Jeff Smith (boxer)

Jerome "Jeff Smith" Jefferds (April 23, 1891 – February 3, 1962) was an American professional boxer who held the Australian version of the World Middleweight Title during his career. Despite his relative anonymity, Smith faced off against some the best fighters of his era, including Harry Greb, Gene Tunney, Mike Gibbons, Georges Carpentier, Les Darcy and Tommy Loughran.[1] Statistical boxing website BoxRec lists Smith as the 17th greatest middleweight ever, while Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer ranked Smith as the No. 10 Middleweight of all-time.[2][3] He was inducted into the Ring Magazine hall of fame in 1969 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2013.[3][4]

Jeff Smith
Statistics
Real name	Jerome Jefferds
Nickname(s)	The Bayonne Globetrotter
Weight(s)	Middleweight
Height	5 ft 8.5 in (1.74 m)
Reach	71 in (180 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	(1891-04-23)April 23, 1891 New York City
Died	February 3, 1962(1962-02-03) (aged 70)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	183
Wins	141
Wins by KO	48
Losses	35
Draws	4
No contests	1

Early career

Smith (right), during his bout with Georges Carpentier

Smith made his pro debut in 1910 (the same year of the death of famed Middleweight Champion Stanley Ketchel), beating Ray Hatfield by newspaper decision over four rounds.[5] On February 20, 1912, Smith beat future World Middleweight Title holder George Chip on points over fifteen rounds in what turned out to be a heated battle. His next notable challenge was against another future Middleweight titleholder in Mike Gibbons, with whom he drew over 10 rounds as decided by newspaper reporters.[5] On October 11, 1913, Smith faced yet another future champion in French fighter and future Light Heavyweight champ Georges Carpentier. Despite a late rally by Smith, Carpentier used his vaunted technique beat him decisively in a twenty round decision.[1]

Australian World Middleweight Champion

Earning his nickname as the "Bayonne Globetrotter", Smith faced Eddie McGoorty in Australia, losing an extremely unpopular decision over twenty rounds. The decision was so despised that it was later rescinded, and Smith was awarded the Australian version of the World Middleweight Title.[5] Smith would lose the title to Australian pugilist Mick King on November 28, 1914 but regained it just one month later on December 26 of the same year.[1] On January 23, 1915 Smith faced famed Australian fighter Les Darcy, beating him by disqualification after Darcy's handlers threw in a towel in protest to what they claimed was a low blow by Smith. Smith thus maintained his status as Australian champion, but Darcy would later exact his revenge, beating Smith via disqualification for repeated low blows.[5]

Later career

During his career, Smith had a tremendous rivalry with the legendary Harry Greb; with the two squaring of a total of seven times. Although he lost six times and drew once against the "Pittsburgh Windmill", Greb had great respect for Smith; stating "My toughest fight was with Jeff Smith. (Tommy) Gibbons gave me a hard battle, but nothing like the Smith beating."[5] Also notable was his tetra-logy of fights with Mike Gibbons, resulting in one win and three losses.[6] Near the end of his career, Smith faced the fabled Gene Tunney; losing a clear decision to the much larger "Fighting Marine" after being knocked down twice.[5] Smith retired after being knocked out for the first time by Cuban Bobby Brown on November 18, 1927.[1]

Bouts

Result	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	Gene Tunney	NWS	15	1924-12-08	Coliseum Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana	Newspaper Decision
Win	Frank Moody	NWS	15	1924-12-08	Exposition Building, Portland, Maine	Newspaper Decision
Win	Tommy Loughran	NWS	8	1923-06-18	Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Tommy Loughran	NWS	10	1923-03-08	109th Infantry Armory, Scranton, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Harry Greb	NWS	10	1922-02-20	Freeman Avenue Armory, Cincinnati, Ohio	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Mike McTigue	PTS	15	1921-12-01	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Loss	Mike Gibbons	NWS	12	1921-08-09	Armory A.A., Jersey City, New Jersey	Newspaper Decision
Draw	Harry Greb	PTS	15	1921-05-20	Louisiana Auditorium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Loss	Harry Greb	PTS	10	1921-02-25	Mechanics Building, Boston, Massachusetts
Loss	Harry Greb	NWS	10	1920-12-25	Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Mike O'Dowd	SD	15	1920-11-09	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Win	Mike McTigue	PTS	15	1920-08-10	Armouries, Halifax, Nova Scotia	Won Canada Middleweight Title
Loss	Harry Greb	NWS	12	1919-09-01	Idora Park, Youngstown, Ohio	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Panama Joe Gans	NWS	8	1919-07-08	Atlantic City S.C., Atlantic City, New Jersey	Newspaper Decision
Win	Mike Gibbons	NWS	10	1919-07-04	Association Park, Kansas City, Missouri	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Leo Houck	NWS	6	1918-07-04	Lancaster, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Win	Mike McTigue	NWS	10	1917-11-01	Clermont Avenue Rink, Brooklyn, New York	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Harry Greb	NWS	10	1917-09-11	Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Harry Greb	NWS	10	1917-05-19	Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, New York	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Mike Gibbons	NWS	10	1916-03-17	Saint Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Les Darcy	DQ	2 (20)	1915-05-22	Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Lost World Middleweight Title (Australian Version)
Win	Les Darcy	DQ	5 (20)	1915-01-23	Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Retained World Middleweight Title (Australian Version)
Win	Eddie McGoorty	PTS	20	1914-03-14	Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales	Won World Middleweight Title (Australian Version)
Loss	Georges Carpentier	PTS	20	1913-10-11	Luna Park Arena, Paris
Loss	Mike Gibbons	NWS	10	1912-04-11	New Amsterdam Opera House, New York City	Newspaper Decision

Life After Boxing

After retiring, he became a physical education instructor with the Bayonne Board of Education and the Fort Dix New Jersey Army Base, he also taught boxing lessons at the local YMCA.[3][4]

References

1. Jeff Smith's Professional Boxing Record. BoxRec.com. Retrieved on April 5, 2014.
2. All-Time Middleweight Rankings Archived December 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. BoxRec.com. Retrieved on April 26, 2014.
3. Cyber Boxing Encyclopedia – Jeff Smith CyberBoxingZone.com Retrieved on April 5, 2014
4. International Boxing Hall of Fame Jeff Smith IBHOF.com Retrieved on April 5, 2014
5. Cavanaugh, Douglas (December 16, 2010). "Jeff Smith". International Boxing Research Organization. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
6. Mike Gibbons and Jeff Smith. PapersPast.com. Retrieved on April 5, 2014.

External links

• Boxing record for Jeff Smith from BoxRec
• Jeff Smith at Find a Grave

Titles in pretence
Preceded by Eddie McGoorty	World Middleweight Champion March 14, 1914 – November 28, 1914 Only Recognized in Australia	Succeeded by Mick King
Preceded by Mick King	World Middleweight Champion December 26, 1914 – May 22, 1915 Only Recognized in Australia	Succeeded by Les Darcy