It is unfortunate, in many ways, that Jim Jeffries is remembered primarily for his loss to Jack Johnson. This would be like judging Joe Louis on his loss to Rocky Marciano, or Muhammad Ali off of his loss to Larry Holmes. Imagine those two fights as the most frequently shown films of Louis and Ali’s careers and with other films rarely seen. Does one imagine that these heroes of heavyweight history would be so fondly remembered?
It is sadly unfair to rate Jeffries off of his loss to Johnson. He had to lose over 100 pounds in training for this fight and had not fought in 6 years. Jeff, like Ali and Louis in their last fights, was clearly only a shell of his former self.
Let’s review a few facts about “Big Jeff.” He was never defeated during his prime. He was never knocked off his feet during his prime. He scored the quickest knockout in linear heavyweight championship history in 55 seconds. He offered to fight his top three challengers all in one night, but they refused. He won the title in only his 13th pro fight. He retired undefeated as champion, but came back after a long lay-off and lost to Jack Johnson in the fight that fans are most familiar with.
Jim Jeffries, more so than Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano, or even Joe Louis stands up well when compared to big modern heavyweights. Jeff was 6’2 ?and weighed about 217-218 at his peak according to newspaper accounts. With his 25” thighs, 17” calf, 10” ankle and 18” neck and thick bone structure, he had the size and dimensions to be a solid 230-pounder if he were fighting today. This is about the same size and weight as both Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman both of whom scored knockouts over the giant Lennox Lewis.
Gilbert Odd, a historian and boxing book author wrote in 1974, "James J. Jeffries was the strongest of all the heavyweight champions." According to those in Jeffries training camp, Jeff, "a lover of hunting, once killed a large deer and carried it on his shoulders nine miles to camp without stopping to rest. Friends who accompanied him had difficulty keeping up with him on the jaunt home."
Jeffries had a lot more than just a modern heavyweights size and great strength going for him; he was also an outstanding natural athlete. John Durant, wrote in The Heavyweight Champions, “He was surprisingly fast and agile. He could run 100 yards in 11 seconds, and high jump 5 feet, 10 inches.” That is absolutely remarkable for a man of his size. Consider that Jesse Owens ran the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds a worlds record in 1936 (nowadays they run 100 meters). That a heavyweight boxer, not a track and field athlete, can accomplish such feats is the mark of an excellent athletic talent.
Eyewitness referee Billy Roche concurred saying Jeffries had the "acrobatic springiness of a circus tumbler in his legs. He was no lumbering ox, anchored to one spot, but a natural athlete."
Jim Jeffries was a strong heavyweight hitter. Not an explosive puncher like Louis or Tyson, but was a thudding slugger near the class of Liston or Foreman. Henry Cooper said that he “had a punch that might have knocked out a horse.”
The San Francisco Chronicle, Aug 16, 1903, reported that James Corbett had "a very bad night" after his fight with Jeffries, "the body blows that stung his stomach and kidneys with such unerring accuracy hurt the ex-champion grievously." Jeffries strong body attack left his opponents wracking in pain.
Jeffries best punch was his left hook to the body and head. Yet despite being a hard hitter most of his big fights went a number of rounds. Perhaps the best comparison one can make to modern heavyweights is to say Jeff was a bigger, and stronger version of Rocky Marciano or Joe Frazier. Jeff coming in low in his crouch, forcing opponents to punch down at him as he slipped inside like Marciano and hammering away at them to the body and head with his powerful left hooks like Joe Frazier. Jeffries also had proven endurance able to fight 25 rounds and still maintain his power late in the fight.
Tunney, a master ring strategist in his own right, described Jeffries style, “The ring strategy of Boilermaker Jim was entirely the thinking of the man who trained him for the championship fight with Fitzsimmons--Tommy Ryan, the great old-time middleweight champion, and one of the cagiest of them all. Tommy Ryan created the pattern of Jeffries' actions in the ring--taught him the famous crouch, body hunched away over and left hand stuck out….It was one of the most uninteresting of ring styles." It may have been uninteresting but it was effective. Fitzsimmons broke both of his hands punching down on Jeffries head.
Tex Rickard, the famous promoter, tended to agree, “There's no style to him, but he's the hardest hitter I ever saw. And that includes Dempsey."
Rickard further added that he regarded Jim Jeffries not Jack Dempsey as the greatest heavyweight he ever saw. He was of the opinion that, Jan 1931 Ring, “Jeffries would have knocked out Dempsey” and said, “You never seen an athlete in all the world like Jeffries. Boy what I would have given to see the real Jeffries tackle Johnson.”
At his peak, however, Jim actually developed good, solid boxing skills. In the second Corbett fight the Chronicle, Aug 15, 1903, said, “In the third (round) Jeff’s new born cleverness began to assert itself.”
It is sadly unfair to rate Jeffries off of his loss to Johnson. He had to lose over 100 pounds in training for this fight and had not fought in 6 years. Jeff, like Ali and Louis in their last fights, was clearly only a shell of his former self.
Let’s review a few facts about “Big Jeff.” He was never defeated during his prime. He was never knocked off his feet during his prime. He scored the quickest knockout in linear heavyweight championship history in 55 seconds. He offered to fight his top three challengers all in one night, but they refused. He won the title in only his 13th pro fight. He retired undefeated as champion, but came back after a long lay-off and lost to Jack Johnson in the fight that fans are most familiar with.
Jim Jeffries, more so than Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano, or even Joe Louis stands up well when compared to big modern heavyweights. Jeff was 6’2 ?and weighed about 217-218 at his peak according to newspaper accounts. With his 25” thighs, 17” calf, 10” ankle and 18” neck and thick bone structure, he had the size and dimensions to be a solid 230-pounder if he were fighting today. This is about the same size and weight as both Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman both of whom scored knockouts over the giant Lennox Lewis.
Gilbert Odd, a historian and boxing book author wrote in 1974, "James J. Jeffries was the strongest of all the heavyweight champions." According to those in Jeffries training camp, Jeff, "a lover of hunting, once killed a large deer and carried it on his shoulders nine miles to camp without stopping to rest. Friends who accompanied him had difficulty keeping up with him on the jaunt home."
Jeffries had a lot more than just a modern heavyweights size and great strength going for him; he was also an outstanding natural athlete. John Durant, wrote in The Heavyweight Champions, “He was surprisingly fast and agile. He could run 100 yards in 11 seconds, and high jump 5 feet, 10 inches.” That is absolutely remarkable for a man of his size. Consider that Jesse Owens ran the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds a worlds record in 1936 (nowadays they run 100 meters). That a heavyweight boxer, not a track and field athlete, can accomplish such feats is the mark of an excellent athletic talent.
Eyewitness referee Billy Roche concurred saying Jeffries had the "acrobatic springiness of a circus tumbler in his legs. He was no lumbering ox, anchored to one spot, but a natural athlete."
Jim Jeffries was a strong heavyweight hitter. Not an explosive puncher like Louis or Tyson, but was a thudding slugger near the class of Liston or Foreman. Henry Cooper said that he “had a punch that might have knocked out a horse.”
The San Francisco Chronicle, Aug 16, 1903, reported that James Corbett had "a very bad night" after his fight with Jeffries, "the body blows that stung his stomach and kidneys with such unerring accuracy hurt the ex-champion grievously." Jeffries strong body attack left his opponents wracking in pain.
Jeffries best punch was his left hook to the body and head. Yet despite being a hard hitter most of his big fights went a number of rounds. Perhaps the best comparison one can make to modern heavyweights is to say Jeff was a bigger, and stronger version of Rocky Marciano or Joe Frazier. Jeff coming in low in his crouch, forcing opponents to punch down at him as he slipped inside like Marciano and hammering away at them to the body and head with his powerful left hooks like Joe Frazier. Jeffries also had proven endurance able to fight 25 rounds and still maintain his power late in the fight.
Tunney, a master ring strategist in his own right, described Jeffries style, “The ring strategy of Boilermaker Jim was entirely the thinking of the man who trained him for the championship fight with Fitzsimmons--Tommy Ryan, the great old-time middleweight champion, and one of the cagiest of them all. Tommy Ryan created the pattern of Jeffries' actions in the ring--taught him the famous crouch, body hunched away over and left hand stuck out….It was one of the most uninteresting of ring styles." It may have been uninteresting but it was effective. Fitzsimmons broke both of his hands punching down on Jeffries head.
Tex Rickard, the famous promoter, tended to agree, “There's no style to him, but he's the hardest hitter I ever saw. And that includes Dempsey."
Rickard further added that he regarded Jim Jeffries not Jack Dempsey as the greatest heavyweight he ever saw. He was of the opinion that, Jan 1931 Ring, “Jeffries would have knocked out Dempsey” and said, “You never seen an athlete in all the world like Jeffries. Boy what I would have given to see the real Jeffries tackle Johnson.”
At his peak, however, Jim actually developed good, solid boxing skills. In the second Corbett fight the Chronicle, Aug 15, 1903, said, “In the third (round) Jeff’s new born cleverness began to assert itself.”
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