Herol Graham vs Felix Trinidad @ 154

Graham is a superior boxer to Trinidad, but it's possible that Trinidad could wear him down and stop him late while behind on points.

I don't see it happening though - Graham UD.

 

Trinidad's worst nightmare right here.

 

There is no way Herol Graham is getting by Trinidad. If Graham had a chin then.....

Graham would outbox Trinidad but he would not get by him to hear the final bell, and if he did manage to get to the 12 th round he would have already been down once or twice and given Trinidad 10/8 rounds.

Graham at 37 managed to outbox [url]Charles Brewer[/url] for how many rounds but Brewer still caught up with him and banged him out.

Graham was knocked on his back in sparring against Eubank, knocked out by Jackson and knocked out cold sparring Howard Eastman apparently.

 

Lets be serious here, Graham normally failed at the level Trinidad was always at. The fact that people believe that since Graham was a boxer which means he could automatically out box Trinidad is just laughable. Trinidad was not only good at cutting off the ring but he was also a pretty good boxer himself( especially earlier in his career) and certainly more skilled than Jackson. The fact that Trinidad holds victories over good technical boxers like Oscar, Carr, Vargas Joppy ect convinces me that Graham wouldn't bring anything that Tito hasnt seen before. Graham was a good fighter, but there's just a different level of class here. Trinidad would be too much for him.

 

The problem with Graham is that he could win 11 rounds and you'd still be worried about his chin!! He was in complete control against Jackson before the KO.

I'm starting to think Trinidad is getting a little underrated these days, but he was a beast in his prime!!!

 

Trinidad was not a world class, grade A boxer in the traditional sense but he was pretty damn good. He was also one of the most effective predators and stalkers of his era. Graham would start fast and build up a lead, as always. Trinidad would start slow and fall behind, as always. I just don't see Graham avoiding Trinidad forever and while Tito didn't hit as hard as Jackson, he doesn't need to. Trinidad by KO 9, with the scores 6-2, or 5-3 in favour of Graham.

 

Graham was more effective than any of the people Tito "beat", barring De La Hoya. That's not to say that I disagree with that point, however. I tend to agree with gooners!! post overall on the matchup.

I disagree with your assertion that Tito was more skilled than Jackson, though. That seems to be a common misconception. Tito had just as many, if not more, flaws as Jackson had, and had the perfect style to blow Tito out early in a fight.

 

bulls **** Tito's best weight was 154!!!

 

Jackson could blow Tito out because of his power, and that's the only shot he had at beating him. Trinidad was a better boxer, had way faster hands and could actually be an effective counter puncher when he choose too( see Trinidad/Campas or Trinaidad/Blocker for an example). He was boxing with Vargas( who i feel is underrated himself) and doing well. I think people look at the Oscar and Hopkins fight and take too much from that, and overlook the fact that Tito actually beat world class technical boxers and IMO, has an underrated skill set. Besides Oscar and Hopkins( who were pound for pound greats in their primes) what technical boxers had that kind of success against Tito? Skill wise, i think that Graham is exactly where Joppy was.

I think Graham is a bit overrated because of what he was doing to Jackson until he was knocked out, and Jackson is not a very skilled fighter at all and he also didn't have the best chin. Power can only take you so far.

 

Graham was vastly superior to Joppy.

And that's not to give a great deal of credit to Graham.Rather that Joppy was average at best.One of the worst middleweight champions of all-time and inferior by quite some margin to so many contenders that never won the belt.Graham among them.

 

I'm guessing you have only seen him fight Trinidad?:huh Joppy was a very skilled middleweight and when he was in his prime, there were rumors that even Hopkins wanted no part of him. It took until after he was recked by Trinidad, is when Bernard wanted to fight him. He was good technically, he had decent pop and good movement. He just couldn't handle Trinidad's power.

 

Joppy was an entirely average fighter.

 

I like how people look at someone's record instead of watching them. Joppy in his prime was a very good fighter, its just that his prime didn't last long because he was recked by Trinidad. He was the first to beat Eastman and had a decent title reign before he lost to Tito, and his losses came to only elite level opposition. Say what you want, but the fact that Tito came up in weight to not only dominate, but knock out a natural middleweight champion who was as established as Joppy, is extremely impressive.

 

Who's looking at someone's record instead of watching them?.I saw Joppy fight most of his career.He never impressed me as more than an average fighter, his reign happened at a time the middleweight division took a massive downturn, Hopkins aside.

 

I was aiming that at everyone in this thread who can't see that Joppy was a skilled middleweight and on his best day, IMO he could pose a threat to anyone. I'm not hyping him up to be an all time great, just stating that Joppy's accomplishments and skill set is definitely being overlooked. Graham, who has never won a major title or beaten an elite fighter, is getting more respect for what he did to Jackson in a fight that he didn't even win. He's known for giving the elite tough fights, but coming up short. There is something wrong with that.