Ken Norton verus Joe Louis' opposition...

And what about the host of other reports that praise Galento's quality of performance, and say little or nothing of "dirty" fighting?

"Tony led all the way, from the instant he landed a terrific left on Nova's jaw in the second round. He would have won by a wide margin on points if the fight had gone the limit. Nova's efforts to box him were futile. Every time he started a left jab, his best weapon, Tony nearly knocked his head off. It was a surprising and amazing exhibition of hard punching and endurance by the Orange barkeep."
-Associated Press

You can also read a round-by-round account of the fight here:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...XktAAAAIBAJ&sjid=w5gFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3850,2875485

 

And when Galento was the age of Norton at the time he first turned pro, he'd already had about 70 or so fights.

 

You are aware that the "Bum of the Month" nickname refers to only SIX of his 25 title defenses? - the McCoy fight through the first Baer fight.

Most of the fighters you mentioned at the outset of this thread were not part of the Bum of the Month Club.

 

Sorry, I'm not going to play that game. Your question is making Cooper out to be a quailty fighter who was the victim of a tough schedule, and that simply was not the case as I've explained. Again, Gate Keepers usually fight tougher schedules than real contenders.

I meant "Cooper" Forgive the typo. I was being racially attacked in another thread at the time I was writing this and likewise had a brain fart.

 

I think he'd have had a good shot at finishing the job that Cooper started on Moorer.

 

-Mercer's reputation as a knockout puncher stems from one fight against Tommy Morrison...He clearly hit hard, but not in Tua or Galento's class. He did not create knockouts, score knockdowns, or change fights with his power like they did.

-Galento did more than score a single knockdown against a top rater. Not sure why you are ignoring his other achievements.

In contrast you seem to feel Mercer is a notch or more above Galento just because he had a good night against comeback trail Lennox Lewis. Or that Cooper would destroy Galento because he made an over confident Holyfield grab the ropes and dropped Light Heavyweight rubber legs Moorer a few times while ignoring the fact Cooper was not a successful fighter by any means, a gate keeper no less who was primarly used to put over hot names and up and comers.

 

Sounds like this fight here:

[yt]A96uwM7290s[/yt]

Incidentally, I love the tactics Norton adopts at 2:05 of that vid - trying to block punches by leaning back and reaching out two outstretched arms at once. That's some spectacular "modern" technique right there.

 

Partially because I don't think you feel that he'd do any better, so its just easier to avoid the question... Gotcha.

Never called the guy a "quality" fighter, but yes, his schedule would have been hell for anyone.

I agree that the bulk of his career surmounted to the track of a gate keeper.. But I think there was a brief period between 1990-1992 where he may have elevated slightly above that title, even if it was just for the wink of an eye. He beat ranked contenders in Joe Hipp and Orlin Norris along with a few semi-decent prospects... He gave absolute fits to peak versions of Mercer, Holyfield and Moorer, while all the while keeping his conditioning in reasonable form.. Ordinary gatekeepers don't do all that ****, and especially not with that kind of schedule. Asside from that brief period, I'll grant you that the REST of his career was a little more Gatekeeperesque.

You racist mother ****er...............joking.

 

Actually he was being revered as a big puncher long before that, and his one punch KO of Damiani was just one such example... But I agree that his power was overrated, so no need to get too deep into that argument.

Couple of problems here...

1. I don't think that Mercer OR Galento were in Tua's class of power

2. I don't see any evidence which should suggest that Galento and Mercer's power weren't at least comparable to one another's.

Eliminating Tua from the picture as he was in a class higher than both of them, I'd say Mercer did "score knockdowns, create KO"s and change fights with his power like Galento did." He was down on the cards against Damiani before landing a bomb that broke his nose and scored the KO. Francesco had never been stopped before He decked sir bert cooper in the first round of their match... He lambasted Morrison a round or two after being badly staggered, hence changing the tide.. In one of the few times he landed a flush shot on Holmes, he sent him reeling across the ring.... He hit heart enough to earn Lennox Lewis's respect.. Again, I don't think Mercer was anything spectacular but as long as this topic seems to be your cup of tea, then I'll serve you two lumps worth of the facts..

I wasn't "ignoring them"... You brought up Louis and I responded to it directly, and it was YOU who said that you can't see Mercer dropping Louis, so I basically said big deal..

**** Ray Mercer.... I'm not the one who is trying to steer this into a comparison between him and Galento. You are... And I don't know if its because you some how feel that it makes for a more palatable argument to gain any ground or if you're just confused.

A comeback trail Lewis? Did Lewis take 10 years off from the ring and return at the age of 40? If anyone was doing anything that even remotely ressembled a comeback trail journey it was Mercer... He was 35 years of age, off for 12 months, had only fought once in two years, and hadn't beaten a meaningful opponent in probably 4 years. Incidentally, I'd like to see how Galento does against Lewis under these EXACT same circumstances.

Love how you tailored this:

"Over confident Holyfield" - Of course Louis getting decked by galento was the result of being in the ring with a superb force of nature, but in Holyfield's case it was over confidence right?

" Rubber legged light heavy" - (coming from a man who is steadfastly defending a fighter who's era REGULARLY saw heavyweights fighting light heavys.) You also failed to recognize that Cooper was not indigenous to the HW division himself.. Incidentally, that "light heavyweight" was 6'3", 217 lbs, undefeated 28-0 and a future champ.... How many guys like that did Galento fight and trouble as badly as Cooper did? And how many of them did he manage to achieve this against without thumbing them in the eye, or relying on absent officiating?

" Cooper was not a successful heavyweight " Sure, beating ranked contenders and prospects, plus giving some of the best men of his day absolute fits and even getting a title shot = unsuccessful... BTW, how many more title shots did Galento get in his career?

 

Which do you prefer to believe?

 

Neither. I believe only what any of us today actually KNOW, which is that Galento scored a big upset win over a highly regarded contender.

Look at the thread about Tyrell Biggs that's been bumped to the first page, which shows what can happen when people make presumptions about what accounts of a fight are "correct."

 

If transported back Mike Tyson would have been something akin to the Tony Galento of the era.

 

Little humor from down under this evening folks