Jeffries V Johnson...What if...?

iamasadlittleboy · Joined: 06 Oct 2006 Posts: 4729

Im just about to write an article (too much spare time) on what WOULD have happened if Jeffries had managed to land the bingo punch on Johnson, and then retire straight afterwards.
Lets just look at the obvious things:
1-Marciano wouldn't have been the first undefeated champion
2 (a)-Patterson wouldn't have been the first man to regain the title
2 (b)-Jeffries would have been regarded as the true champion and Johnson's reign won't have been recognised
3-Johnson's title reign would have lasted from Dec/08 to Jun/10, including 4 defences (inc. 1 draw)
4-Willard may never have got the title (so he may not have taken the record for heaviest or tallest champion)
5-Dempsey wouldn't have faced Willard

WelshDevilRob · Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 13405 Location: Cardiff, Wales

A mind boggling subject and I really look forward to reading your finished article mate.

Another aspect to look at with regards to Jeffries winning is the social and historical impact it would have on Black American's if Johnson had lost? (In America). Johnson winning was not taken well in white America and his flamboyant style caused Archie Moore to say he put relations back 20 years.

Would it have gone back?

Then again if Johnson had been beaten then maybe Black Heavyweight Champions like Jeanette, Wills and Langford would have been granted shot's at the main belt rather than being ignored.

Get writing, I'm fascinated.

LondonRingRules

iamasadlittleboy wrote: Im just about to write an article (too much spare time) on what WOULD have happened if Jeffries had managed to land the bingo punch on Johnson, and then retire straight afterwards.

--- Never tire of the primary subjects of this era, Jeffries, Johnson, and Langford.

I prefer to look at a more practical and probable possibility. From the fight film we see there was barely a fractional possibility that Jeff was ever going to hurt or keep up with Johnson. Just too many years wasted, too much fat lost, too much societal pressure built up in a very rust ridden fighter not up to the task attempting something that has never been accomplished.

It's much more probable that Jeff stays retired than lands a big punch. He did try mightily until his offer grew to about the same total as his career winnings. One could argue that he'd be a fool to turn down that kind of money even if he was on crutches.

Had he held out that last couple of years, very possible, Johnson never would have secured his legacy, never would have secured a personal fortune, never would have been able to live such a flashy, high profile lifestyle that led to his downfall, and would have been forced to face a couple of four relevant black contenders with a decent chance of losing his title.

Black heavy contenders wouldn't have been frozen out of boxing and would have advanced more in those couple of following decades along with American society as well. Would have been much more pressure on baseball to rescind it's ban on black players which was only a few years old in the day.

Mainly Jeffries stellar rep would have remained intact and Johnson would be relegated to being one of 5 dynamic HOF black contenders instead of being a dominant champ, a top 20 heavy and not a top 10 heavy.