In regards to Jack Carroll looking awkward, there were some truly great fighters who were far from graceful, notably Harry Greb. Of course, Greb had an extremely unorthodox fighting style. But Greb had one of best records for a fighter in the history of boxing, which makes him one of the best, if not the best, fighters ever. - Chuck Johnston
looking awkward is not a problem(or a measure of quality at all). carroll doesn't have that sort of resume, it's not bad but it aint great either. greb also isn't on film for us to see, carroll is, and, irrelevant of awkwardness, he don't look great.
Hi all, thought I would give this old thread a bump. I didn’t put Tzyu in the mix as he learned to fight in the old Soviet Union. I left Fitzsimmons, Peter Jackson and Vic Darchynian out of the mix too. 1.Lionel Rose. Beating Harada in Japan is still the best win by an Aussie fighter in my opinion. 2.Jeff Fenech. 3.Johnny Famechon ( fought close competitive matches with Harada, Legra and Saldivar. I believe Legra was a bit unlucky to lose to Fammo in London but Johnny fought exceptionally well as a heavy underdog. I believe Fammo beat Saldivar. Then again the first fight with Harada was a very lucky win but Fammo kayoed Harada in the Tokyo rematch ) 4.Hec Thompson. Hec had to face Duran and Cervantes in his title shots which was a lot harder ( heavy understatement) than say Fenech beating a nobody like Shinyaki to win his first world crown. Hec beat a handful of world top ten lightweights and jr welters in his career 5. Young Griffo. Albert was a boxing genius. 6.Ron Richards. ( my grandpa reckon Ron was the best Aussie fighter he ever saw ) Personally I don’t think Darcy fought enough prime world class fighters to get in my top six. Ditto Jack Carroll. Jeff Harding gets a mention for the incredible will and guts he showed in the first Andries fight. My fellow Qlder Mick Katsidis also gets a mention for his guts n will. Rocky Mattioli and Tony Mundine sr also deserve a mention as well. Cheers All.
Good list JC but I will say that it may be true that Darcy may not have fought many prime world class fighters but it's highly likely Darcy never actually fought in his prime himself. The scalps he attained despite never fighting after the age of 20 are pretty impressive.
I think To qualify as a true Australian fighter some native aboriginal blood is required. Otherwise it is just Europeans born in a different place. If the term African American must differentiate between fighters born in America of European decent then I believe the rule applies everywhere else. Dave sands and Lionel Rose make the grade. As do others.
My cousin Patsy Lamanna was a boxer out of Dandenong but got hurt in a fight and had to retire. He's still alive but has been disabled for many years. This content is protected
Greatest Ausssie fighter? Very easy-The Humongous. Warrior of the WASTELAND. The Ayyatolla of Rock-n-Rolla!!!!!!
