How good was he ? What was his prime weight ? When were his prime years ? How good was his European level of opposition ? Was he seriously injured in the LaMotta fight and to what degree did it handicap him ? How close was the fight ? Where does he rate all time at 160 ?
I know a little about Marcel Cerdan when he came to America in 1946 and I saw him in his first bout against an older but still formidable Georgie Abrams at MSG. Cerdan was a little like a bigger Henry Armstrong in his non top swarming style against Abrams and won a close decision because Marcel forced the fight. We at MSG were very impressed with Cerdan...A year later Cerdan flattened my neighbor Harold Green in 2 rounds. Green previously won 2 decisions from Rocky Graziano and the day after the fight Harold Green told a few of us including my dad, "in the very first exchange with Cerdan, I knew he was too strong for me ". Not long after Cerdan ko'd a terrific young MW prospect named Laverne Roach hurting him badly that in his next fight against an acquaintance of mine Georgie Small, Laverne Roach died right after being stopped by Small. In 1949 at the age of 33 Cerdan fought the bullish Jake LaMotta and was tko'd in the 10th round after suffering a shoulder injury in rd. one when LaMotta Wrestled Cerdan to the canvas and Cerdan was a one handed fighter who went 9 more rounds with a damaged shoulder...As we know LaMotta and Cerdan signed for a rematch and LaMotta claimed injury in his training camp forcing to reschedule the fight for another date. And Cerdan boarded a plane for America which crashed over the Azores killing Cerdan and everyone aboard.. Marcel Cerdan was a helluva middleweight fos sure. That I am certain...
Cerdan was a powerhouse, but a rare one. He had a good defensive guard and unlike most power hitters could also win by boxing. His loss to LaMotta deserves as asterisk as LaMotta threw him down, injuring his shoulder. Cerdan has an excellent ring record with avenged losses. He died in a plane crash on the way to re-match Lamotta IMO, a top ten middleweight. He'd beat Walker or Ketchel. Just watch the films of him and you'll see
Lamotta was beating the **** out of cerdan and had him on the verge of knock out before the throw even happened
Cerdan was a top quality fighter. A great fighter. I'm not sure he deserves to be top 10 all-time. He lacks important worthy names on his resume, possibly not his fault. He could have come to America to take on championship contenders a few years earlier but for the fact of the war, and according to those who knew him from earlier days he was probably already past his best when he won the title. A very exciting fighter to watch, imo.
Incredible looking back at his record. Cerdan is fighting sometimes twice a week and nearly 7-10 times a year from 1935-1944. He was travelling around Europe fighting experienced guys. For example in 1939 he won the European title vs Saverio Turiello (who was 71-32) and two weeks later he fights Cleto Locatelli (who was 95-27). These old timers where another kind of tough.
He was only 111-4-0. Nicknamed the "Casablanca Clouter". Born in Sidi Bel-Abbes, Algeria, but residence in Paris.
He was 88-2 before he fought a meaningful middleweight contest; Cerdan may have been a better WW than MW; he spent only five years in the division and defeated only five ranked contenders. He was dominant over European competition at MW. His best win at the weight is arguably a great one, over Holman Williams but the following should be noted. Of the sixteen fights he had after Cerdan, he won only five. Williams carried injuries into the fight. The win was excruciatingly close. I don't think he beats Holman nearer his best. In the end, Michael Nunn beat as many ranked contenders and staged more defences of the lineal title. Turpin staged the same number of successful defences - zero - but he beat Sugar Ray Robinson rather than Zale. Cerdan did look special on film - but so did Nunn, who is considerably bigger. In the end, those who want to rank him in the top 10 all time have the following questions to answer. Why should he rank clearly above Nunn? Why should he rank clearly above Turpin? I rank him below both, but I have no problem with him being above either or both. The thing is, I think these are the guys he belongs with; this is his sort of level in ATG terms. Top ten? No chance, not for me.
