I consider him to be one of the strongest relative to his competition. I don't think he would be anything special strengthwise in the last 20 years, actually probably a little under the norm with his slight stature. Then, again, if we possessed sepia-toned pictures of Tua or Wlad, they would be hailed as Paul Bunyan types.
How possible is it to view such a film nowadays? Even a highlights package skewed towards Jeffries of early rounds only would be extremely interesting. If your account of the early rounds is correct, and i see no reason why it wouldnt be, imo, it certainly goes a long way to raising the legacy of James Jeffries. Actually, it really would be quite ironic if this film ever ended up being circulated regularly and it became widely realised, that the legacy of James Jeffries was greatly diminished, because of "prejudice".
Jeffries career was largely built on victories over men whom he greatly outweighed, not his fault, but fact. Fitz 34 lbs. Sharkey 32lbs . Corbett 27lbs. Choynski 63lbs. There is NO mention of Jeffries outmuscling ANY of these opponents in contemporary accounts of the day. Accounts of the Jeffries Johnson fight ALL STATE Johnson manhandled him like a baby, film footage supports this. Strength is useful to a fighter ONLY when it can be practically applied. George Chuvalo is a very strong man ,even today in his 70's, in his prime he was a limited fighter ,and his career unfolded accordingly. Foreman and Liston were stronger than Ali, so what? Jeffries had great physical strength, endurance, durability,and good power. Johnson had great physical strength,,good power,but ,more importantly,great boxing ability.
More LIES from the LIAR. Jeffries v Johnson Rd 1 " Mr Jeffries ,feinted a bit ,and then tried the clinching game".Johnson Hoping to use his greater weight to muscle his opponent around [227 to 208]. "I was feeling quite fresh,and going easily,able to hit him when I wanted to,and, I could tell he wasn't going to beat me for strength"Johnson. Rd 2. A right uppercut forced Jeffries to clinch,"All right Jim ," ,said Johnson ,his arms around the former champion," I'll love you if you want me to". Rd 3 Johnson landed 4 uppercuts in a row,,and says to Jeffries," Come on now Mr Jeff,do something man ,this is for the championship". Rd 4 Big round for Jeffries his ONLY one.He lands to Johnson's body and re-opens a training cut on his lip. Having sampled Jeffries best,Johnson leans down between rds and assures John l Sullivan at ringside that Jeffries can't hit hard enough to hurt him. Rd s 5, 6, 7.All big Johnson rds. He bloodies Jeffries mouth ,opens a cut on his cheek ,and closes his right eye. On the strength issue "At one point,he encircled Jeffries with his arms and walked him towards Corbett's side of the ring,asking "Where do you want me to put him Mr Corbett?" This is the reality of the fight, so no more lies ,no more bull****,no more spin .
I'm not sure about this actually. Ali was enormously strong and rarely gets the credit. He was freakishly strong. You can see him handle Foreman for spells in their fight. I think if Foreman had better practical strength, he would have won...Ali is able not only to endure Foreman's phyhsically pressing him, he actually controls a lot of those exchanges. In fact, it works well in support of your overall argument. Foreman might be the stronger human being, but Ali's other-worldly balance combined with his own strength makes him the functionally stronger fighter, perhaps.
I take your points Mac ,and agree with them . Lifting a dead weight ,or arm wrestling ,Liston and Foreman likely beat Ali. But we are talking boxing, diferent kettle of fish entirely.
Jeffries was very green whe he fought Choynski, still Choynski did well to go 20 rds to a draw with Jeffries. Choynski smashed Jeffries in the mouth so hard, Jeffries lip was forced between his teeth,and had to be cut away.Tough cookie old Jeff. Jeffries said Choynski was the hardest hitter he ever met.
Boilermaker, You can view several entire rounds of the fight today on DVD. If you know the right person, the full fight is out there. I have seen them. Jeffries is slightly the better in the early rounds. Johnson takes over in the mid rounds, form 5-9 ,there are even exchanges in 10, and 11. Jeffries is visibly slowed by the 13th. In the 14th round Jeffries can't keep his hands up, then Johnson moves in for the finish. The fight is relatively slow paced.
It's basically impossible to take anything you say on the subject seriously...shame, as you seem to be one of the few on the forum to have seen the fight.
What can we wager on this? It happened. Once again Jeanette worked Johnson over in round one, then Johnson went low in round two. And Jeanette was a novice fighter with a losing record in some cases, He drew with an experience Johnson, Not impressed. Who says Johnson's optimum weight was 208? He looked much faster at 190 in the Burns fight. In fact Johnson was 205 for the O'Brein fight, and not exactly quick in that one What source says this? Sam was 156 pounds, and not very experienced at heavyweight when he went the distance with a prime version of Johnson. Langford was likely over 180 in the filmed Jeanette fight He Grant posted from me. So, McVey was a teenager in two of the matches and only 20 in the thrid. We have been over this before, You can't seem to learn. Once again in the numerous fights between Johnson and Jeanette, McVey and Langford, there was only 1 KO win.
And why is that? I produce source and papers that I did not write and base my opinion on film I have seen. When I have I said something on film that was proven to be 100% incorrect? Also what makes you think I am one of the few on the forum to see the fight? Who else commented that they saw the fight?