Strange record, ran up a string of wins against mainly losing record fighters, drew with 8-20-1 Randy Stevens, beat Ros, lost to Cane and Frenchman Rodriguez, got Rodriguez back in Italy, beat him then went on a streak beating among others Evangelista before losing back to back to Norton and Quarry. He then did OK in Europe before Holmes beat him in six in a fight that Zanon won at least one or two rounds before the stoppage. He appears to be a bit chinny but the performance against Holmes coupled with winning almost every round against a fading Quarry before the KO might suggest he was not so bad. Anybody know more?
He was marginally better than Michael Sprott but not nearly as good as Ruslan Chagaev. That is, he was roughly as good as Wayne Bethea, which is to say that he wasn't very good.
Zanon was a bit quirky, had an odd rhythm and moved around a lot. He'd kind of zig and zag around, then stop and throw a couple of good jabs or a surprising three-punch combo -- and then he was gone again. I think his unthreatening look helped him a bit: balding, kind of a pigeon chest, certainly in shape but not very muscular. And he didn't hit very hard, so fighters were willing to let him throw some offense in order to try to lure him into more of a fight ... and sometimes a few rounds go by and Zanon is winning, or at least competitive. He's the kind of guy that a Tyson or Frazier or Foreman would likley walk through, but a Holmes or Ali or Norton might take a bit of time to figure out before having their way. It's worth noting that he never beat anyone above the Euro level, but he did give them fits before the true class of his better opponents showed. I think of him more of a curious puzzle to figure out than as a guy who presented a real physical challenge. But that's just me.
He always reminded me of Julio, Fred Sanford's next door neighbor, whose goats were always getting loose. That being said, he was a crafty boxer who moved well and had a beanpole jab and could win rounds from anyone. The Holmes fight was a strange one. He was clearly outboxing Holmes and winning rounds, but at the same time you could see that when Holmes increased the intensity and power that Zanon would topple over like a lopsided wedding cake. I always wondered what would happen if he had a rock solid chin. He was difficult to outwork, that's for sure. (And no shame drawing with Randy Stephens, who was a pretty slick fringe contender who trounced my old friend Ric Enis in a Cruiserweight eliminator a few years after. )
Keeping up with the Fred Sanford theme, who is the Rollo of boxing history? And was Rollo really a crook, or did Fred just think he was a crook? Fred: "Hey Rollo, the crime rate just went down outside." Rollo: "What happened, pops?" Fred: "You came inside."
Bro predicted what I would have wrote in the thread I made today. The same happened in the Norton fight, he won every round with his awkward slickness and then Norton chopped blud like a tree.
I wish I could give you a two likes for the Sanford and Son Reference. Something about Deontay Wilder reminds me of Aunt Ester. "Now Fred, did you come here with all your teeth? You want to leave with all your teeth?"
He was ok in the right context. The euro circuit wasn’t terribly strong in those days and he was among one of the better ones. A fringe contender which isn’t bad but not a guy who had any business challenging Holmes for the title