Middle Ring Rating End Of 76

Were Boris Kartoff and Tim Burr also in their top 10?

 

Boxing was a much more regional sport back then — if you were the best middleweight on the West Coast, as David Love was, you were considered worthy of consideration of a ranking. Same as being the best in the UK, etc.

Love was around this time running through the highly-regarded Philadelphia middleweights — beating Willie Monroe and soon to beat Bennie Briscoe and Boogaloo Watts, so I think the writer’s assessment of him as contender material is pretty solid.

(Consider that in this same time frame, a rising Marvin Hagler had lost to Watts and Monroe, whatever the fairness of one of those decisions, and hadn’t come into his own yet.)

Saenz was less proven but had two losses — one, avenged, to journeyman Mike Baker and another fairly competitive decision to Emile Griffith. He was probably considered a rising prospect, although by 1978 he had been weeded out.

Curious to see who you think should have been cited based on what we knew in late 1976.

 

I have the December 1977 issue of Boxing Illustrated.

They ranked the top 50 in each division.

What's interesting is Hugo Corro would be World Middleweight champ by April 1978 ... and in the December issue of Boxing Illustrated they had Corro ranked 33rd in the world at middleweight.

(Side note: They also listed Leon Spinks as the #50 heavyweight in their December 1977 issue. He'd be World Champ by February 1978.)

So, not a lot of the "unbiased" ratings folks were on the Corro and Spinks bandwagons as they entered 1978.

 

In that issue, Boxing Illustrated have David Love #10, Mike Colbert #11 and Leo Saenz wasn't in the top 50.

The top 10 was
1. Rodrigo Valdes
2. Marvin Hagler
3. Ronnie Harris
4. Gratien Tonna
5. Alan Minter
6. Loucif Hamani
7. Bennie Briscoe
8. Eckhard Dagge
9. Maurice Hope
10. David Love

(They ranked middleweights and junior middleweights together. So the ratings must be from August 1, 1977, before Dagge lost to Mattioli.)

 

People lament today’s boxers avoiding tough competition to protect their zeroes. But if a guy has some losses … he shouldn’t be ranked?

I don’t see how losing by KO is different than losing by decision. A loss is a loss.

 

I know you guys are bringing up Love's career losses and questioning why he was in the top 10. But remember - and I don't need to tell you guys this - ratings are not based on career record, but most recent results. And Love was experiencing a fantastic mid-career period where it all came together. His wins over Tat-Tap Makathini, Willie Monroe, Bobby Watts and Bad News Wallace were phenomenal at the time, which shot him right up the ratings. Now, I was as surprised as everybody when he KO'd Monroe, but then I watched the televised Bobby Watts fight, which was part of Don King's ABC tourney. And I was stunned. One would think Watts was a southpaw the way Love was catching him with a straight right, but Bobby was right-handed and getting caught with Love's sucker punch. That career resurgence may have been brief, but Love earned his rating the hard way.

 

Kelvin Seabrooks lost 22 times, 11 by KO.

Guess he never should have gotten a chance.

And yes, a loss is a loss. Losing decisions and getting KO’d show up in the same column.

 

My congratulations to anyone who adds the great Boris Karloff to a boxing thread post. Well done.

 

It’s Kartoff, as in getting carted off.

He was in a stable with Dusty Trunks and Willie Fall.

 

LOL, well don't I look silly.