Great call; forgot all about Cerdan. He was French-Algerian wasn't he? Definetly gotta be in the mix.
He never beat Griffith. He beat the likes of Fullmer, Giardello, Hurricane Carter, Henry Hank, Benvenuti, Torres, Mueller, Fernandez, Mims, Webb, Greaves, etc though. Fantastic resume. If there was ever a fighter you didn't want to stand in close quarters with, this was the guy.
Nah, looked it up: born 22/7/1916 in Sidi Bel-Abbes, Algeria. Although he was known as the Casablanca Clouter, so there may be a dual/triple nationality issue.
Nelson would be second to Tiger, but Tiger holds the edge for me, he clearly has the edge in resume, while Azumah was likely a bit more consistent(then again who the hell was consistent in the era Tiger fought at MW?). Azumah was a bit more versatile, but in terms of their strengths, pressuring, Tiger was one noone could mess with. Not Hurricane Carter, Gene Fullmer, Henry Hank, even Jose Torres at LHW, etc. He'd have had the Fenech's of his division staying on the move from him.
Big Cat giving some props to Battling Siki! Nice. :good John "The Beast" Mugabi deserves mention just on his nickname alone.
Azumah Nelson for me... battling siki defended in ireland and nearly got shot once...some useless info i thought i'd throw in there..
Yeah, it was during the civil war wasn't it? Fighting an Irishman (Mike McTigue) in Ireland, on St Paddy's day; Siki you should have got yourself a better manager, that match-making is shite!