The Iron Men Of Boxing by Monte Cox

[Poet682006]

Apparently you didn't see the attendance figures for the last Wladimir Klitschko fight.

Yeah, but those are Krauts.....I'm talking about CIVILIZED people that have taste

Poet

[Great John L]

The old time fighters were genuine iron men. True tough guys. John L. Sullivan fought 39 rounds with Mitchell. 75 with Kilrain. Bare knuckles in the freezing rain and mud. Love to see any modern fighter pull that off. Or when Jeffries fought Tom Sharkey in 1899 under blazing hot heat lamps for filming with the cameras. Jeff lost 20 pounds during the fight due to the heat and his hair fell out after it. But he still laid up Sharkey with 3 broken ribs. What about the Joe Jeanette Sam McVey fight, with 38 knockdowns, Jeanette going down over 20 of those times himself but still beating McVey in 49 rounds? Or how about when Jess Willard, 6'6 230 pounds, took on Johnson in Havana Cuba for 26 rounds in that hellish sun? What about Jess Willard getting up from 7 knockdonws from Demspey in 110 degree heat in Toledo to last until the third round with half the bones in his face broken, his eye closed, his ribs cracked, and his jaw broke? or Jim Corbett's 61 rounds battle with ring master Peter Jackson? The old timers had genuine heart, guts, courage, strength, and unbelievable stamina and conditioning. They could fight for HOURS. Not like todays heavyweights who get winded after 5 rounds of light mechanical jabbing and holding.

[Wild Blue Yonda]

It is difficult to be sure, for a number of reasons, but I am one of a relative few who is quite open to the idea Jeffries would've been competitive in any era, a champion in most, & a handful & then some for virtually all Champions in HW history.

Clashes with Dempsey, Marciano, Frazier & Holyfield, in particular, would've made for instant classics.