Best Light Heavies Robinson Would Beat

3 x statements about the SRR vs Maxim bout that not only aren't mutually exclusive, but that frankly, I don't think can be credibly refuted:

1. Maxim won the fight, in the conditions present during the bout, fair and square. The bout rightfully counts as a win on his record and a loss on SRR's. It is one of those rare occasions where the loss can, within reason, enhance the standing of the defeated fighter, but it should also enhance Maxim's standing as a bout he won fair and square.

2. It is reasonable to favour SRR in the hypothetical scenario that the temperature had been more typical. SRR weighed 159lbs against a 6ft 1ins Maxim who fought most of his career at HW. He was substantially smaller and so as per conventional strategy when facing a much bigger man, relied heavily on extravagant movement, moreso than the much bigger Maxim, who was happy to stand his ground, for obvious reasons. It's not unreasonable to speculate that under more typical conditions, SRR could have deployed the same level of movement that saw him take such a handy lead deep into the fight, without suffering the exhaustion that prevented him from finishing it.

3. It is also reasonable to reject a definitive claim (which so far as I can see, no one in this thread has made) that SRR would have won, without doubt, had the fight been contested under more typical conditions. Maxim may have fought at a higher tempo and worn SRR down. There's no way to be certain.

TLDR - Maxim won the fight fair and square and deserves credit for prevailing in the conditions present during the bout. In cooler temperatures the far smaller SRR could have utilised the same considerable movement that saw him take a wide lead, without tiring to such an extreme, but equally under different conditions Maxim could have fought with more intensity and still worn SRR down. Personally, I suspect the former is slightly more likely, but we will never know and we should only judge their respective careers on what actually happened, not what may have happened under different circumstances.

 

So if the prevailing wisdom years from now is that something most fighters do in training/preparation (pick whatever) was done by Usyk’s opponents and that has proven not to be the way to train, will we discount all his wins and say ‘well surely if they hadn’t done (blank) they’d have won, so we should regard those fights as if they won’ lol.

Do we know that Maxim didn’t dry out too? Did anyone ask him (or Ray for that matter)?

Joey had only made 175 once in 2 1/2 years at this point. He probably had to boil down hard to make light heavyweight. But he didn’t make any excuses.

Ray’s weight was spot on or within 1/4 pound of his last three fights (he was three pounds lighter when he lost to Randy Turpin four fights almost a year earlier). So he was obviously very comfortable at exactly that weight.

He just didn’t account for the heat by pacing himself. Joey did. That’s tactical, not atmospheric … it’s not like Robinson was swept away by a tornado or tsunami, lol.

 

I'm in your camp. I've always appreciated Maxim's victory. Just thought I'd throw the idea into the pot and see what responses are elicited.

 

Well explained Greg, as usual. I have no problem with people favoring Maxim. I just don't think you can definitively say Maxim would beat him any night under any conditions. I'd personally be happy to back SRR, whether rightly or wrongly.

 

Cheers, JT. If I had to guess, I'd also favour SRR in more typical conditions, though it would have still been a tough task giving up that much size to a world class fighter.

 

We are in the same boat. Maxim fell just short of ATG but he was a superb light heavyweight and insanely durable, only stopped once in his life despite fighting Charles multiple times, Sheppard multipe times, Walcott multiple times, Satterfield, Moore multiple times, Patterson and a host of other elite fighters.,