Oscar De La Hoya v Fernando Vargas Floyd Sr. with his machine gun noises in the corner :rofl "Just whoop his arse from the outside, ok?"
He's a prized bullshitter. He claimed to win everything, Adam Pollock gathers up enough primary sources to show Fitz wasn't completely infallible. Nonetheless he fought his way to the top. Ain't as far as Corbett yet, but his destructions of Peter Maher and (most importantly) Nonpareil Jack Dempsey sounded horrific. Fitz had an awkward style even in those days. People laughed at him because he had such an odd physique, but he's often described as a matter of 'hand and foot' which makes me come to the conclusion that he was thought of as a very good technician. Sources from the day say something like 'a man who knows the science' or something to that degree. Stylistically, nothings changed though he appears easily hurt when drawn into a gunfight. When he's in boxing mode he's seemingly untouchable. I know him to be durable though as he's 47 in that Lang footage and weight 160lbs I think. That's the 12th round and he takes a shellacking before eventually getting stopped. Tough mo'fo. Not worthy of a top ten placing though IMO. I have him at 13 currently I think, behind Barney Ross, Mickey Walker and Tony Canzoneri. Maybe that will change after I've read the book, but I doubt it. Also, I don't think it details the Jeffries fights which is a shame as they are pretty important stages of Fitz's career. In think you have to buy the Jeffries book as well, which I will eventually, but that's much more expensive, about 35 quid:twisted:
So you have grown to Fitz abit, you didnt rate him before. In a shootout I still think he is pretty formiddable, he was quick, powerful and accurate as hell. He tended to lure guys into a shootout then counter the shite out of them with well placed speedy shots.
Yeah, but that was before it dawned on me what an awkward proposition he would be as an opponent. All bets were off after that; though I'm standing firm on my decision to rank Mickey Walker over him.
Last night: Saad-Marvin Johnson 2 (prime Saad!!) Saad-Braxton (not sure any version of Saad beats prime Braxton) Saad-Vonzell Johnson (routine defence) Good night!!
I started this thread this morning http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=208127 Your contributions are required:good
I remember Lotte KOing Sibbo!!! I'm not sure where I'd rank Saad all time at 175 though. 10-15? Maybe 20?
Mike McC vs JJ I used to debate with a massive McCallum fan (who overrated him) but the arguement for Mike being underrated is as airtight as the Gold Depository at Fort Knox. What a brillient all round fighter he was. I believe Julian was undefeated when Mike stopped him, so the case can be made that McCallum softened him up for G Man etc. I wish the ref would have let Julian try and rope-a-dope till Mike punched himself out, but can't fault the stoppage entirely because Mike was landing crippling body shots in the middle of head hunting.
Roman Gonzalez vs Ivan Meneses. Reminded me of Cotto vs Gomez really with Gonzalez battering his overmatched opponent. Gonzalez worked both the body and head with some nice hooks and he also has some nice variety at times with his punches. Also watched Wanheng Menayothin against some guy. He doesn't look like anything special at all, although the footage was from 3 years ago, so he could have improved.
Joe Louis vs Buddy Baer 1&2: In the first fight Baer catches Louis off balnce with a left hook and puts him through the ropes. Louis isn't hurt however, and as the fight progresses he finds it hard to land his short concussive punches against the heavy and awkward Baer, who keeps leaning into him. As Louis breaks his resolve he keeps pushing Baer away and poleaxing him with his booming right hand. A few kd's, Baer eventually gets stopped. Louis annihilates Baer early in the 2nd fight. Shocking composite punching. Joe Louis; No doubt in my mind that he is the greatest combination puncher of all time. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91SNCeMgPyM[/ame] Watched zale-Graziano 3. zale doesn't even need to set his feet properly to decimate the (as always) game Graziano. He just wings in shots and takes him out. As he continues his shellacking he throws a right hand into Graziano's body, knocking him sideways into his booming left hand. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opHSUGJEECI[/ame]
Joe Louis vs Max Baer Don't really watch too much fight footage from that far back, but ended up watching this fight today. Gotta say, Louis was amazing. Great power coupled with speed and technique. The left hooks he finished off Baer with were brutal, those guys used really take a pounding back in those days before they went down. I'm going to watch more of Louis' fights.