Really? If you don't reguard at least Marciano and Lamotta as great I need to know how much you've watched of them.
The key word in my original post was ALL. There’s no disputing the greatness of Marciano and Lamotta. However, Rosenblatt, Thomas Tate, Travis Simms, and Chris Henry hardly qualify as great. Competent yes, good maybe, great...No Way, not even close!
While I agree Rosenblatt was beating up Pazienza before he got caught with a lucky punch, I don’t consider him a great fighter. Good maybe, but far from great. Despite the IBC and IBO titles he held, which don’t carry much weight in the sport, a great MW/SMW should NOT be stopped by a modest puncher, who came into the fight following a 14 month layoff and 5 years past his LW/SLW prime. Maidana was also good but not great. Hagler’s quote rings true with him: “it’s hard to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5 am when you’ve been sleeping in silk pajamas.” Maidana made good money fighting Floyd twice and made a wise decision to retire. Hopefully he’ll stay retired and enjoy his hard earned riches.
You’re right, it does depend on definition. I notice you referred to Pazienza as a “legendary boxer.” He too was good, but hardly legendary. Are you from New England or something? No knock if you are. I was stationed in Rhode Island for a year, early in my military career, and loved the area.
Was going to mention Alexander Frenkel, who's doubly relevant because of how recently he was active. No fan fare, no announcements, no nothing. He was just gone. All after a star making KO win. What a way to end a career.
He probably thought that Tyson would have been undisputed champion for years and he knew that he wouldn’t have any chance even if they fought 100 times so without a chance of winning a title again there was no point in carrying on plus the money he got for the fight set him up for life.
Did you not notice the word GREAT in the title? Because,apart from the first two you named, none of the others were GREAT fighters!
