Excellent site with people with exceptional knowledge. If this fight has been done before, i missed it and in sorry. Who would win at there best head to head and PLEASE explain why. Could the defensive wizard Pep handle the non stop pressure of Armstrong. Curious on what Y'all think
Armstrong is a much better version of Saddler, Armstrong also did a good job of stalking down and breaking the bigger Ross. So on that basis I'd have to go with him
I don't like the comparison between Armstrong and Saddler. They are pretty different really. I guess your point is that they both bring pressure and are aggressive and rough. The thing is, Saddler was a little more selective and conservative. I wonder how busy Armstrong would be against such an accomplished counter-puncher? The smart money says very and Armstrong should be favoured, I think.
Well ok if I'm pushed to give more than a superficial analysis I'd agree Pep is simply the best Armstrong would have faced as a pure boxer, better countering, leads, movement and radar than Ross or Robinson for that matter. On the outside he can outbox Armstrong all day long but Armstrong ofcourse will constantly try to close the gap, pressure, force errors and force Pep to fight I'd say Armstrong's harder to hit than Saddler, fast footwork to get inside, although Saddler is taller/rangier not that he uses that range too effective. Like Saddler he looks to smother and work on the inside, Saddler is dirtier but I'd contend that Armstrong is technically better on the inside and more consistent at applying pressure. Strength wise I'd say Saddler and Armstrong are both freaks, Pep I'd disagree about Saddler being more of a selective puncher, I think Armstrong's lead punches are very well selected and well timed, actually considering the amount he throws he has a incredibly high connect percent. He does clever things like taking a step back with his right foot to make space a leverage for the overhand right while on an opponents chest. He works the body consistently, which is an easier target and has to break and opponent down the stretch For as long as Pep could keep moving and turning Armstrong and keeping distance he'll stay in control. On the inside, based on what Saddler managed, Armstrong will lay a beating on him
The ultimate clash of styles.... Armstrong was better at going thru the weights but obviously this would be a FW match & both guys were great there, I`d go with Pep by decision based on the styles & skill factor BUT there is a chance Armstrong might be too strong for him considering how he could handle much bigger fighters than Pep, I`m going to guess tho that if both fought at 126, Armstrong`s strength advantage wouldn`t be that much of a deciding factor that it would be the main factor. Pep by close UD over 15 rounds
For what it's worth I saw the prime FW Willie Pep, and the past peak WW, Armstrong fight. Based on what I have seen,and what I;'ve read, I choose the featherweight edition of Henry Armstrong to eventually catch up to a tiring Pep, and possibly stop or win a unanimous decision. The 1936-7 edition of Henry Armstrong who won 27 bouts, KOING 26 opponents as Mike Belloise, Benny Bass, Petey Sarron,Chalky Wright, might have been the greatest featherweight who ever lived. A human head in your chest dynamo, who Willie Pep had nothing to hold him off...Pep's jab would be innefective to bother much Armstrong, but Armstrong's smashing non-stop barrages, would slow Pep down until Willie's best asset speed, would be taken away from him. Armstrong had the most trouble with great infighters, such as Baby Arizmendi, Lou Ambers, and of course the esteemed gentleman, Sir Fritzie Zivic, whose savage uppercuts and ruggedness gave Armstrong hell, though Henry was a WW past his featherweight best. So I have Armstrong by a late tko, or a unanimous decision, prime for prime... The name of the game is styles...
Whittaker-chavez could resemble this fight in style with a crucial difference being that hank is the bigger man. I see pep being ahead on points before being stopped. Dancing and weaving in the face of such pressure is too tall a task for even the great pep.
I've mentioned before that when I went to Canastota, Armstrong's fist cast was the tiniest on display. (It looked like a hummingbird skeleton in contrast to Carnera's elephant bird thighbone fist cast, in the same display case.) I suspect Hank was always truly a natural featherweight, who couldn't even get above the LW limit despite swilling gallons of beer in training for Ross. What this means for me is that if Armstrong had elected to simply continue on as the FW Champion for as long as possible, then Pep may have failed to dethrone him at 126 until after the war. Saddler quickly broke Willie down to the body in their first match, a specialty of Henry's. Pre plane crash Pep fails to defeat Armstrong until he physically matures and Hank starts slowing down significantly. Peak for peak, I'm not fully decided on whether or not Willie gets taken out, but he'd be too enervated to run much by the championship rounds after the pummeling he'd be taking downstairs, and I'm not sure he'd be strong enough to successfully hold off the swarming Armstrong in a late round stand, although he managed to pull it off in his win over Saddler. Hank became an absolute monster at 126. Nobody else ever took Sarron out, and Petey was noted for his toughness. It's unfortunate we never got to see Armstrong take on Nel Tarleton or Freddie Miller, especially the stylish, durable and resourceful Nella, who might have supplied us with a reasonable facsimile of how Armstrong-Pep might have gone.
This is an intriguing one. I think Pep can beat him to the punch and have success at punching and moving, but Pep's undoing may be his lack of serious power, and without that factor, may not be able to keep Armstrong off... My initial reaction is Pep just has the pinpoint offense, he's busy enough, tough enough, and can move enough to do it, but Armstrong was quite a monster at this weight. Pep would be connecting more, scoring points, but possibly losing the war in the end. I think Pep was a marvel, and I lean towards him, he was a tough sonofabitch. Armstrong possesses what it takes to win this one though. I wouldn't be surprised to see it go either way.
Just from what I had seen on both fighters, I figured Pep's movement would be the difference in creating angles and changing directions but it sounds like most believe Armstrong would break him down and walk right through him. I guess the strength difference is what I may have underestimateed.
Pep wasn't completely devoid of pop (he KO'd Bartolo with one punch to unify the featherweight title-breaking his jaw in the process, and scored 65 KO's in his career), so it's possible that he might be able to stem the tide long enough to secure a close decision. Then again, Armstrong wasn't devoid of skill (worked behind the jab, displayed nasty head movement when closing the distance and on the inside), and it's hard to imagine him not being able to work his way into the trenches after a while. My guess is that Pep does well early, Armstrong finishes strong and wins a close but clear decision after 15 blistering rounds.
i agree with burt . It is also matching a true great with a hyped barnstormer who mostly lost in his quality outings .
