There are people on this forum who would have laughed at Tony Galento beating Ngannou

The skill was lacking for sure. TG was a crude, undisciplined, short & fat, extremely dirty fighter who had 26 losses in an era that wasn't the strongest.

I really don't see the appeal of this guy. He nearly blinded Nova by thumbing him all night, and by all accounts put on one of the most outrageous displays of fouling ( a staple of his) that night. The not showering a week before fighting thing just adds to what a disgusting slob this guy was.

The predictions of TG laying Frances out has this feeling like a Foreman thread. These are coming from posters who I generally see eye to eye with, but something seems way off on any opinions of Galento.

 

I don't have a problem with Baer. Not much of a Galento fan though. Just thought he was kind of an ass who wasn't as good as some make him out to be.

 

Losing to Anthony Joshua is not a disgrace. AJ is 6-6, 250+, athletic, always in shape, a decorated amateur, and a professional champion. Being knocked out by AJ does not mean that every boxer who ever lived would duplicate what AJ did. Floyd Patterson was knocked out twice in the first round by Sonny Liston but I wouldn't favor Tony Galento to beat FP. FN is still an unknown as far as his boxing, he looked like a prodigy vs. Fury, then he got caught against AJ. If FN continues to fight, we might find out more about him and where his level is, if he does not fight again, we'll always have to guess. After two fights, I probably give more credence to Carlos Takam's assessment of FN than anyone else.
Apparently CT has sparred with FN a lot, knows about his ability as a boxer, and he considers FN a "world class" boxer. Getting caught by AJ IMO, does not mean FN is Galento level or lower. A lot of top boxers have been caught early and knocked out. Some have done well later against top opponents so I'm not making any assessment about FN who turned pro as a boxer against two top level fighters. My guess is that he is not as good as he looked against Fury and not as bad as he looked against AJ. We don't know where he is yet.

EDIT:
When I watch this video, I still laugh at the thought of Galento beating any decent fighter. If this guy was a "contender" and Max Baer was a champ in that era, and they actually beat some people...? If Galento and Baer boxed in my backyard I wouldn't walk outside to watch.

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Galento defeated Nathan Mann, Al Ettore and Lou Nova. He absolutely has a chance against Patterson and there is nothing Ngannou has done to put him even remotely close to Galento's level.

 

TG was a heel through and through you got paid by the gate in his time and I suspect it might’ve been responsible for his outrageous behaviour, wrestling octopuses for one.

I don’t believe Tony is a special talent, I think he was a street fighter who learnt to box as his career progressed (which would leave holes in any fighters education) it also might’ve been responsible for cruder substitutes.

Boar or not what TG was, was an honest pro who fought multiple champions and contenders. Would you find it bizarre to say Tua would KO Francis? We’ve had men like Tony compete in every era across many weight classes, it isn’t exclusive to his time.

Edit: I’d say the appeal is his cartoonish villainy and silly appearance (for a boxer) he’s fun to talk about and his success is surprising at first glance.

 

No, not at all. In fact, that's the result I'd expect. I don't, however, believe Galento can crack like Tua. I don't believe TG would have been able to replicate what Tua did against Ruiz, Moorer, Maskaev, Izon, etc. Well...maybe a washed up Moorer, but I believe it would have taken longer.

I agree with pretty much everything else you said.

 

Personally I think the Ruiz fight was a once off. I don’t think that happens again, but it did. I think Tony hit as hard as anybody and I thought it was his meal ticket personally. Those fights could be debated (maybe) but Tony doesn’t have to be good enough to beat any of those guys to beat a big MMA fighter IMO. TG was a real contender and a dangerous man.

 

IMO, Tua and Galento had almost nothing in common except their height. Tua could box and had good boxing fundamentals. Tua has good balance and movement, shifts his weight, could slip punches, roll under them etc. Galento lacks balance, does not show good fundamentals, punches often with one foot off the floor, doesn't show any defense, just does not look like a trained fighter.

Tua in this sparring session with Holyfield looks like a boxer with good training.

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Galento in this sparring session looks like a guy who has not boxed and just put on gloves for the first time.

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I know I probably shouldn't put too much stock into a 30 second training clip but wow Galento looks bad in that.

 

I would say the man who can knock down Louis (rewatch that) who beat 78? (I think) foes may have known something about boxing and in those 78 wins I’m sure there were many who were overall better at the things you described. I think that Tony was a street fighter who learnt to fight, fighting with lessons sprinkled in, he fought like a boar was rough but a ring general makes them fight his fight I think TG was at the least (IMO) better at that then Tua. I don’t believe he was very special, I don’t think he’d beat Tua (maybe) but I do believe he’d be good enough to beat up a big MMA fighter.
EDIT: Just noting if I understand properly Tony in that clip is recovering from a visit to the hospital? Not that he looks much different than that lol.

 

He’s recovering from hospital isn’t he? That’s what the narrator say, I think. Hey now let’s not forget how Greb looked in his spar for the camera.

 

Totally agree. AJ did exactly what an experienced, talented, big-punching Heavyweight should have done to a novice. Not at all a disgrace for FN, and that's the price you pay when you jump into the sport against a top-level guy. Francis has normally been durable in MMA fights, and I don't see that slob Galento doing anything remotely the same as AJ did.

This I'm not sure about. Takam is FN's friend and countryman. Can't imagine him saying anything like, "Nah, he's not a World class fighter". Takam also said something along the lines of Ngannou being about at AJ's level, which clearly wasn't the case. AJ effortlessly dispatched NG, and I think he does that 10 times out of 10. They are levels apart, which is understandable given the difference in experience.

Francis is 37 years old, was just brutally KO'd, and from what I understand, made a combined $30 million between the Fury & AJ fights. I think he calls it a day at this point. I do believe that the AJ fight is a better indicator of how good a Heavyweight Francis is. AJ took him seriously, where Fury (supposedly) didn't at all. Francis' skills aren't terrible, but I'm not confident he beats any top 10 guy. His power didn't seem to have completely carried over into boxing either. I would like to see more to get a better assessment. Perhaps vs. Zhang or Hrgovic.

Couldn't agree more. Just not overly impressed with any Heavyweights from that era off the top of my head, outside of Louis and maybe Conn when he dabbled in that division. Hearing some of the comments about Galento on this thread remind me of that "George Foreman levitating to avoid punches" comment. Just complete exaggerations of what Galento really was, IMO anyway.