BoxRec

Happy Birthday, Jeff!!

James J. Jeffries, born April 15, 1875

The best heavyweight champion.

Best chin.

Heaviest puncher.

Best endurance.

Best physical specimen (for boxing).

"You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim . . ."

Happy Birthday you tough SOB.

Stroung tough guy.

Those are tall claims mr Granberry. Ashame he did not fight that often.

Most likely the most under rated HW champ of all time.

The Great John L wrote:Most likely the most under rated HW champ of all time.

I agree.

I find it so interesting that he only had twenty official pro fights. Certainly did more in his first twenty fights than any other fighter has... that includes Fenech, M. Spinks, Holyfield.

Its a shame he's most famous for his loss to Johnson; meaningless fight in terms of actual boxing. I've only been able to see clips of two of his fights from his prime, but he was a machine from what I've seen.

Notice that the 15th of April is the deadline to pay income
taxes in the United States as so many Americans know
well. Of course, income taxes at the federal level in
America were illegal until an amendment to the
the U.S. Constitution was passed in the 1910s.

- Chuck Johnston

I know enough not to think that he is the best in all those things.

I try to steer clear of tall claims in the negative or the positive. I am trying to watch as many HW bouts as I can before I sit astride a mountain proclaiming ones absolute greatness.

Jeffries was a great fighter, but from what I have seen of him in footage I personally do not feel that he is the best KO puncher, best endurance and all of that.

Thats just me.

I am however interested to hear your opinions and points on the man.

Kym

granberry wrote:The best heavyweight champion.

Best chin.

Heaviest puncher.

Best endurance.

Best physical specimen (for boxing).

yes, the greatest "white" heavyweight champion ever. he didn't fight even fight black guys (until the end) (':D') choynski even took him to school giving away 50 lbs.

bjermaine wrote:yes, the greatest "white" heavyweight champion ever. he didn't fight even fight black guys (until the end) (':D') choynski even took him to school giving away 50 lbs.

He fought and KOd Peter Jackson, Bob Armstrong and Hank Griffin, who was a very good but now forgotten HW from that era.

It's always better to not comment if you don't know anything about the topic. Think about it.

bjermaine wrote:

granberry wrote:The best heavyweight champion.

Best chin.

Heaviest puncher.

Best endurance.

Best physical specimen (for boxing).

yes, the greatest "white" heavyweight champion ever. he didn't fight even fight black guys (until the end) (':D') choynski even took him to school giving away 50 lbs.

Boxing authority bjermaine think Peter Jackson was white.

Authorities like bjermain abound on these internet "boxing" sites.

bjermaine wrote:

granberry wrote:The best heavyweight champion.

Best chin.

Heaviest puncher.

Best endurance.

Best physical specimen (for boxing).

yes, the greatest "white" heavyweight champion ever. he didn't fight even fight black guys (until the end) (':D') choynski even took him to school giving away 50 lbs.

The Ken Burns contingent shows up.

Total ignorance of the subject,

combined with a pathetic, politically correct AGENDA that has utter

contempt for those inconvenient things called facts.

.

So much for a simple "Happy Birthday Jeff!!" posting.

I'd delete the darn topic if I only knew how.

Geez.

Granberry

when have I ever hinted that I thought any of that. I admit I am not a specialist on Jeffries, I think he was a tough guy and I think its sad that the only exposure most have of him is his defeat to Johnson.

From what I have seen of him I do not feel he was what you claimed. Thats all I said.

I was hoping you would post points and highlight his career, as you had done for johannson in a previous thread so that I perhaps may be able to learn or take something away from your opinion.

Instead you re-iterated your dislike for Hauser, burns and so on...good for you.

Sucks for me that I was hoping you were going to explain your opinions for those claims.

Have a good day

Kym

Happy b'day Mr Jeffries

There was a recent thread on great nicknames - did anyone mention "The Boilermaker"? Surely one of the greatest tags ever, even though I haven't the foggiest idea what it means.

that is a great nick name :)

bennie wrote:There was a recent thread on great nicknames - did anyone mention "The Boilermaker"? Surely one of the greatest tags ever, even though I haven't the foggiest idea what it means.

Jeffries was called the boilermaker because, before beginning his career in prizefighting, he worked for a boiler manufactuer in Southern California. He remained a member of the boilermaker's union throughout his boxing career.

After he defeated Fitzsimmons, the boilermaker's union in Denver held a parade in his honor.

He was very supportive of unions. At least twice during his career (one time during his comeback against Johnson, if memory serves) he refused to "cross the picket line" and stay at a hotel that was involved in a labor dispute.

Probably more than you wanted to know.

Notice that any thread on a fighter from earlier in the century is trashed by the same crew.

It is systematic. They have an agenda----to cover with filth and destroy anything dealing with earlier fighters---even though this is called Boxers of the Past.

raylawpc wrote:

bennie wrote:There was a recent thread on great nicknames - did anyone mention "The Boilermaker"? Surely one of the greatest tags ever, even though I haven't the foggiest idea what it means.

Jeffries was called the boilermaker because, before beginning his career in prizefighting, he worked for a boiler manufactuer in Southern California. He remained a member of the boilermaker's union throughout his boxing career.

After he defeated Fitzsimmons, the boilermaker's union in Denver held a parade in his honor.

He was very supportive of unions. At least twice during his career (one time during his comeback against Johnson, if memory serves) he refused to "cross the picket line" and stay at a hotel that was involved in a labor dispute.

Probably more than you wanted to know.

Very interesting.

Why apologize for imparting information?

granberry wrote:

bjermaine wrote:

granberry wrote:Notice that any thread on a fighter from earlier in the century is trashed by the same crew.

It is systematic. They have an agenda----to cover with filth and destroy anything dealing with earlier fighters---even though this is called Boxers of the Past.

so it's the other people who post who have an agenda? ok, thank you for clearing that up for me.(':roll:')

bjermaine came here for no purpose other than to trash Jeffries.

His earlier post showed TOTAL IGNORANCE of Jeffries (saying ignorantly that Jeff never fought a black fighter until he fought Johnson),

spitting at Jeffries

and displaying the easily observable Hate-White Ken Burns agenda.

Read your own spitedful, ignorant post earlier on this thread, bjermaine

and you will see that what I said is true.

There is a systematic trashing of boxrec threads on earlier fighters by maggot collins and his larvae.

never fought a black guy during his "white" title reign. jeffries was still great. i just post to trash you. i'm part of the observable hate-white ken burns agenda??? do i have an id number? are there membership fees? 95% of everyone on here knows that anything you post is shit. the other 5% are brits.

bjermaine wrote:

granberry wrote:

bjermaine wrote: so it's the other people who post who have an agenda? ok, thank you for clearing that up for me.(':roll:')

bjermaine came here for no purpose other than to trash Jeffries.

His earlier post showed TOTAL IGNORANCE of Jeffries (saying ignorantly that Jeff never fought a black fighter until he fought Johnson),

spitting at Jeffries

and displaying the easily observable Hate-White Ken Burns agenda.

Read your own spitedful, ignorant post earlier on this thread, bjermaine

and you will see that what I said is true.

There is a systematic trashing of boxrec threads on earlier fighters by maggot collins and his larvae.

never fought a black guy during his "white" title reign. jeffries was still great. i just post to trash you. i'm part of the observable hate-white ken burns agenda??? do i have an id number? are there membership fees? 95% of everyone on here knows that anything you post is shit. the other 5% are brits.

Well, neither did any of the American bareknuckle champions, John L. Sullivan, James J. Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, Jess Willard, Jack Dempsey, or Gene Tunney through Max Baer. Joe Louis defended his title against only two African-Americans. Jack Johnson only defended his title against one African-American.

Tunney never fought a black fighter - period, and Dempsey - if memory serves - only fought two or three African-Americans.

On his way up, Jeffries fought Hank Griffin, Peter Jackson and Bob Armstrong.

In 1901, when a fight was suggested with Denver Ed Martin, Jeff said he would not defend the title against an African-American. Why? He didn't want to run the risk of losing the title to a black fighter. (And, in the case of Martin, Jeff didn't think it would be much of a fight, and wouldn't draw.)

Different times, different attitudes. Doesn't make it right, but it was what it was.

BTW, after defeating Johnson, Jess Willard drew the color line and said he would never defend the title against an African-American.

raylawpc wrote:

bjermaine wrote:

granberry wrote: bjermaine came here for no purpose other than to trash Jeffries.

His earlier post showed TOTAL IGNORANCE of Jeffries (saying ignorantly that Jeff never fought a black fighter until he fought Johnson),

spitting at Jeffries

and displaying the easily observable Hate-White Ken Burns agenda.

Read your own spitedful, ignorant post earlier on this thread, bjermaine

and you will see that what I said is true.

There is a systematic trashing of boxrec threads on earlier fighters by maggot collins and his larvae.

never fought a black guy during his "white" title reign. jeffries was still great. i just post to trash you. i'm part of the observable hate-white ken burns agenda??? do i have an id number? are there membership fees? 95% of everyone on here knows that anything you post is shit. the other 5% are brits.

Well, neither did any of the American bareknuckle champions, John L. Sullivan, James J. Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, Jess Willard, Jack Dempsey, or Gene Tunney through Max Baer. Joe Louis defended his title against only two African-Americans. Jack Johnson only defended his title against one African-American.

Tunney never fought a black fighter - period, and Dempsey - if memory serves - only fought two or three African-Americans.

On his way up, Jeffries fought Hank Griffin, Peter Jackson and Bob Armstrong.

In 1901, when a fight was suggested with Denver Ed Martin, Jeff said he would not defend the title against an African-American. Why? He didn't want to run the risk of losing the title to a black fighter. (And, in the case of Martin, Jeff didn't think it would be much of a fight, and wouldn't draw.)

Different times, different attitudes. Doesn't make it right, but it was what it was.

finally a response that i can respect. excellent points. the heavyweight champs in this era i think tend to be overrated because they didn't fight all comers in their title reigns. race played a big part in everything then. it's not that all those guys weren't all-time greats, there's just a lot of questions to be answered if everything was on a level playing field. some of them may never have been champs. imo all the footage from this era is priceless. i could study these old fights for days.

raylawpc wrote:BTW, after defeating Johnson, Jess Willard drew the color line and said he would never defend the title against an African-American.

he might have been better off crossing the color line than fighting dempsey :)