Fights between two "elite" fighters where both of them put on A+ performances?

He lost against some good fighters. 1 was a close SD loss against a very motivated guy and the other was in a FOTY candidate against a future ATG.

 

So by definition he's not quite elite yet - Especially as both men were mid 30's lightweights.

I think he will be one day with his attitude and his exciting style, but he's not QUITE elite yet.

 

Thats weird. Even at the weigh in he looks chubby. Thats when fighters normally look like skeletons. He has to be able to shed that baby fat.

 

I think you're missing the point. Jackson did not put on anything resembling an A+ performance, so the fact that he was prime is irrelevant.

Here was the rest of my post:

 

Perhaps the best fight i ever witnessed personally (Ali-Frazier 3 is the other contender).

And for me, this is the defining fight of their trilogy. (I frankly put no stock in their third fight.)


Both men were at or near peak. Both poured it all on and left nothing in the ring.

SRL was the more talented boxer of the two and a natural WWt.

But Duran was craftier (made Sugar abandon his usual game and fight Duran's fight) and had just a little more heart.

Other than the other, earlier Sugar Man, probably no-one but Duran could have dealt with him that night.

 

I considered putting Toney-McCallum 1 in but thought it may not the be best suggestion, i like it though.

 

babyfat is overrated, former Welterweight .

 

How can you say that Jackson didnt put out an A+ performance when he hit Mike with an exorbidant number of bombs in that fight! Jackson was much more effective in that fight than he was with his fight with Norris (where Norris was proving to be too quick b4 he got caught)

The difference was McCallum took his best shots to Julians disbelief.

 

I like the Calzaghe Kessler shout...

Any of the IVas/RMar trilogy....

 

Most definitely their defining fight IMO.

I don't really concur with SRL being "more talented" though, I don't like that term. Leonard had superior variation, he could infight almost as well as Duran but Duran could not box outside on the same level as Leonard, but I'm not sure that really fits the term "more talented". Duran was a young Panamian with a gift from God - the gift of fighting ability. To value his supreme infighting skills less than the silkier "boxing" skills (note inverted commas please) of Leonard is merely the age-old mis-step of always believing the 'boxer' is more skilled than the 'brawler'. I do not concur with this view. For me, peak Julio Cesar Chavez is more skilled and talented than peak Floyd Mayweather. He may or may not have the same variation, but he is not inherently less talented or skilled simply because he operates in a style which is less traditionally associated with 'skill' or 'talent'.

Anyway, sorry for the lengthy digression. We agree on the value of Duran-Leonard, but whereas you would say Leonard is 'more talented', I would prefer to say he had greater variation in his skillset - and so, at a push, would probably concede he had a slightly greater skillset, though I think Leonard developed this skillset through hard work and not solely natural talent (though for me Duran is still about 7 places higher p4p!) :good

 

I've saw Jackson perform significantly better than that. He had no plan B. He did not show great resilience or will. In no way do I believe Jackson deserved an A+ that night. I'm not saying he was awful, but think of the standard that the term "A+" sets forth - do you seriously think that Jackson performance meets that criteria?? Seriously?

 

Gatti-Ward I
Larrios-Vasquez
Trinidad-Vargas

 

What do you want me to say??? The two came out in the middle of the ring like hungry animals. One of the most underrated brawls in history.

Jackson was his usual self throwing with the intent to kill, McCallum was the same albeit trying to box more.

The problem is that McCallum was able to take JJs shots while McCallum snatched that body up and used his superior boxing ability to break Julian down.

Julian came as good as he always did, he just came up against the greatest JMW of all time.

Here a little clip. What a fight!

[YT]4TJBxxVz4CE[/YT]

 

still doesn't make him elite IMO. he still lost.

 

neither gatti nor ward are elite and larios definitely is not elite. jeez