What if The black heavyweights got a chance during jeffries era?

Several of them would've beaten up on the major white "players" of the day.

 

Yeh, Denver Ed Martin was an excellent slick defensive fighter - I might've favoured him to win a decision against Jeffries, one things for sure, Jeffries had no intention of taking him on.

His claim was not as emphatic as Jack Johnsons, but he was certainly deserving of a shot as the premier black fighter of the time.

How about Childs?

 

Certainly up till early 1902 Childs would have been a more suitable opponent for Jeff than Finnegan,I dont think Jeffries was afraid of any challenger ,he just went along with the customs of the times,despicable though they were.

 

It wouldnt have made any difference.

Denver Ed Martin was a fine fighter and deserved a title shot but he would not have beaten Jeffries in any fight where Jeffries dictated the contract.

Childs deserved a shot but would have been steamrolled.

Johnson might have beaten Jeffries but if he had it would have been at the end of Jeffries career.

 

Frank Childs was at most a lightheavy--I think Jeff would probably have been too big for him.

Denver Ed Martin might have made Jeff look bad for quite a while, but I think his weak chin would have betrayed him sooner or later.

Jack Johnson--Would have been a very interesting fight in 1904 or 1905. Johnson certainly would have had an excellent chance. The winner of this fight if it had come off would certainly rank near the top of all-time heavyweight rankings even today.

 

what he said, :yep

 

While it is unlikley that Martin or Childs could have dethroned Jeffries they could have had some interesting matches with Fitzsimmons, Corbett Sharkey and other contenders.

A match between Fitzsimmons and Martin could have been made between the two Fits Jeffries fights for example.

 

Martin could have fought Fitzsimmons, Sharkey and Rhulin.

He tried to get fights with Jeffries, Sharkey and Rhulin. The latter two were obviously aimed at strengthening his claim to fight Jeffries suggesting that he thought he would win.

 

During Jeffries championship years from 1899-1904 he was the #1 guy out there, black or white. I suppose Johnson, McVey, Martin, Armstrong, and Griffin were good enough to get title shots ( Armstrong and Griffin fougth Jeffries in non-title fights ), but they were not in Fitz, Corbett's or Sharkey class. Years later, Johnson and McVey beacme better fighters, but Jeffries was long retired once then matured as heavies in 1907-1908.

To compare Ed Martin to Wlad Klitshcko is ridiculous.

 

This is technically "post-Jeffries", but would Joe Jeanette have had a chance against Jack Johnson had they ever rematched?

 

Absolutely.

 

Hands down, Ed Martin, Joe Jeanette, Langford, Wills, Mcvey, would have all changed history if they were given any opportunity to fight for the title. Jack Johnson's greatest fights were apparently against all the above mentioned before he won the world title.

Dempsey's black mark on his career is the very fact that he never defended against the top black performer of his day which if I'm not mistaken was Harry Wills. Even worse, an aging Jack Johnson after his prison term called him out and Dempsey never gave him a shot either.

Sullivan, Paddy Ryan, James Figg, Corbett, Jeffries, Burns and Willard would have had much tougher careers and less notoriety because I doubt they would have been able to escape this era without a loss to a black contender on their record.

 

Just curiously, can you name a black contender in the James Figg era?