Best Light Heavies Robinson Would Beat

Without the heatwave there's every chance Robinson would have got home. The conditions weren't the norm. The ref lasted 10 rounds. I also mentioned he'd beat his share over "12" rounds.

Usyk routinely flogs much bigger durable opponents. Sorry to break it to you but skill and ability also matters, not just big shiny muscles or tons of lard for the scales. When it comes to skill/briliance/effectivness, well, most rate Robinson the GOAT.

 

So, Robinson didn't have a thermometer and consider that the heat might affect his effort? Or was he overconfident he could stop Joey? Maxim evaded that heatwave exactly how? Perhaps he better paced himself and used his assets, size and ring IQ, to pull out the W.

Maxim was a better lightheavy than Robinson. So says the scoreboard.

 

This has already been explained. Maxim was the bigger man, Robinson had to work harder, move more etc. The out of the ordinary conditions suited the bigger man that was more stationary. Do you somehow not comprehend this? Robinson was well ahead in the fight going into 13.

Maxim was a better light heavy on that night in those conditions.

Ross Purity and Corrie Sanders were better heavyweights than Wlad. So says the scoreboard.

 

Being bigger is part of being better. And their respective sizes were known when they signed upon the line that is dotted. We don't handicap these things because one guy lacks in size. Robbi overestimated his capacity or underestimated Joey's durability. Either way, he rolled the dice and crapped out.

 

Heatwaves aren't known at the time of signing. The conditions put an * on the fight. If it was cooler would Mxim have gone harder? Perhaps. It would have been a different fight at any rate. You should watch the fight one day. Robinson was in all sorts from heat exhaustion and it was obvious to see. He wasn't well at all. He mostly had his way with Maxim until then.

Context matters, always.

 

Did the "heatwave" not hit Maxim, also? Was there somehow an uneven playing field here? Guess what, boxing is an exhausting sport. Exhausting is the reason many, many fighters lose. Ask me how I know.

Maxim is the better lightheavy. Case closed.

 

Under the right conditions, I believe his speed and skill would see him to victory against quite a few 175 lb belt holders. I wouldn’t bet on him beating the elite of the division such as Tunney, Greb, Moore, Charles, Foster, Spinks, Jones, etc. but there were plenty of champions I think he could have taken.

 

Too weak, too frail.

Every Harding type blows through him or makes him "exhausted" so he has to call quitsy.

 

Fights are not conducted in pristine labs. You have to be able to win on the night or day of the fight in whatever conditions exist.

Rest assured there are some fighters from the days of smoke-filled small arenas where the guy who lost might have won but he was more sensitive to the environment than the other guy. The result and assessment of how they stack up against each other still stands.

This is professional boxing, not professional Goldilocks — this fight was too hot, this one was too cold … this one was just right.

I’ve never seen any scientific study that says the naturally larger man is more heat-resistant than his naturally smaller counterpart. The idea that Maxim handled the heat better because he was the bigger guy has no basis apart from the point of view that ‘the wrong guy’ won.

What we cannot do, no matter how we factor the heat into the outcome, is assume if it were less hot that Maxim would pace himself the same way and not put more heat on Robinson (pun intended) and thus win more rounds OR wear Ray down for a stoppage anyway. If the temperature and humidity affected the way the fight played out, then it would also do so if the atmospheric conditions were different.

This has been true about sport since the beginning of time: Winners adapt and adjust; losers make excuses.

Maxim adapted and adjusted. Sugar Ray lost. He chose not to hydrate and he chose to use more energy over the course of the earlier rounds (resulting in him not having enough gas in the tank to finish). It was a strategic miscalculation.

 

This might be the best post to debunk the Robinson-Maxim cope.

 

Isn't it true that in days gone by the benefits of hydration were not necessarily accepted by all boxing people as they are now? Weren't some fighters counseled by their trainers to dry out before a fight even if they didn't have trouble making weight? Wasn't it thought in some circles that "drying out" made a fighter faster? All other things equal Ray likely would have defeated Joey if he had known about the modern approach to hydration. This obviously doesn't change the validity of the points made in this thread, except that it may have been less of a choice that Ray made to not hydrate and more a case lack of knowledge or of relying on bad advice.

 

Closed in your own head. I made my case, you didn't want to accept it.......others will.

As you implied with your impeccable logic, Corrie Sanders/Ross Purrity>Wlad.

 

Happy to stand by my posts. I actually stated the bout could align differently under different conditions. At any rate, running it again on a cool night, life on the line, I'd stick to my guns and back Robinson.

 

No cope here. I'm simply opining Robinson may have won on a different night. Maxim beating Robinson on this night doesn't neccessarily mean he would on any and every night. If that was the rule rematches would be almost null and void. No-one is arguing Maxim didn't deserve the win on that night in those conditions. The win is in the record books. The fight is 3/4 of a century old.

 

We all know Ray was incredible but also have to remember he was in his prime at 147 not 160 .. by the time he started at 160 he was in his thirties with mileage on him .. he had a terrific run but didn't fight the all time best middleweight line up and was vulnerable ... for him going up to 175 was a serious step up .. he was an all time great at 147, would have been at 154 and still was at 160. If he focused on boxing he'd do better at 175 but people forget Ray was at best the best puncher of multiple eras and fought with his power/speed not as a boxer .. he'd have to box ...