Fighters that blew your mind/ once in a lifetime talents

I remember his fight with Fenech. Very dangerous for Jeff. Put Jeff down with a straight right IIRC. Fenech had to be all that he was to win - uber tough and pressure personified. Fenech finished him off with terrific right hand - appearances don’t always translate to prowess but Payakaroon was built like the proverbial puncher, great shoulders, long lithe arms - and as it turned out, he was a great puncher. Very good win for Jeff.

 

A young Camacho made my jaw drop - so much speed, talent and potential. Duran at 135. RJJ was unbeatable for a period of time. Tyson for a short period of time.

 

If Marv went to "War" to often that tells me you only know the end of his career, when he was past prime.
That wasn't Hagler at his best. To write Monzon would look " foolish " is silly also, since Jones Jr never faced anyone as relentless as he was.
So yes I'd expect Jones Jr to look good in the early rds. He probably wins a 12rd fight. But what about 15?

 

Gotta give Mikey T due credit.

Of course it was stunning when you first saw Tyson go around - there was definitely the WOW factor. Extraordinary combination of power and speed. I had never before heard punches that sounded quite like Mike’s - as well as visually, the power was uniquely conveyed audibly as well.

One can read about auras - as held by the likes of Liston and Foreman and intellectually understand them but also appreciate their artificial nature at the same time - knowing in hindsight that a fighter of sufficient talent and immunity to auras will likely come along and burst the bubble.

BUT, to experience a puncher’s accrued aura in real time is another thing again - as I and many others did with Iron Mike - and you could more or less feel for yourself the degrees of physical incapacitation that many of Tyson’s opponents must’ve felt even before opening bell.

The moments before a Tyson fight were like waiting for a bull to be released from its pen to wreak immediate and devastating havoc.

Quite the buzz and electricity that doesn’t come around all that often and he did single handedly infuse no mean amount of life back into the sport.

 

Thomas Hearns when he stopped Cuevas, and that led to the shock of his losses against Leonard and Hagler after Duran. He could be so dominant and then have a big loss, which helped Marvin and Ray's legacy. And Tommy's in connection to theirs.

 

How if it s not out yet?

 

Lol.
Why is it such a big secret if your involved mate?
I’m not asking details about the book but it would be cool if a member here is actually involved in making/helping a Toney book.

 

Lol what o goofball you are.

But I understand if you cant talk about it.

 

Wars with Mugabi? He struggled with a past prime SRL's athletic ability. You think he lives with Roy? Roy would have brutalised guys like Minter. Take the blinkers off.

Relentless? You know what the ultimate kryptonite for that is? A once in a lifetime athletic phenom.

 

Roberto Duran was something else, a true wunderkind.

Jose Napoles. One of the best to do it, easily the kindest on a trainers eyes.

Emile Griffith. He was so patient, so diligent it could bring shame to even the greatest champions.

Alexis Arguello had a pile of strengths so high he could stand on it and touch the sky.

Has Mike Tyson been mentioned? A low hanging fruit because what he was, was so obvious it's become tiresome to mention.

Eder Jofre, he shouldn't need an introduction here if the world was entirely comprised of true boxing fans he would be carried around like the emperor of the world. Golden Bantam indeed.

Carlos Zarate was the grim reaper.

My number one pick. Jeff Fenech, never have I watched such a bull. He was unlike anything I have ever seen.

 

The 3rd Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder fight. Lennox Lewis regaining the title from Hasim Rahman. Many of Mike Tyson's fights, when he was winning one after another in spectacular fashion. George Foreman regaining the title from Michael Moorer. Buster Douglas winning the title from Mike Tyson. (The biggest title fight upset in the Heavyweight Division that I can remember.) Evander Holyfield defeating Mike Tyson, the 1st time. Muhammad Ali defeating George Foreman. George Foreman winning the title from Joe Frazier. Muhammad Ali, when he won the title from Sonny Liston. Muhammad Ali's career in general. Floyd Patterson regaining the title from Ingemar Johansson. Also Rocky Marciano winning the title from Joe Walcott. And Joe Walcott winnng the title from Ezzard Charles (I'm originally from Jersey). Likewise Joe Louis defeating Max Schmeling in their 2nd fight. Seeing Cowboy Wallace (my Dad's friend) actually win a fight in Philadelphia, and he stopped the guy in the 1st round. (I believe that was the last 1 he ever won and only the 2nd fight I saw him in. He lost the 1st I saw to Arnold Cream - aka Jersey Joe Walcott, by 1st round KO.)

If I thought about it a while, I'm sure I could name more, in many weight classes. Boxing is a sport full of the potential to "blow my mind," and it has, many times through the years.

 

Toney for me.

 

Chris Eubank sr too in many ways. He could stand completely still with 45,000 fans going insane, knowing 97-98% of the nation was watching live, with everything on the line, and a dangerous opponent approaching him; and stay totally calm!

How he got off the floor to land that picture perfect uppercut to cripple Watson is baffling - he was totally done after 11 rounds at fast pace and a battering up close from the sixth on. Yet walked in so casually to land that through a glove sized gap with all the pressure of the world on his shoulders…..mental.

And the right hands he withstood from about the sixth vs Carl Thompson who dwarfed him, with his left eye closed (couldn’t see them coming), and kept firing back to the end, is beyond me.