Brightfight

Hi Mike,

Did you do a Phd in fighting history by any chance? There probably is such a thing !!

It would be cool if we got some early footage in those times. I'll do some research over the next while and see what I can come up with.

Liberty

[quote=Mike Brewer;291971]There was an air of gentlemanship at the championship levels...[quote]

Yeah, as in when Jim Jefferies, awesome though he was as a fighter retired, rather than fight a black man (Jack Johnson), in 1908. That's the kind of gentleman I hope to be one day - not!

Pork Chop

Man, Jim Jeffries deserves more respect than that.
Quit acting like he was afraid of Jack Johnson, Joe Jeanette was issuing challenges to the guy too.
He was just going where the money was, and there was no money in fighting a black fighter for the heavyweight championship.
He'd already beaten dangerous black fighters in Hank Griffin and Peter Jackson on his way to the top.
And regardless of retiring or not, he dropped 73 pounds to come out of 6 years of retirement just to fight Johnson.
That, and his respectful words towards Johnson after the fight should absolve him of these perceived "sins".

Sometimes I think that Unforgiveable Blackness movie did more harm than good, coz there's a lot of disinformation out there these days as a result of some of the statements in that movie...

EDIT:
Watch him training in his prime and you tell me if that's the same guy who fought in 1910....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CauVMvNspIY
Here's a guy who fought 25 rounds under lights so hot they singed both fighters' hair in one of his last fights before his retirement, but gassed in 15 after the layoff...
It's not even like Jack Johnson was undefeated at the time of Jeff's first retirement anyway - he had at least 4 losses by that time, 2 of whom Jeff had fought (1 KO and 1 draw - was turned down for the rematch).
Jeff, on the other hand, was going into his first retirement.