The "for one night only fighters" took the chances presented to them, no matter whether there were an array of fighters who could beat them, the names of fighters like Leon Spinks and James Douglas are the ones indelibly written in the annals of World Championship boxing history not most of these other fighters.
Good example Cec - and I don’t know that we can nominate many if any truly mediocre fighters. Most fair examples will include talented guys who didn’t always turn up but pulled it all together for at least one fight.
I think the crux, light hearted point was that he wasn’t actually stopped on the night and in fact won the fight - therefore he was unstoppable on that night. And we should give it up to Jimmy B. for his incredibly courageous resistance to the mighty Joe Louis’ brutal challenge - a resistance that only came completely undone by way of an ATG, bone crushing right hand. He provided sterner opposition than a lot of more talented fighters who Louis swept away far more easily. And we know that Louis fella had a habit of stopping the previously unstoppable.
Give some love to my man 1915 Jess. Yes, there are some that would beat him, but there are some that would not, given a whopping 45 rd limit and the inability to stop/ko Jess. Willard fits the bill as he comes closest to being mediocre but this is a fight he can win based on size, durability and stamina with a lot less accent on skill.
Some people criticize Joe Grim, for losing almost every fight that he was ever a part of. Seems fair enough on paper. However his resume does include a draw against Dixie Kid, and a draw against Luther McCarthy. He basically held a lineal welterweight champion to a draw, and did the same to the Ibeabuchi of the Johnson era! That probably says more about the politics of teh era than him, but I digress!
Journeyman Maurice Harris could look great on a given night beating Lyahovich, Izon, Jimmy Thunder, and Jeremy Williams. Also gave Larry Holmes hell for 10 rounds, losing a close decision.
Our @djanders knows of what he speaks … he got a ticket on a senior citizens discount and went to the fight!
I guess I mistook the term unstoppable to mean that on that one night they were unbeatable, as least to anyone contemporaneous to them. For example I dont see any HW in the world beating Douglas on the night he beat Tyson. There are fighters who, while mediocre, on that one night are the best fighter in their division in the world. I dont think that was Braddock by a long shot.
I would have to agree about both Douglas and Braddock. Braddock was fighting a heavy handed fighter who was clowning around. Beating him was no impressive feat of boxing to be sure.
For what it’s worth…Floyd Mayweather always uses the Ali/Spinks fight as evidence that he was better than Muhammad Ali
Joe Grim is a legend. Dribbled like a basketball by some of the best but always bounced back up. He was a good man that couldn’t be kept down.
Nah, your perspective is fine - I was just giving the alternative, more light hearted interpretation. Some might go so far as to say unbeatable for all time against any given fighter in history (not possible imo) but I believe you’re saying that Douglas, on the night he fought Mike, was unbeatable relative to all his actual contemporaries.
