Alan Minter Thoughts/Discussion

I didn't see mostof his career I can just about remember watching the first Antufermo fight and the ones after that (rematch, Hagler, Sibbo IIRC).

No one thought Minter was going to be a long term world champ, he'd lost before, was prone to cuts and tended to get wild when put under pressure but Hagler aside he was by no means out of his depth with the likes of Hamsho, Scypion, Lee etc. at that level.

 

Hey!! I was only a kid myself for the Vito fight.

After Hagler he got beaten by Hamsho which put him right out of world title contention (the middleweight title was undisputed at the time, only one champ to aim for) then flattened by Tony Sibson and retired.

 

Harry Carpenter made that point once,but id like to know what Minter actually DID say,not a paraphrase.
Anybody know?

 

The Sibson fight was the classic young hungry fighter ripping apart the old pro.

No Hamsho fights were any good, he was a crude, strong plodder. I'm probably being a little harsh but he wasn't an exciting fighter. Strong, decent chin but not a great punch and limited boxing skills.

The Vito rematch was a strange one, everyone was expecting "round 16 " of the first fight but Antufermo got cut early (IIRC!!) and it was a pretty easy night for Minter.

 

Sometimes I feel like the only minter phan/supporte out there! It's good to hear I am not alone! Anyway leaving the race stuff behind (I try not to get caught up in all that stuff) and looking at the guy:

He reminds me of Larry Bird in that he looks so akward on film, that you think he would be easier to beat than he was (Maybe not on par with Bird in terms of greatness, I just think the ackward comparrison works for me). He had a straight stand up style that made it look as if he would be easy to hit, but he was a tough man to fight and his ackward style seemed to frustrate many opponents. I was fortunate to land a few fights of him (They are hard to find in the states..if anyone has some PM and we can work out some trades). He looks real good in beating Seales, and dismanteling Betham. I also agree with Roth's scorecard against hamsho and had Minter winning that fight by the same score...but the other 2 judges saw it differently..I don't remember any major controversy over it at the time, but Minter did not seem to have great fan appeal here in the states. I was fortunate enough to land a copy of his 2nd fight with Finnegan and think that may have been the best performance I have seen by him. His work against Antuofermo shows how much he could brawl as well as box, and took and dished out some extreme punishment. The 2nd fight (althoug I believe Antuofermo was done after hagler I and Minter I) showed Minters killer instinct as Antuofermo never even gets into this fight in a real way. And Hagler like you said I also think he fought wrong. He was willing to try and out slug a Motivated hagler the likes of which was not seen prior to this (and maybe not even after) and I am not sure any MW ever could have beat him on that night. But trying to go toe-to toe with hagler did not seem to be the best approach, although in his defens he took some monster shots and did not back down or crumble. had cuts not stopped it I believ he would have gone down around 6-7 or so. His best shot seems like he should have boxed more and let Hagler come to him...I know after Antuofermo I (and even Mugabi) they said applying pressure is the way to beat hagler, I just don't see it! Minter took a bunch of monster shots from hagler (punches that dropped Hearns should be a testament to Minters chin), and fired several of his own...In the 1st he nails Hagler good and lands a few good body shots along the way..You could make an argument that Minter even won this rd. (20-19 cards reflect that Minter was in there pts wise), in the 2nd hagler lands some horrendous shots and minter looks like Morales or Pac the way he waves his gloves and tells Hagler to bring it. The 3rd he still does not back down in spite of the cut and keeps taking hagler everything he can untill...well you know.

I think Minter is one of the most under rated and under appreciated fighters of the last 50 years. I would favor him over the recent champs of Pavlik, J. Taylor (not against Hops though) and would pick him to beat Trinidad prior to that.

How does he rate against some of his country men (or close to it)
M. Watson
Benn- (I think he would give the benn who fought Eubank and watson at MW fits)
Eubank (Eubank is in my top 5 non Philly favs, so I think he blows Minter out!)
Collins
Calzaghe
Graham
Sibson
Turpin

 

That's great stuff Phillyphan,i believe that Minter is some what underrated,i think mainly because he was immediately before and got beat off the dominant Hagler.
He really busted up and dominated Antuofermo in the 2nd fight and i also had him beating Hamsho,he hurt Hamsho badly and had him all over the place in i think the 5th round.Hamsho particularily in the 2nd half of the fight mainly just spoiled,but they gave him the verdict on a SD.

 

the first thing you remember about "boom boom" are the horrible cuts that he got.he fought gratien tonna twice and should have had two wins but the cut curse got him again.
i remember him in that unfortunate fight with angelo jacopucci ,with the italian losing his life.there was 3 wars with kevin finnegan and i'm sure he boxed "wildman" frankie lucas.
i think he was stopped 8 times but 6 of them were on cuts,only hagler and tony sibson beat him inside the distance otherwise.
i thought he beat antuofermo easier than 1 point as gpater says and i think the british official gave it as a landslide for minter.the reurn fight didn't need an official and minter won handily.
i actually thought he was one of the few that rocked hagler in his losing fight with the marvellous one.
in the fight with hamsho i thought he deserved the decision and was surprised when sibson stopped him although my trainer said he would !!

 

I always liked the story about Alan went to see a doctor about how easily he cut and the quack replied: "Try and get hit less". :yep

The second fight with Kevin was one of the best British fight on the seventies- a real war. Minter probably outboxed Finnegan (no mean feat) bu Kevin's rallies near the end should have clinched it for him I felt.

I recall listening to the Sibbo fight in my room with my big bro as it was banned on tv at the time due to the advertising dispute. I still haven't seen the full fight.

Yeah, a close fight but Minter won by a few rounds.

The Hamsho fight was on of those great World of Sport Saturday afternoon ones, where you could watch the fight and find out that Eric Gates had just scored against Liverpool. :yep

 

i remember for the hamsho fight minter was training in an aircraft hanger ?! and he was skipping for about 30minutes,it was brilliant.
i've not seen the minter-sibson fight either and was hoping gpater would put it on here somewhere.