Oh ye of little faith have you red cobra. Shavers and Cooney did, don't you think Patterson lands on him more consistently than they could?
The Shavers ko occured in Young's 11th pro fight...pretty mercenary of his management to feed him to a monster like Earnie Shavers that early in his career, eh? In the rematch with Shavers, Young was also decked, yet got up to soldier to a draw. From then until the end of his career, Jimmy was never decked again. If you watch the Cooney bout, you'll notice that at no time was Young even remotely in danger of being decked...even in the last moments of the fight, when he was blinded by a flow of blood coming from that horrendous cut that Cooney opened. Young stood right in the pocket, in front of Cooney, bloodied but unbowed...again, never even coming close to being decked. Floyd looked excellent vs Eddie Machen, flashing those super fast hands...and Eddie made to the last bell....and maybe because Floyd felt sorry for him, I admit. Jimmy Young was by far a better defensive fighter than Eddie Machen, and had a better chin...having survived George Foreman's 7th round bomb. I think he would have spent a lot of time in defensive mode...survival mode,...and would have gone the distance with Floyd,..losing a decision.
Hey Red! No footage of course but, I believe, I read that their first fight had a 3-knockdown in a round stoppage in effect and only one of the three KD's were the result of a 'decent, heavy shot'. I believe Jimmy had gotten to his feet and the fight was subsequently stopped. Not sure tho...
Shavers dropped Young three times but the first KD came in the first. The second and third came in rd 3. The fight was stopped when Shavers dropped Young hard the second time in the third. Shavers was pretty unknown at the time. He didnt really burst on the scene until after his win over Ellis in the Garden. That was a highly publicized fight. Prior to that win Shavers was viewed with a lot of skepticism as a midwestern fighter with a padded record. It didnt help that he was managed by Dean Chance who was considered a shyster and had been accused of fixing fights for his fighters. It looks like a mismatch in hindsight but when you consider that Young came out of one of the most vibrant, competetive club scenes in the country (I would argue in history) and had been a sparring partner for the HW champion then its easy to see how he could have been considered a match for a midwestern guy with a perceived padded record whose biggest win to that point was against shot lhw Rondon.
Thanks for clarifying klomp! What I'd heard was simply snippets of info along the way and wasn't sure.
Hi JT1,..sorry I wasn't too clear about that the first time... There's an article on Young in one of those SI Vault installments...entitled "I don't fight to win,...I fight to survive.." I'm sure that sentiment doesn't exactly endear Jimmy to the average fan, casual or otherwise lol, but it matters not one bit to me. Jimmy Young was a unique sort of defensive marvel in the mode of Nicolino Locche...a specialist who appeals to a certain kind of fan, and not everyone...and that's just fine with me, in the same way that someone who listens to classical music may not appreciate a Chopin, as opposed to a Mozart, for instance. It might be argued that Mozart composed full fledged symphonies for orchestras,...and operas as well, whereas Chopin did not....instead he specialized entirely on works for piano, i.e., he was more limited and less universal than Mozart...yet Chopin was and is an immortal in his more limited, specialized realm of music. Same for me regarding the Jimmy Youngs, Nicolino Locches, Tommy Loughrans, Joey Archers, etc.,... Just for the record, I also admired and approved of Bonecrusher Smith's decision to not let himself get knocked out by Mike Tyson...and the way he went about it...and I was sure going against the grain with that opinion for sure. Sorry about this rather drawn out dissertation lol, ...sometimes I just can't help myself.....just an explanation as to why I have some rather strange boxing heroes and standards!
I wouldnt lump Loughran in with guys like Locche and Young. Loughran had good defense but he threw punches. Locche's punch output could dip into the single digits. Loughran came to fight he just didnt have a lot of pop. Loughran was similar to Tunney IMO. A stylist yes but not a negative style or spoiling style.
You know, I read that Jimmy said that, about fighting to survive, not win. And I'm quite sure that was taken out of context, or completely worded incorrectly, or even made up. While he was a defensive master, he DID fight to win. No one beats George foreman and Ron Lyle not trying to win. Its a shame that statement sticks to him like glue. He might have even said it, not really meaning what it implies.
I think the same thing. Like it was misquoted, i.e. him saying that when he fights hes fighting for survival, meaning like when you fight for for survival you are more vicious and fight harder. His cousin boogaloo watts said something similar. He said when come from Philadelphia every day in the gym you arent training you are fighting to survive. This is probably what he meant...
nahh A fighter like Shavers had Young's number. A shot and fat Ali proved he still had enough left in the tank for young. '67 Ali beats him in a boring and one-sided matter. I also think Liston and '73-'74 Foreman beat him.
Thats a nice attempt at discrediting Young but Shavers could do no better than a controversial draw when they were anywhere near their mutual primes. Thats hardly having someones number. Ali's decision was an outright robbery. The Foreman that lost to Young clearly, refresh my memory, is that not the same Foreman you think Ali ducked?? So a better version of the 74 Foreman Ali dominated and stopped? The version you think would beat Young? No, Young was poison for an undisciplined, technically inept, free swinger like Foreman. Im no Young nuthugger but pretending Shavers, an old Ali, and the always susceptible George were better than Young head to head is fantasy.