Jim Jeffries

[KidKwik]

The stories about this guy puzzle me, his Wikipedia article stats also make him seem like an incredibly gifted athlete and boxer. I imagine he was an incredible athlete for his time, but do any of you have any concrete info on how great this guy actually was?

[GeneralZod]

Not at all, but i have seen some rare footage of him training and throwing down from around 1901. i believe it was. The footages look just how you'd imagine, not a lot to analyze.

[ShoulderRoll]

He was big and strong, could absorb a lot of punishment as well as dish it out. Never got knocked down or lost a fight when he was in his prime.

[Sugarj]

A very strong guy, large for his era, superb chin and ridiculous conditioning.

He made up for his lack of sheer boxing skill with strength, stamina and toughness......but in reality had only about 20 fights. His best wins came against Tom Sharkey as well as post prime versions of Corbett and Fitzsimmons.

I have seen his training schedules, they should be easily found online. He certainly trained very hard. I seem to remember that he ran 12 miles everyday! Decent photographs from the era show that he had a very good physique.

[Dariusz]

Yes, some great old footages on YT available. I read about him and AFAIRC that he was too strong for everyone in his prime and perhaps this was the reason he fought so little fights -- lack of good candidates. I wish his fight against Johnson was 6 years earlier it would have been a blast.

[euellgong]

I'm totally agree with you

[Rspen46]

Jeffries

Everything I've read about him supports all info provided here, that he was around 6 feet tall or so, that him and Bob Fitzsimmons were about the same height, but Bob was a thin built guy and Jeffries a very muscular built Athletic type of person, many stories about legendary power, and that he played whatever sports were available at the time.

I wish he would have fought Sam Langford and squashed him and put an end to all the legendary Langford talk, if Sam had been Koed by Jim, then we would have known, he most likely would not have faired well against any HW, I believe Jeffries beats Johnson in his Prime, he made a decent showing at an advanced age after years of inactivity and only a short time to train.

[joeandthebums]

I wish he would have fought Sam Langford and squashed him and put an end to all the legendary Langford talk, if Sam had been Koed by Jim, then we would have known, he most likely would not have faired well against any HW

Jeffries last fight before retirement was August 1904, weight 224lbs.

Langford fought Walcott in September 1904, weight 142lbs.

Not sure the Heavyweight Champion knocking out a top Welterweight would look bad on the Welterweight, regardless of the era or the boxers involved.

[rightsideup]

Everything I've read about him supports all info provided here, that he was around 6 feet tall or so, that him and Bob Fitzsimmons were about the same height, but Bob was a thin built guy and Jeffries a very muscular built Athletic type of person, many stories about legendary power, and that he played whatever sports were available at the time.

I wish he would have fought Sam Langford and squashed him and put an end to all the legendary Langford talk, if Sam had been Koed by Jim, then we would have known, he most likely would not have faired well against any HW, I believe Jeffries beats Johnson in his Prime, he made a decent showing at an advanced age after years of inactivity and only a short time to train.

I always thought Jim was around 6'2

[sonnyboyx2]

Everything I've read about him supports all info provided here, that he was around 6 feet tall or so, that him and Bob Fitzsimmons were about the same height, but Bob was a thin built guy and Jeffries a very muscular built Athletic type of person, many stories about legendary power, and that he played whatever sports were available at the time.

I wish he would have fought Sam Langford and squashed him and put an end to all the legendary Langford talk, if Sam had been Koed by Jim, then we would have known, he most likely would not have faired well against any HW, I believe Jeffries beats Johnson in his Prime, he made a decent showing at an advanced age after years of inactivity and only a short time to train.

Any "Legendary Langford Talk" as you call it, is most likely true. Langford was a phenomenon