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A thread made by Melankomas "elsewhere".
Jeffries had just beaten his number 1 contender Bob Fitzsimmons a year before this fight, in a fight where he was forced to use his size and strength to bulldoze Fitz rather than his skills. Before their fight Fitz said that he would either; "defeat Jeffries or make him into the greatest fighter the world has ever seen."
Soon after, Bob became Jeff's trainer. He despised the famed "Jeffries crouch" that hindered Jeff's speed and hurt his offensive abilities. Jeffries was mainly a reactive fighter, one who specialized countering while on the backfoot. You can read some fights where Jeffries is dancing around men who he outweighs by over 30 pounds rather than taking the fight to them. When Jeffries was forced to bring the fight to someone else or chase them, he always looked clunky and wide open. Fitzsimmons planned on changing that;
'When Jeffries first came out he was a big, strong, awkward young fellow, who possessed the right sort of material, but he was improperly coached and as a result he got into that dreadfully bad habit of crouching continuously. This is a very ineffective style, although it serves well if a fellow is determined to do nothing but defend himself. Jeffries fought me in our first battle in a crouch all the way; but later on when we became friends I taught him how to stand up and box his man. I got him away from that crouch entirely and he became a very clever boxer as well as a marvelous fighter. I had plenty of opportunity to coach him and practice with him while we were on the road in the same company.' - Bob Fitzsimmons
The first Corbett fight is probably the best example of a mover making Jeffries look bad, Corbett was decisively winning his fight with Jeffries on points until he got knocked out in the 23rd round of their 25 round fight. This made a rematch between the two easily promotable despite Corbett's age and inactivity.
Come fight time, observers were shocked; Jeffries, coming in upright rather than in his crouch, was the one who outboxed Corbett rather than the other way around. Fitzsimmons, due to his hatred of Corbett, wanted Jeffries to push the pace and knock Jim out from the opening bell. Jeffries, feeling the need to prove himself, showcased his abilities and carried Corbett for ten rounds. Despite weighing 230, he was as light on his feet as a lightweight.
The main thing everyone agreed on after the fight, was that Jeffries was the greatest heavyweight the ring ever saw;
Before Big Dunn,Big Dunce ,Big Dump,or whatever he currently call himself jumps in complaining about copying this from another forum,and calling out in correctly plagiarism I'd like to point out I pm'd him and asked his permission to post it here and he readily agreed.
Jeffries had just beaten his number 1 contender Bob Fitzsimmons a year before this fight, in a fight where he was forced to use his size and strength to bulldoze Fitz rather than his skills. Before their fight Fitz said that he would either; "defeat Jeffries or make him into the greatest fighter the world has ever seen."
Soon after, Bob became Jeff's trainer. He despised the famed "Jeffries crouch" that hindered Jeff's speed and hurt his offensive abilities. Jeffries was mainly a reactive fighter, one who specialized countering while on the backfoot. You can read some fights where Jeffries is dancing around men who he outweighs by over 30 pounds rather than taking the fight to them. When Jeffries was forced to bring the fight to someone else or chase them, he always looked clunky and wide open. Fitzsimmons planned on changing that;
'When Jeffries first came out he was a big, strong, awkward young fellow, who possessed the right sort of material, but he was improperly coached and as a result he got into that dreadfully bad habit of crouching continuously. This is a very ineffective style, although it serves well if a fellow is determined to do nothing but defend himself. Jeffries fought me in our first battle in a crouch all the way; but later on when we became friends I taught him how to stand up and box his man. I got him away from that crouch entirely and he became a very clever boxer as well as a marvelous fighter. I had plenty of opportunity to coach him and practice with him while we were on the road in the same company.' - Bob Fitzsimmons
The first Corbett fight is probably the best example of a mover making Jeffries look bad, Corbett was decisively winning his fight with Jeffries on points until he got knocked out in the 23rd round of their 25 round fight. This made a rematch between the two easily promotable despite Corbett's age and inactivity.
Come fight time, observers were shocked; Jeffries, coming in upright rather than in his crouch, was the one who outboxed Corbett rather than the other way around. Fitzsimmons, due to his hatred of Corbett, wanted Jeffries to push the pace and knock Jim out from the opening bell. Jeffries, feeling the need to prove himself, showcased his abilities and carried Corbett for ten rounds. Despite weighing 230, he was as light on his feet as a lightweight.
The main thing everyone agreed on after the fight, was that Jeffries was the greatest heavyweight the ring ever saw;
Before Big Dunn,Big Dunce ,Big Dump,or whatever he currently call himself jumps in complaining about copying this from another forum,and calling out in correctly plagiarism I'd like to point out I pm'd him and asked his permission to post it here and he readily agreed.
Bronson66
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