[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVLUQSKEx8g[/ame] He had some serious skills. Very underrated technician. Good combination puncher. A very underrated fighter. Carnera would be lucky to win 2 rounds out of 15 against Damiani.
Damiani was good , Lewis was good , Akinwande was good , Seldon was good , Maskaev was good , but Oliver McCall was bad .
seen d 1st rd , hard 2 scroll over d breaks where i m and i don't have d patience of waiting through d break but i wasn't impressed . Nothing special about him . Damiani and Seldon were mediocre at best but r regarded good . McCall was great but is regarded a journeyman . Max Schmelling was less than a journeyman who happened 2 win d title in n era when d elite were weaks who fought each other and avoided any1 who was good if there was at all , and is in d HOF . back in d day , standards were low . D reason 2y some consider Schmelling good is probably because they r homosexuals looking 4 a male top character 2 pop their cherry , and Schmelling does it 4 them more than others .
Yeah, about time Damiani got some credit. That Du Plooy fight in '89 brings back some memories. At the time, Du Plooy was being groomed for a title shot against Tyson at some point. He was scheduled to fight Damiani for the WBO(gus) title, and not a whole lot of concern was given to Franceso. Du Plooy came into the fight in great shape, and at least from a South African point of view, Damiani was seen as a stepping stone. He didn't look like a fighter at all with that soft, fleshy body of his, and one guy unkindly remarked that he looks more like a baker than a fighter. Well, three rounds later we were singing a different tune. Damiani was badly underestimated and the man proved to be a very capable fighter, knocking Du Plooy senseless. Incidently, Johnny's father actually dreamed that Damiani would knock Du Plooy out in three rounds. The South African press were quick to give Daminai all due credit, heaping lots of praise on his large shoulders, and absolutely lashed Du Plooy. When I heard Damiani was due to fight Mercer some time later, I picked Mercer based off his win over Morrison, but I just knew Damiani was going to be a big surprise. As it turns out, Damiani was somewhat unlucky to get caught with that punch. It was one of those hail mary's that just landed right...but Francesco proved his talent in that fight. He was boxing circles around Mercer.
Gotta say something about Du Plooy as well... He was too flawed as a fighter to make the big time, but for a while, from early '87 up until Damiani knocked him cold, he was a good, exciting fighter. The Damiani fight was the beginning of the end for Du Plooy's boxing career. I think the fight just took something out of him that he was never able to get back. He had his flaws and his critics, but he brought a genuine excitement to many of his fights. He had that certain charisma that is undefineable, but that makes you want to watch him fight. His fight with Tillis was a really good one. Tillis scoring early and building up points, but Du Plooy caught up to him from about the 7th round on, and battered him senseless in the 10th. The Broad fight was another that showed Du Plooy had some talent; he sent Broad almost through the ropes in the 4th and caught him with a big right to the jaw on the rebound which iced him stiff. The Weaver fights...first one was a humdinger that ebbed and flowed until Du Plooy's lack of conditioning cost him dearly. In the rematch, he knocked the ageing Weaver cold with a good right hand. Unfortunately, Du Plooy's lapses in concentration, defensive frailties and mediocre chin were handicaps that at world class level proved to be his undoing. But he was still a fun guy to watch.