How good was Young Stribling?

Too good to be forgotten the way he is in my opinion.

 

He was an outstanding fighter. He held the record for KO's until Archie came a long. He had some good wins, beating Loughran twice, Slattery and Rosenbloom. He was killed in motorcycle accident at the age of 28. In 290 bouts, he was only stopped once and that was with Schmeling in the 15th and final round, when he fought for the Heavyweight Title. He just miss winning the Light Heavyweight Title too.

 

Here, courtesy of our good friend RareBoxing, Jack Sharkey ends one of the longest winning streaks of Stribling's career:[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cqK5U3Mido[/ame][ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHxmg8FOdXo[/ame][ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yABeVvs48Hk[/ame][ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAs0AyOotF0[/ame]

He reportedly over trained for his title challenges of Berlenbach and Schmeling, and the pressure of performing in those championship matches seemed to overwhelm him. He could certainly box on even terms otherwise with the best of his generation. While still a teenager, he apparently lifted the light heavyweight title from McTigue in 1923, but referee Harry Ertle supposedly changed his mind when back in his hotel room and reversed the decision to a ten round draw. For all we know, Stribling could have held that title for another ten years or more. His number of knockouts seems to be somewhat misleading, as he almost always went the distance against the top names. (Who was the best opponent he stopped? Phil Scott?)

Killed on his motorcycle just a few weeks after decisioning Rosenbloom (whose number he had), he was still only in his 20s, so maybe death cheated him of a title winning bid after all. (Rosenbloom was a month older, and Maxie handed Nova his first defeat in 1938. For all we know, Stribling could have competed at a high level into the 1940s. By then, his knockout record would have been completely unreachable for Moore, although Archie took out far better opponents.)

 

There is a biography of him out there, "King of the canebreaks" that is supposed to be very good. Never seen it for sale though.

 

He was a tall, lanky guy who tended to fight with his left hand down and look to sucker opponents into his big right-hand punch.

No. He had a very deceptive and padded record and choked badly in his biggest fights (vs. Berlenbach, Sharkey, and Schmeling). Those fights showed that he had almost no answer to a fighter who worked his left hand and kept him backing up.

 

The information at the start of the footage is very interesting. Note that it says outright "Sharkey made a myth of Stribling's claim to greatness."

 

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=4653

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvcP_PGT0E8[/ame]

 

I think some credit is merited for the fact he was only stopped in the fifteenth round by a peak Schmeling out of 256 fights, but he did seem to crack under the pressure of movie cameras and title opportunities, and his is indeed a rather anemic resume with a lot of filler. Again, maybe things would have unfolded differently for him if he'd become light heavyweight champion at McTigue's expense while still only a teenager. He beat Loughran 2X, Jimmy Slattery, Rosenbloom 2X, and Battling Levinski, but always by decision.

He's an HOFer by virtue of the sheer number of knockouts on his record, and maybe on the basis of what might have been. His final career bout was arguably his best win. Rosenbloom was then the light heavyweight champion, and Maxie would successfully defend that title less than two months later against Walker. Stribling might have been preparing to make a play for Rosenbloom's championship. I agree that he was not yet an ATG, but more of a gatekeeper to the top echelons, and he had serious limitations as you've pointed out. But if he had lived long enough to retire, he might yet have broken through to the top at 175. (There's no way he ever makes it at heavyweight, as Sharkey and Schmeling had already slammed that door shut.)

 

Well, he beat Loughran two out of three who had one of the best jabs ever. It´s not so easy imo.

 

I think Stribling is the most mysterious of the IBHOF selections. There are other bad selections like IMO Heenan, Johansson and McGuigan... but I understand why they were selected-they're famous. But what does Stribling have to sell. He's not that well known. He seems like a rich man's Lamar Clark to me.

 

Wow, thanks for posting that, Duodenum. Never seen this one, or thought to look for it. :good I think I've only seen the Schmeling fight with Stribling.

 

I don´t think it´s mysterious. He was a top lhw and hw contender in what is called the "golden age of boxing", probably should have been lhw champ if not for the changed decision against McTigue and has good wins over HoFers. Add to that his many KO wins, only surpassed by Archie Moore if I´m right, and you have a very solid pick for the HoF. He´s more deserving than quite a few others who are in there.