Mosley! The Colonel bob Sheridan said he was still dangerous to Canelo in the later rounds. In fact he was fighting hyped up because he placed a one million dollar bet on himself to win! Also against Mayweather: buckled those knees of Floyd jr. Next up: Cotto he looked a mess physically in the first Margarito fight (we all know why) but speaking of the heart he showed, he put in a great losing effort until he took the knee. Those tears of blood that he cried were not caused by a mere mortal. In Canelo fight, he walked through el canelos body shots like they were fly swats. So there you have 2 examples of looking like bonafide triumphant whilst in a losing effort. Can you please name somemore?
Mosley was emphatically outboxed and bossed over the course of the 12 rounds against Floyd Mayweather. With respect, that is a terrible example. Marco Antonio Barrera vs Erik Morales I Humberto Gonzalez vs Michael Carbajal I Jung Koo Chang vs Muanchai Kittikasem Gerry Penalosa vs Ponce De Leon Roberto Duran vs Marvin Hagler Gennady Golovkin vs Canelo Alvarez I and II Yaqui Lopez vs Matthew Saad Muhammad II Andrew Golota vs Riddick Bowe I Michael Nunn vs James Toney
Ali still looked very good when he lost to Frazier. Still blindingly fast hands, good feet, solid pop etc. He wasn't the same fighter he was a few years ago, but he was still very impressive, and he happened to be against a guy who was willing to decapitate him in the ring. Leonard also looked fantastic in Montreal. Great feet, ring generalship, unbelievable speed, incredible heart and grit, hard power that stunned Duran at times. Just happened to be against one of the best fighters ever, in a night where he might just have been the best fighter ever. Leonard could have beaten any other Welterweight of his era that night. Meldrick Taylor vs Chavez. Taylor won almost every round in the fight and looked like one of the best fighters ever, but his accumulative damage ultimately doomed him in the last 2 seconds. Billy Conn against Louis. Showcased his superior footwork, managed to fight Louis at the perfect range, took away his offensive foundation, and got knocked out because he was against Joe Louis.
Taylor vs Chavez is the best answer. Tucker vs Tyson is another one i havent seen mentioned yet. He did some Roy Jones moves, ducked under 5'10 Tysons overhand right while being 6'5. At one point he hit Tyson with a triple left hook. Incredibly athletic and talented HW. He was great that night, Tyson was better. He went on a 2.5 year coke binge after that and was never the same, came back without his legs and reflexes. People dont want to give tyson credit for that win because Tucker "broke his hand" but i Think Tyson just countered his right hand to death with his left hook to the body. If it was just the hand, tucker would have gotten right back in line for a rematch and not fell into depression and drugs. He knew he couldnt beat Tyson at his best. Tua looked great vs Ibeabuchi. Hearns looked great vs Leonard. Thomas looked good vs Tyson, he managed to turn a near KO1 loss around and seemed in control when he got bombed out. Botha looked good against Tyson as well. Foreman looked like a beast vs Holyfield. Cooper looked really dangerous against Holyfield. Mercer looked like a brick wall vs Lewis
*Azumah Nelson against Salvador Sanchez *Antonio Tarver against Roy Jones Jr. *Rosendo Alvarez against Ricardo Lopez *Juan Francisco Estrada vs Roman Gonzalez I *Roman Gonzalez vs Juan Francisco Estrada II *Nonito Donaire vs Naoya Inoue I
Maidana against Mayweather in their first fight..... if you're not a "boxing elitist" (those that only like boxing stylists) you realize that Maidana did win at least 5 rounds, because of his body punches and real damage... Boxing is not only jabs... Medel against Jofre in their first fight... Read that Tom Heeney fought very well against Gene Tunney...
Duran vs Hagler .... A fight everyone including myself thought he'd be massacred, for Duran too still be their in the 15th rd still defiant, against arguably the greatest Middleweight in history, a truly magical outcome, and showed a weakness in Hagler's game. Cooney vs Holmes, I thought Cooney had an excellent chance of winning a version of the championship. But he never looked as good again. Mugabi vs Hagler, immediately after the fight I saw 2 paths for Mugabi, go back down to Jr.Middle win the title hold it for a while, with a fantasy class between him and J Jackson, or he'd crash and burn, never to be as good again.... He crashed and burned.. Benitez vs Leonard, I still marvel at Leonard's speed. It was 2nd only to lightning at his best if we're talking speed WITH power. So how in the hell did Benitez make him miss the vast majority of his punches? In a grueling 15rd fight? Benitez at his best was one of the most gifted fighters in the history of the sport. Almost impossible to hit cleanly even by two of the fastest welters in history. Need proof? Watch this fight. And he wasn't just sitting on the back foot, playing the defensive game and waiting, he was actually balanced for most of the fight, in perfect position to counter Leonard! Boxing at its very best between those two.
Given his limitations, I thought Gerry Cooney looked very good against a prime Larry Holmes. He landed some very effective, thudding hooks to Larry's body. Especially with that left and he punched in combination when in close. Doubled and tripled up with left hooks to the head. He landed some powerful thudding overhand rights. He was effective at using the double jab to land some straight right hands that hurt Larry. He was very competitive. He just couldn't deal with Larry's jab, his speed, his counter punching and his cleverness. The damage began to accumulate and eventually his durability broke. Still, it was a very tough battle against an all time great.
I'd say Leonard Duran 1, you could say Leonard fought a dumb fight, but for fighting Duran's game, he did insanely well.
Stoppage knockouts while behind on the scorecards aside: Norton-Holmes Holmes-Witherspoon Hagler-Duran Leonard-Duran
Alexis Arguello putting up a valiant performance against Pryor in their first fight. Alberto Davila looked really good when he lost to Lupe Pintor and Frankie Duarte (both whom he had beaten previously). Roman Gonzalez also looked good in his losing efforts to SSR 1 and Galló 2 & 3. Betulio González also looked great when he barely lost to Masao Obha in a tough fight.
Benitez showed great defensive instincts. He is probably the most defensively gifted of the modern era. Although that fight was a blowout imo. I had Leonard a comfortable 11-3 before the stoppage. Benitez vs Palomino fits the bill.