Glaring flaws in great fighters.

Sonny liston with his back foot directly behind his front.it meant his lateral movement was slighted and he couldn't cut the ring down.
Ali didn't only not throw body punches but he rarely threw left hooks.
Lennox Lewis didn't always look like he'd trained as hard has he should have.
Ray Robinsons jab wasn't as potent as it should have been

 

Fernando Vargas was very good but not elite great.

Vargas's punches returned to below his shoulders or "dipped" on the return and he was always susceptible to being countered, particulary over his jab. Just look at the Trinidad and Quartey fights, where many single flush straight rights land. Vargas had only moderate handspeed and was clipped way to often by Rivera, Thompson and journeyman Howard Clarke for a supposed high IQ calculating boxer/puncher.

As a younger fighter, Vargas was agile and slipped many punches, however he does this with his hands at his waist, face unprotected. Look at first 2 rounds vs Trinidad fight.

Vargas's power hand was his left hook. He loved to muscle on the inside often throwing three even 4 consecutive left hooks but stayed in the pocket too long. He would also load up on the left hook from the outside which is a real dangerous postion to be in if you arent way quicker than your opponent. Trindad and DLH showed that you dont hook with a hooker.

El Feroz had a problem keeping his rhythm boxing. He would look amazing for the first 2-3 rounds then go into a little slide/funk in the mid rounds, he did this vs Winky, Campas (4th-5th rounds) and DLH round 6 onwards. If we look at AtG like SRL or Arguello they are so consistent and when they find a weakness they never falter or lose many consecutive rounds openly. They make a big lead even bigger.

Vs Quartey and Wright, Vargas simply just upped his output throwing and outhustling them to ensure a win. Vs Ike he threw 99 punches in the last 2 rounds. A older fighter cant rely on that tactic. And we see when Vargas was very limited physically from his bad back vs Mosely and Mayorga he could never up the pace like before and tried to box and nip away with shots here and there and low volume workrate to win which didnt work.

Btw absoutely love El Feroz and would re-watch his fights any day of the week. Just some technical flaws I see.

 

Great post!