fights where an old former champ shows heart and goes out on his shield

Sullivan gave everything and almost went 21 round with a prime Corbett as a shell of a shell of a fighter ..

Dempsey vs Tunney for sure ..

Johnson vs Willard

Louis vs Charles

Walcott vs Marciano (1)

 

I'm probably being unfair on Michael Spinks because he met a Tyson,who on that night could arguably have been good enough to have beaten any heavyweight in history but still, even taken into account how good Tyson was that night, it was still such a massive letdown how ineffective Spinks was. This was suppose to be the biggest heavyweight showdown since Holmes/Cooney in 82.Spinks was unbeaten and was the only heavyweight that was given any chance of beaten the then seemingly unbeatable Tyson. Some experts even went as far as saying that Spinks with his jerky awkward style and movement and with his trainer Eddie Futch planning the strategy, could actually win.The pre fight hype lasted months and after all the build up, you went thinking maybe this will be a great fight and event after all.

That feeling lasted until Spinks entered the ring and removed his robe. He looked terrified and his body bone dry without a bead of sweat. It was like he didn't even do a prefight warm-up in the dressing room because he didn't believe he had a chance. The bell rings and 91 seconds later it's all over and Spinks goes into retirement,counting the money he's just made for his pathetic showing.

 

Pre fight hype always give both fighters hype. what has to be scrutinized closely is 1 guy's realistic chances against the other.

Take a closer look at those spinks chances. Use a microscope and not a broad brush. He came in off a Cooney win. But that was a very very bad cut he had inn there. Gerry didn't capitalize on it, but other heavies at the time sure would have and then you'd have a tko loss.
Prior to that, Tangstad. that matchup is/was straight out of a Wilder replacement opponent for a title shot. tons of capable fighters around and we got Tangstad. So a victory over that guy proved exactly what?

Holmes 2 fights. Distance fights and in 30 rounds he was never ever close to stopping the guy. And most feel he may have lost the rematch. At the very least, he squeeked by.

Before that a closely contested defense against Davis, a lot of folks thought he lost.

So 2 tough fights with Larry. Tough fight with Davis. Gimme fight with Tangstad. Nice win, but very fortunate, against maybe what we'd call a Cooney with his B game.

Not a whole lot of hitters on that list. No search and destroy guys. Certainly no youthful reflexes to contend with. And Michael's knees were not getting better.

I, for one, thought he had zero chance whenever he was going attempt backing up or circling away when Tyson attacked. Zero doubts Tyson was closing that gap easily and Spinks was going to be right there in his punching range. And likely even worse, while retreating, not having the balance to throw anything at Tyson. He was never going to slip those hard combos coming at him.

And everyone knew Tyson came out smoking early. Spinks had never fought anyone like that before and was a guy that liked establishing things & taking his time. That early aggression was a major league concern going in and just where had his previous form over the previous 3 years showed him capable of dealing with it?

So many times in the sport big money bouts are hyped to the max. but lots of times it is new icing on 2 week old cake. And that's exactly what this fight was going in.

 

Probably the saddest would be Louis v marciano. Poor Joe was fighting a young hungry rock, Louis was years past prime and yet he still carries on trying. Rocks face after the fight tells the tail that Joe could still pack a punch. The sight of Joe been knocked down for the last time will always sadden me.

 

Thomas took a hellacious beating from Tyson. At no time in the fight did he "completely shut Tyson down."

 

Could work in his favor as well, he has been on the road for so long, his body got well deserved rest. Plus he is a thorough professional with a solid work ethic, the fury loss has appeared to have rekindled a dwindling flame, you can see from his sparring and work out videos that he is putting in the work behind the scenes and the most amazing thing is that he looks very relaxed about the task.

I back him to expose Joshua.

 

Thomas was a very under rated fighter, he had a very natural awkward and tricky jab, Holmes ducked him. Tyson was put off by Thomas's jab and clinching and then decided to fight smart by adapting accordingly and went for the kill the moment Thomas tired in the 6th round.

 

Mark Johnson and Tim Austin against Rafael Maquez.
Casamayor against Juan Marquez.

I don't think Kostya is a good example, He chose not to go out on his shield.

 

Agreed on Duran Joppy, I've watched practically all Durans fights and after the first round with Joppy he knew what was coming.

 

Foreman Frazier II , That Joe went back into the ring with a man his style simply couldn't beat is astonishing. He crashed a left hook off George's head and nothing happened. Amazing Joe got to the fifth round.

 

Shane Mosley against Canelo Alvarez. It other losses, Mosley would go into a defensive shell when he was getting hit, or in the case against Pacquiao, always wanting to touch gloves. Against Cotto he didn't do it as much, he held more to slow the action. But Mosley definitely had that thing where he was very reluctant to throw because of fear of the punches coming back.

Against Alvarez, he showed none of this, despite taking a hammering to the body and head.

This also made me question Canelo's power a bit.

 

John Conteh Mathew Saad Muhammad 1

 

A decent one would be chris eubank against carl thompson. A lot of people changed their opinion of chris after that fight. He earned everyones respect in the end imo.

A guy at the end of his rope after a long career jumps up in weight...on short notice and gives absolutely everything he had left. Pretty much done it in both the thompson fights as well as the joe calzaghe one.

Eubank talks nonsense nowadays but after witnessing that no one can question his heart etc. Fantastic showing from him...showed when the chips we,re down and the shoe was on the other foot...he was going no where.

 

Arguello-Pryor I ... slugfest, two warriors imposing their will on each other, neither willing to take a step back. Hated Alexis' excuses after the fight, but the battle itself was epic.

 

Wlad turned out to fit this description pretty well against Joshua.