Can you become an ATG with weak hands?

igor also threw some strange, wild punches. he also didnt seem to care too much about accuracy, which is even more apparent in his vale tudo matches

 

So the punches he uses are the Russian "casting punches" from Sambo, I believe. I agree that they're not as accurate as say a straight punch but he's not that bad with them. In these highlights you can see him one-shot guys a few times. Some say that because of the way the fist rolls over that you will be more prone to busting your hands with them.

 

John Conteh had hand trouble throughout his title reign, 1974-1977. But in his Oct 18 1977 WBC title defense, he defeated challenger Alvaro Yaqui Lopez by a 15 round unanimous decision with one hand.

 

Sure, both Calzaghe and Mayweather were known for having brittle hands.
Same with Arturo Gatti, although he's not an ATG, but he certainly got a lot of big fights

 

Hearns had rt hand problems for many many years , ,as JT stated .. he even left a few more breaks out, a surgery , and what not.. broke his knuckle sparring with McCrory, folded it early on against Sutherland , broken finger playing basketball, broke his thumb running accident ,, Hagler fight delayed , Duran fight delayed ,, on and on and on .. His rt was a complete mess
Until he knocked you out with it

 

Jesus, that’s a lot of breaks and not just punching related. The integrity of Tommy’s right hand bone structure was progressively screwed. Cheers.

 

A few more mild drama's outside the ring too -

https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/10/sports/hearns-tries-to-erase-memory-of-loss.html

I remember the relief (fight reports) when he came thru the Sutherland fight unscathed and further relief when the hand held up to banging Minchillo's head all night. I'm not seeing too many other mentions so perhaps that was about it along with Hagler.

I keep thinking i am missing something tho and it's not the broken pinky to move the Hagler fight years back.

 

Imagine going up and down in weight half your career, not really settling in on one weight, fighting everyone with a ****ed rt hand a lot , because you just wanted to fight to prove you are the best ... He is one of the bad asses in the history of the sport for me. He wanted to knock you out , didnt matter what weight or who you were .. he went for broke

 

Thanks JT. Great article. Tommy was like Mr Glass, though the fragility was concentrated into the right hand. Hearns sounds like he was one of the most impaired fighters by way of bad hands - one hand in Hearns case - and it was the one that delivered his money shot. His words re Ray (needing attention) were more than prophetic - Tommy ultimately got to have his day!

 

Great summation of Hearns. All class too.

Depends on how you saw it - but I thought he beat Ray in the rematch. Hearns didn’t whimper - he seemed happy enough to prove the doubters wrong and show that he could survive a later round onslaught and still see out the finish.

As we know, Tommy did a LOT more than that second time round with Ray. I wonder IF Tommy got the official nod - would that have compelled Leonard to a third match?

As it was, Ray had the orig W and then the DRAW - he knew to leave well enough alone - and if they rematched not too long after the 2nd fight, I would’ve bet on the Hitman - with the outside chance of it being by way of KO.

 

Ray wanted nothing to do with a rematch .. He made him wait 8 years for it .. he cherry picked it , waiting for Tommy to be shopworn ... it backfired big time .. he got floored twice .. and he lost the fight ,, he defended the draw for a long time ,, then he came to his senses and gave Tommy his due, because he knew he lost the fight and his popularity got him the draw .. watch him talk about the fight ,, in the stare down .. " when I looked at Tommy , I knew I was in trouble " .. Tommy knocked me down twice , he won that fight

 

Yep, Leonard ultimately admitted more or less that Hearns beat the cr*p out of him.

 

ya its crazy and even after all those years .. When Tommy drops his rt hand .. theres Leonard with that left hook that staggers Tommy .. and going off that other thread for those who dont Leonard was a puncher ... he has one of the best left hooks in the sport body work and back upstairs... it was a good fight ..

 

To be fair his hand was fine the vast majority of times. It pole axed people from the beginning of his career until the end. It's also fair to say that in the odd fight he would probably have been a bit reticent letting it really fly here and there.

 

Great one, Richard!