Very interesting match. While I certainly believe Mike's abilities were great (he could punch with either hand, he had an awesome jab, he could move, he was a good body puncher, good stamina, fairly good chin, very accurate and precise), Eddie was generally more aggressive (although still criticized for several lethargic performances), but when Eddie got you in trouble, he turned into a killer. Machen was more versatile as well. I say Machen by close decision.
Yeah I like Eddie by decision too. He wasn’t much of a banger nor terribly exciting but he was a master boxer and durable as well.
Eddie COULD bang if he to though. In his fights with Billy Hunter, Doug Jones, and Harold Johnson he showed that he could hold his own in an exchange. He also survived a brutal beating at the hands of Joe Frazier. Considering Weaver tended to do nothing until he got hurt though, I would say Eddie could easily jab his way to a victory over a contentedly passive Weaver. This really could be a dull fight.
Eddie Machen suferred a decision loss to Floyd Patterson on July 5 1964, Floyd had him in serious trouble, but as Floyd mentioned in an interview, he felt bad that Machen had mental issues and had spent time in an institution. So according to Patterson, he backed off several times during the bout. But Machen went 12 rounds with Sonny Liston on Sept 7 1960, losing to Sonny on points.
Patterson seems like a decent guy. A few days ago I was watching an interview of his upcoming fight with Liston, and I got the vivid impression that he knew he ain't gonna win but was giving Liston the shot out of a sense of fairness and obligation.
I always felt that Floyd Patterson was a very mature man, a great man. To me he is what a champion represents.
This. It isn’t uncommon for a fighter to show professional courtesy to a fellow fighter they respect, since Machen had definitely paid his dues in the ring
oh definitely. That can happen in any fight especially at heavyweight. But Machen was generally pretty durable and I think the Ingo fight was kind of an odd occurrence.
The Ingo fight I believe was an aberration,...like Hurricane Carter vs Emile Griffith...not to happen again IMO.
I like Weaver, but Weaver was so passive, and Machen would sense it and go 2 work, outjabbing him and snapping a hard, flashy left hook. Weaver would try 2 win late as usual I think, but Machen was 2 tough 2 get knocked out by a single punch. Weaver, though he wouldn't be beaten BADLY, as in his health would still be in tact imo, would lose a UD 2 Machen by a wide margin. Personally, I dismiss the Johansson fight as a one-time thing. No one afterwards replicated it on Eddie, and Johansson wouldn't have been able 2 do it again, and Weaver was vastly superior as a boxer. He had a much better jab, handspeed, footwork, stamina, and toughness. Power, I don't know.
