For those who aren't familiar with this, The Ring posted interviews they conducted with a number of fighters both past and present, asking them questions about the best fighters they faced in ten different categories(hardest puncher, best defense, etc). It's a really engaging series, and I don't recall seeing any threads about it, so I was wondering if anyone else follows it. Here's some that I found particularly interesting Shane Mosley:http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/124327-shane-mosley-best-ive-faced Mike McCallum: http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/168053-best-ive-faced-mike-mccallum Julian Jackson: http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/372917-best-ive-faced-julian-jackson George Foreman: http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/346563-best-ive-faced-george-foreman George Chuvalo: http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/327215-best-ive-faced-george-chuvalo
They're really good. Always interested in the 'best puncher' segment in particular. Guys egos can get in the way a little bit in the 'best all round' part though. James Leija putting Bojado above Nelson, De La Hoya, Tszyu and Gatti? Come on James.
Yes, the McCallum one is really interesting, especially his insight on Julian Jackson's speed being the key to his power.
In his interview, Chuvalo mentions that a few sportswriters at the time thought he won his rematch with Ali. But when he says that, people laugh. I have to say, I was transferring that fight from VHS to DVD one day, and I was watching it sporadically while it was recording. But at the end, I made a note to watch it again later (and keep score) because I had the same impression. I kind of thought Chuvalo won, too. That's the first time I ever heard anyone mention it out loud. I still haven't gotten around to scoring it. And everyone on the video seems to just assume Ali won. (On the official cards, one judge gave Ali all 12 rounds. One judge gave Chuvalo one round. Another gave George two of the 12. Frankly, those seemed ridiculously off base if you're just casually watching it.) But I'd be curious, if some of you watched it with the sound turned down, how you scored Ali-Chuvalo II. You might be surprised.
Well I'm not going to turn the sound down - that whole thing is BS. But yeah I'm up for rescoring it this weekend to see what the what is. I found that interesting too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XedWsNh4cz0
One of the features I like about Ring mag. Just got a post card from them today saying they are cutting down to 9 issues a year. Sad
Are you really surprised? Golden Boy bought the magazine and immediately sacked highly skilled writers like Ivan Goldman and William Dettloff and threw an internet blogger called Doug Fischer in there as assistant editor. No magazine has suffered a dip in quality during the era of social media more than 'The Ring'.
I will have to re-watch that Chuvalo fight myself. Very interested in that as I have always felt Chuvalo was overrated if he does indeed get the short end of the decision in that fight it will raise my opinion of him substantially because if I recall Ali was in good shape in that bout.
Just watched it and scored it now. Had it 57-51 Ali, or 9-3 in rounds. Chuvalo just couldn't get a sustained attack going. It would only be a flurry and then Ali was gone and nailing George with those sizzling combos again. Still, George had his moments and did well and it was a decent fight.
Off the top of my head, he would almost certainly have had Billy Conn as best overall, and Lee Ramage as best boxer. He once credited Al Delaney as being the hardest hitter he ever faced, though it would depend how he interpreted the question. He made enough observations on enough fighters, to effectively answer the questions.
