Does Cleveland Williams hit hard or really hard?

What others would you put forward?

 

How about Tami Mauriello? I haven't seen him mentioned lately. He was an interesting fighter and he had Louis in trouble for a moment. Later he appeared in movies including an all-time great one, "On the Waterfront".

 

You should start a thread and pop some insights in the OP and see if anyone divulges more. Giving guys like this some recognition might allow many to learn a bit more about them.

 

Tami Mauriello KO'd Lou Nova twice. He had 60 knockouts. He started out as a welterweight but within a few years was fighting as a heavy. I would like to hear about him from someone who has studied him. Red Burman, who Mauriello knocked out, was another "Bum of the Month" I'd like to know about.

 

You're .... you're not calling Williams a lesser fighter are you?

 

We have a tendency to dismiss the guys Joe Louis faced in the 1940s, similar to how we underrate Marciano's foes in the 1950s. All of these guys have stories, and some of them haven't been told, or dug up in decades.

 

Lesser than Muhammad Ali.....only.

 

Ehhh I guess at a push, you could say Williams was inferior to Ali H2H. Ali should've sent that policeman who shot Williams a Christmas card. Williams was going to fight Terrell for the WBA belt before he was shot. A 100% Williams (with no damaged hands like in the rematch) would've likely taken the bout, and with it the series, putting him and Ali on a collision course for unification around '67.....

Let's just say the government wouldn't have needed to suspend Ali for three years. Williams would've put him on the self for far longer than that.

 

This was in 1962 when Liston was getting ready to face Floyd Patterson for the first time. He was pitching the idea that if Johansson or Clay wanted a shot at his title they should have to go through Williams first.

https://ibb.co/QkCdrQH

 

Eddie, this thread is the filthiest thing I've read since the message you sent you me the last time you were en route to my place

 

Thank you Solomon. Excellent information.

Straight to the source with context provided.

All jokes aside, I consider you to be a 100% legitimate Historian.

Perfectly objective and one who is also extremely generous with their knowledge and the information they hold.

You’ve made terrific contributions to this forum and they’ve always been very much appreciated.

 

Thanks, you've always been generous with the praise. I wouldn't really claim to be anything more than some guy with an interest in boxing history and the time and inclination to sift through newspaper archives. But maybe that's all a historian is.

 

The praise is well deserved and you are more than welcome sir.