Your unpopular boxing opinions

Zab was nowhere near as good as Vazquez, who is criminally forgotten.

But still, Kostya is underrated if anything.

 

Yeah,he was rusty but not as bad as he was made out to be

 

I disagree with the school of thought which says that the post-Manila Muhammad Ali was "Shot" Yes I concur that Muhammad had signifigantly declined since his victory over George Foreman and even his stoppage of Joe Frazier in '75 but shot? This period featured his two disputed victories in 1976 against Ken Norton and Jimmy Young. Even if the benefit of the doubt is given to these two,then Ali ran two prime top contenders to very close decisions. That is not something a shot fighter could do,even one of Muhammad's calibre.

The Ali who lost to Holmes and Berbick was shot but he was n't against the above mentioned men.

 

Here’s an unpopular opinion (or maybe just a rant about something that annoys me on these forums): SIZE MATTERS, ESPECIALLY IN HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING! I see so many people act like it doesn’t, as if physics suddenly stops working in the ring. Sure, skill is critical—no one is denying that—but weight, height, reach, and power can’t just be ignored, especially in a division with no upper limit.

It feels like some people deny this reality just to push an agenda about how smaller fighters from the past are supposedly better than today’s giants (with the exception of Lewis and the Klitschko brothers, who are apparently “bad” because they “abused their size” … seriously?). This mindset not only distorts discussions but also denies credit to smaller fighters like Usyk, who are overcoming massive physical disadvantages to achieve greatness.

Spoiler alert: most heavyweights in his position would have lost. What Usyk has achieved is incredible and a testament to his skill, adaptability, and sheer determination. Let’s stop pretending size doesn’t matter—it does, and acknowledging it doesn’t take away from the brilliance of smaller fighters who overcome it.

 

Ali was showing signs of parkinson`s by then, he speech had slowed dramatically as had his hand speed and he had stop training properly and often looked flabby in the ring, he was exremely poor in his fights v Norton and Young, struggling to land, they weren`t good fights and most people think Norton beat him.

 

I agree with you on your assessment of those fights and that Muhammad had slowed up a lot from '76 onwards but,as I said,Muhammad was still competitive in those fights (if we take them as Ali losses) so he was n't shot. Diminished from even his best seventies form,yes. Shot - no. That condition sadly followed in 1980/81.

 

People like Kostya, but his resume is nothing special. Cory Spinks level.

 

When you have almost 300 amateur fights, you tend to have a more selective pro career with fewer fights. That's just the way things work. Still, in 34 fights his opponents had a combined record of 1111-133, losses being most of the latter due to the early vets he faced like Mayweather and Bramble. Which brings me to the quality he faced out of the gate... in his first 10 fights he faced Juan LaPorte, Sammy Fuentes, Livingstone Bramble and teak tough warrior Hector Lopez. That's really, really tough out of the gate. He had very few soft touches, only one guy he ever faced had a losing record.

 

I think you’re ignoring that those guys were basically washed up. Once he got the to title level, I don’t see what’s so good other than the number of wins. His career reminds me of GGG’s run at 160 except his low was a draw and close loss to Canelo whereas Tszyu got stopped by Vince Phillips and quit against Hatton.

 

Yes, Tszyu got beat by Vince. In that he is like almost every fighter, every champion and almost every ATG. His "quit" against Hatton happened in his last fight when Ricky was allowed every dirty trick in the book which gave Kostya a brain bleed.

 

I think the referee could see his eyes after a couple seconds James appeared to be following the count. I agree it was close though. Then the bell saved him.
That was like a movie.

 

Ok then despite Pryor's "fear" he goes through with the rematch and wins by knockout.
No credit to Pryor for that?

 

Another would be how, scratchy and pretty much tapping/pawing hits shouldn't have count as punches.

 

No, disgraceful cheat Pryor receives absolutely zero credit whatsoever from me.

I already explained why their rematch doesn't prove anything. Arguello suffered a horrific, career-altering beatdown in the 14th round of their 1st fight. Very few fighters can recover from such a violent assault and come back the same, let alone a fighter like Arguello who already had 75+ fights at the time and was fighting well above his natural weight class.

It really is a tragedy that El Flaco Explosivo was robbed of achieving history by despicable lowlifes Pryor and Panama Lewis.

 

Leonard stunned Hagler with a left hook in the 1st round of their fight.