jeff would be on a meter he wasnt the type to endure in a long hard tussle

In the final ****ysis Jeff was like a Gunfighter Fast on the draw but once he had undermined his accuracy he was always going to end up face down in main street.

I gather his last years were quite tough and i hope he is at peace now, and if nothing else he contributed some colourful ink to those exciting heavyweight times.

 

The 70's...and all the boxing mag fighter "prospects".....and waiting for The Ring, K.O. Magazine, World Championship, and British Boxing mags to arrive in your mailbox. I remember as a kid in 1960, opening up a Saga Magazine and the author was writing about this brute who fought some out of Miami, and what would Ingo do if he threw his "Toonder" right hand against this fighter, and nothing happened? The writer was talking about Sonny Liston.

 

Merritt reached official contender status, at around number 10 give-or-take, with his September 73 destruction of Ernie Terrell and held that position until losing to Henry Clark the following March.

I don't think Merritt was either a true contender or a journeyman. He had top-10 status briefly and then quickly fizzled out. I think he was more of a prospect who didn't pan out. He had some very nice press after the Terrell victory and couldn't follow up. He didn't fight enough to be a journeyman, at least after '73 (and again, before then he was a prospect fighting his way up against the usual record-padding suspects (save for a young Roy Williams)).