Griffiths fought his first professional bout on December 11, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. His debut was a successful one, defeating Donnie Dundee in 6 rounds. Jack O'Keefe was the manager of Griffiths. Griffiths actually preferred to be called by the name "Jerry" and not "Tuffy." He stood at 5' 11".
All of Griffiths early fights were fought in the Midwest. In order to gain more notoriety, he relocated to New York City. Many media outlets were reporting that Griffiths was not beaten in over 50 consecutive matches when he arrived on the East Coast. Fighting his first fight in Manhattan at Madison Square Garden on November 30, 1928, he fought James J. Braddock. Griffiths was supposed to be fighting former champion Pete Latzo that night. However, in a tune-up match for the Griffiths bout, Braddock broke Latzo's jaw in four places. Braddock was the only other choice to fight Griffiths that night. Griffiths was a 7-1 favorite to win the match against Braddock. As expected Griffiths dominated the first round of the fight, but Braddock fought back viciously in the second. Braddock ended up getting a second-round knockout and shocked the whole boxing world. This single match launched Braddock's boxing career. A reenactment of this fight is featured in the movie Cinderella Man.
After the loss to Braddock, Griffiths ended up going on a five match win streak. His winning streak would end though to Leo Lomski on February 15, 1929. In a rematch with Lomski the following month, Griffiths bounced back and won. However, he broke his hand in the fight, and was sidelined for two months. Upon his return Griffiths won 16 consecutive matches. He beat Johnny Risko on July 2, 1930, in Chicago and knocked out Tom Heeney in New York on July 30, 1930.
Griffiths ended up fighting a future heavyweight champion on September 26, 1932. His opponent was one of the most feared boxers of his time, Max Baer. Baer won by a TKO in the 7th round of the bout.
Tuffy Griffiths would fight his last professional bout against Tony Shucco on September 6, 1933. The fight saw Tuffy get knocked out in the fourth round. After nearly 8 years of professional boxing and 74 wins, he would retire officially in 1934.
