if you were a boxer, who would you pattern your style after?

Trained 'n pub crawled with Willie 'n Rocky Graziano. Willie could do those amazing things when he was half in the bag sparring at Stillman's Gym.

 

Interesting stuff on Willy! I worked for years on some of his moves, and it drove me nuts not to be able to duplicate them the way he did. I can see why Burt says along with Robinson he was the best he ever saw.

 

How in the hell did you throw all of those together?

 

I borrowed some punches and tricks here or there...But my style was remarkably simple: Damage, damage, damage.

I was bigger, stronger, heavier handed, and more explosive than 99% of all the men I have ever fought. I went out to move my hands and end the fight. Had a decent defense when I used it, but most times, I just couldn't be bothered. Bomb with both hands, collect the paycheck, go home.

 

I know you want to be anonymous seeing how you were/are a pro (understandable wanting to be unknown), but whose style were you most like?

By the sounds of it you were/are a bit like 1970s George Foreman or Aaron Pryor. Decent defencse when concentrating on it, but overall more concerned with hitting.

 

Jersey Joe Walcott or J Dempsey cant decide and kinda hard to meet in the middle with those two

 

Most like? Probably a bigger, clumsier Young Foreman. I throw great lefts up and down, really my best asset. Allows my right hand to become a factor, if the fight lasts that long. George could bomb with both hands, all punches, but I'm very much a power jab/hook till I can throw the big right cross kind of guy. A commentator once called me a sort of "heavyweight Roy Jones", which is hilarious, because my feet are cement, but the way I like to throw lots of left hands and really load of the right is similar, I guess.

Pryor worked constantly. I wish I could say the same. Too often, I abandon my jab and get caught looking. My head stays stationary WAY too often, because I like to watch for my own openings rather than think like about the incoming, and my feet stay stationary because I want them planted, and I don't move them that well to begin with. Get around me or move me back, I don't have a ton of offer outside my pet counters.

Start going backwards and let me open up, though, and you are going to sleep, and early. Not many have survived me at all, much less more than two or three rounds, but when they do, it's because they get off line or get me off my base.

My defense is really my shoulders and my range. I have a huge reach; Keeping a guy at the end of my offense, I can usually roll and bob and lean and avoid most of what comes back at me. I also turn a guy pretty well, when I think too, which is almost never. Lower class fighters barely hit me at all, mid class fighters hit me a bit more than I'd like, world class hit me more than is really healthy.

 

i tried unsuccessfully to box like ken buchanan

 

If I could choose I'd be like Duran, Chavez or Barrera. Great technique, smart, skilled yet always coming forward and exciting. Also they all have roughly the same size, weight, height and reach as I do.

Realistically, during my few experiences of sparring I was Winky Wright with Parkinsons.

 

Arguello, Ricardo Lopez or McCallum for me. Guys that were superb at boxing from range, but also could mix it up if need be. I'm 6'0 and would be in the 140-148 lbs range if I was competing (right now I'm 75 kg).

 

You shouldn't, you should take from arious fighters but work to your own personal strengths

 

Don't lose heart, T. You'd have to've been part magician/part water bug to do what Willie did. If it's any consolation, when Willie was asked how he did it, he had no answer. He didn't even understand the question. It was all instinct -- like a great open field runner.