James J. Corbett-Ranks the Heavyweights (1925)

[Caractacus]

I was reading Jim Corbett's 1925 autobiography
THE ROAR OF THE CROWD
the other day
(IMOP an excellent book BTW)
and in the last chapter( pages 325-326) he lists
how he rates some of the HW he had personally fought
and also some he had personally seen in ring action.

[Caractacus]

" John L. Sullivan
had two-hundred pounds in the pink"
A magnificent physique,
considerable speed for a slugger,
ferocious fighting spirit,
and a punch as terrific as any man uncorked;"

[Caractacus]

(Bob)
"Fitzsimmons-Herculean strength
from the waist up, and the rare ability to hit with either hand,
accurately, from any angle, at long range or close-in,"

[Caractacus]

(Jim) Jeffries-two hundred and thirty pounds,
speed for that size,
ox-like strength, a good punch in his right,
and a terrific one in his left-if he hadn't been a natural left-hander,
he never had been champion."

[Caractacus]

(Jack) Johnson-his blocking and little short punches at close range,
-in short, his defense, which made up for his light hitting and which no slugger could ever break through : "

[Caractacus]

(Jess) Willard, -those six feet six inches and two-fifty pound-age
,- that "lets him out", as they say "

[Caractacus]

" As for (Peter) Jackson,
( never champion since Sullivan wouldn't give him a chance , but great he was-perhaps the very greatest )
-he had range, height, reach, sufficient weight, and the most beautiful of builds.
He could box with the cleverest , or slug toe-to-toe with the heaviest hitter, as he chose :
and he was equipped with the keenest intelligence "

[Caractacus]

concerning himself (James J. Corbett )

" and such success as I have had was due to boxing science, footwork, speed,
and the faculty of out-guessing them, all of which offset my lightness.
Then ,too ,I had ambition ,took care of myself, thought things out and had the ability to dominate the other man.
That is the whole of my secret. "

[Ambling Alp II]

Does he say anything about anyone else, such as Kilrain, Choynski, Sharkey, Maher, Burns, Hart, Langford ?

[Caractacus]

Corbett fought Choynski several times over the years and he gives some great accounts of their fights.
Choynski was not a Heavyweight so that is probably why he did not mention him in the very last
chapter in the book.
The chapter before that ends with Corbett's trying to regain the HW title from Jeffries in 1903.
Corbett did rate Jack Dempsey tho.(as of 1925)
I will post that tomorrow.

[Caractacus]

page 326.

" and (Jack) Dempsey ,the last ?
-Fairly quick with a good punch in each hand, he came up simply through natural fighting spirit,
in this being as great as any man I have seen.
He is not a clever boxer,
showing flashes perhaps in training-quarters, but rarely in the ring,
the "weaving" motion of his so often talked about being nothing but the swing of the body as he lets his punches go.
Nor does he know much of footwork, and his punch not as hard as one thinks.
Six times he felled Willard, and up Jess got ;
five times Firpo in the same round, only to have the latter getup and put him through the ropes.
But, like all champions, he has enough.
It is a hard road to the top and he stands there-now
But he will fall-in the dust-like all the others; and a new man will be hailed as the greatest of them all,
perhaps some boy now fighting in the back-lots of one of our villages. "

[pound per pound]

I was reading Jim Corbett's 1925 autobiography
THE ROAR OF THE CROWD
the other day
(IMOP an excellent book BTW)
and in the last chapter( pages 325-326) he lists
how he rates some of the HW he had personally fought
and also some he had personally seen in ring action.

What was his list up to 1925?

[Caractacus]

that was his list.
the book was published in 1925
( he even refers to Jack Dempsey in it).