Francesco Damiani

Damiani was a good amateur boxer, and solid pro heavyweight with skills. His lack of a big punch, and in my opinion conditioning / toughness held him back as a pro.

Damiani had a chance to fight Holyfield but declined, which is a reason why Bert Cooper got the title shot.

 

Talented, lazy, skilled, soft and so on....... Frank Damiani had skills, but he loved that pasta too goddamn much........ Had he been more serious, he could've been even better....... Still, the dude from Italy is a former WBO chump.... The WBO belt was fully paper back in 1991......

Damiani kinda' reminded me of Gerry Cooney, but with better speed and skills yet, less power....... Damiani also had that fragile beak for a nose..... That thing would either bleed or crack upon receiving a jab.......

MR.BILL

 

Damiani was good, as a boxer heavyweight very good. Musant have cared eneough....

 

Very underrated. One of the most talented boxers of the early 1990s, such a shame he never got a fight with Holyfield. Good Jab, very good combination puncher, great body attack, and top intelligence. He was completely outboxing a 215lb lean prime ray mercer...not the 240lb fat 36 year old ray mercer who later gave Lewis/holyfield hell.

 

Damiani would have won wide unanimous decisions over Tommy Morrison and George Foreman, two overrated 1990s fighters.

 

I think Foreman actually declined a fight against Damiani. It was supposed to be on a doubleheader with Mike Tyson.

 

I talked to Foreman back then (1991) about Damiani...... Foreman wasn't scared of Damiani at all.... Foreman thought he was a runner..... Foreman wanted guys who would stand and trade in the center of the ring.... Foreman felt Damiani's style was stinky and it would not mesh with his plans.....

Personally, I'd have loved to have seen the fight...... I also think Foreman's pressure, size and strength would've broke through and got Damiani outta there late in the fight...... WORD!

MR.BILL

 

He couldn't break though Stewart, Shulz, Grimsley, Saverese, Morrison..I highly doubt he would get to Damiani. Damiani had far better skills than the men above who gave Foreman huge problems.

 

It figures Foreman talked him down. Anyone with the handspeed of Damiani (yes, he was fast for is weight) would have posed problems, so it's only natural George would have wanted to fight guys that played more into his hands.

Good fighter, overall. Haven't seen the McCall fight, so not willing to say he had a glass nose or anything like that. Anyone with his nose disfigured like it was against Mercer is excused from action, as far as I'm concerned. Any bleatings of "no heart" are usually reserved for those who have never laced on gloves. When you can go on fighting with your nose shoved to the other side of your face, you're allowed to talk. Until then, shut up. I'll let it go at that, and hope they do as well.

 

Yeah, and Damiani jacked up Mercer, Holyfield, and Morrison, and....oh wait, sorry my bad. He didn't actually beat anyone in Foreman's league. Are you serious? Francesco Damiani? LOL.

 

BTW, are you sure it was only the uppercut which broke his nose? I saw it on slow motion, and it is difficult to decide whether or not Mercer followed it with his elbow.

 

Damiani was good, but using Ray Mercer as a barometer is the wrong thing to do. Mercer was a lazy fighter who always lost rounds. Morrison was beating him up until the point where Tommy was ktfo'd.

 

I thought he pulled out with an injury?

 

Not to mention he caved and crumbled against the only two decent punchers he fought.