Strongest fighter ever lived

[Southpaw Stinger]

James J. Jeffries
George Foreman
Primo Carnera...that big, had to be
Nicolay Valuev...'cmon, he's a freakin' giant
Muhammad Ali....he manhandled everybody on the inside
Sonny Liston
Vitali Klitschko...huge man
Wladimir Klitschko...once again, freakin' huge

I wouldn't put Jeffries at the top. He was strong but it was an exagerated legend. He wasn't a huge man and he thought very small heavies.

[K-DOGG]

I wouldn't put Jeffries at the top. He was strong but it was an exagerated legend. He wasn't a huge man and he thought very small heavies.

Ahh, got to disagree with Jeffries strength being exagerated. There are many accounts of his athleticism outside of the ring....the most famous of which is him carrying a buck on his shoulders for about five miles through the woods on a hunting trip.

KO power doesn't necessarily denote strength. He was 6'4" and weight about 220....and that's a hard 220 that he built up making boilers under the harsh working conditions of the late 1800's. I can't turn a blind eye to that.

[butterfly1964]

Ahh, got to disagree with Jeffries strength being exagerated. There are many accounts of his athleticism outside of the ring....the most famous of which is him carrying a buck on his shoulders for about five miles through the woods on a hunting trip.

KO power doesn't necessarily denote strength. He was 6'4" and weight about 220....and that's a hard 220 that he built up making boilers under the harsh working conditions of the late 1800's. I can't turn a blind eye to that.

Jeffries was not 6'-4". He was about 6'-2" and about 215-217.

[K-DOGG]

Jeffries was not 6'-4". He was about 6'-2" and about 215-217.

Split the difference...he was 6' 3".

But he still averaged 220 Lbs.

[butterfly1964]

Split the difference...he was 6' 3".

But he still averaged 220 Lbs.

If you put Jeffries on your list, then you have to put Jack Johnson on that list as well.

[K-DOGG]

If you put Jeffries on your list, then you have to put Jack Johnson on that list as well.

Johnson was great at manhandling guys on the inside; but you know as well as I do that the Jeffries he fought was 35 years old, had lost in excess of 80 Lbs for that fight, and had been out of the ring for 5 years.

[BKM-]

Dunno about Sonny Liston. He pushed around smaller heavyweights, somtimes he didnt at all.

Jack Johnson was very strong, the way he stood in the ring and shoved some of his opponents in the ring. But same as Liston, he fought smaller fighters.

[RockyMarcianofan00]

Jefferies- didn't he have huge legs and used to wrestle to train for fights?

I also heard he used to be a circus performer as well, I've heard many accounts of him being VERY VERY strong, definitely in his prime physically stronger then Johnson...


He looks rather strong to me

check out this site
http://coxscorner.tripod.com/jeffries.html

I agree with it that its very unfair to rate Jefferies because of his loss to Johnson....In his prime he is said to be a great fighter

"Gilbert Odd, a historian and boxing book author wrote, "James J. Jeffries was the strongest of all the heavyweight champions" (1974, 18). 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" (Tracy Callis)."

[K-DOGG]

Jefferies- didn't he have huge legs and used to wrestle to train for fights?

I also heard he used to be a circus performer as well, I've heard many accounts of him being VERY VERY strong, definitely in his prime physically stronger then Johnson...

Dunno 'bout the circus; but his legs were indeed huge. He was a monster of a man for the times....and would be a big man today. The key to me is the time in which he developed his strength. Any man (or woman for that matter) working for a living in the late 1800's were no slouches. Those were hard times.

[RockyMarcianofan00]

If you read that site you'll realize just how athletic he was

Jeffries had a lot more than just a modern heavyweights size and great strength going for him; he was also an outstanding natural athlete. Durant wrote, “He was surprisingly fast and agile. He could run 100 yards in 11 seconds, and high jump 5 feet, 10 inches.” (Durant, 45.) 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.