Good post and fair call. I was at Ellis v Michael (we've all seen it anyway) and Lester obviously wouldn't have wanted to approach a bout with Fenech in that manner. Having said that, he certainly wasn't disgraced by Michael, and did have a bigger body than Fenech.
DBerry... totally agree with 90%.. The sparring incident was actually in Sydney.. Porky and Lester went to spar Jeff. First day of sparring, Lester is said to have dropped Fenech with a body shot. That being said, the Lester who belted Dale Artango was ****ing vicious and damaging with great body punches... The Lester who copped a shocking early rounds disorientating by Rod Sequennan recovered better than Jeff did from any belting.. An arguement against that would be that Fenech didn't get hurt that badly in his late 80's bouts?? Well.. Id hate to know what he weighed 'legitimately' the day of each fight.. His weight was/ and continues to be questioned.. amongst other things from the day... Just a shame the weights never co-insided with a bout eventuating. Both Barry and Lester would give Fenech fits at Jnr Lightweight.
Fair question. Lester's body shots in particular, were always brutal. But Fenech's work rate was awesome and his power only blunted by those crappy hands of his.
I see your point. By Classy, i meant he was in the top echelon of fighters in the world. Lester, despite being a world champion, i think was ever quite the best fighter in the world at his weight. That is what i meant by classy. I can see the argument that Lester is too big, and at the time i thought this. But, i still think Jeff is simply too good for lester and beats him. The size is a major problem though, as others have pointed out, and could you imagine the later rounds, if Fenech's hands were to fail him, like they usually did when he was at his best. Probably swings the pundulum back in Lesters favour.
I agree with most here, the consensus being Fenech's relentless pressure, supreme conditioning and tough in fighting skills along with a solid chin would probably edge Ellis. However, I think it would have been a close fight, as Ellis also had similar attributes, the main difference being Lester had cracking power and one of the best right rips to the body I've seen. If Lester would have been able to impose his will on Fenech, who had trouble fighting when pushed backwards, Ellis may have got lucky with a liver shot, which we all know every fighter is susceptible to. My final call would be SD Fenech at Super Featherweight between 86-88.
First, we have to make it a P4P mythical matchup even though they were close enough for one or the other to move up and down. I think the problem here is people are focusing too much on career-defining fights. Obviously, Fenechs was Nelson II, Ellis's was the Michaels fight. If we compare resumés then Fenech wins hands down. He got pipped at the post by Thomas Hearns to be the first four division title holder. Then if we compare skills, it's hard to split them. Fenech edges Ellis in the conditioning stakes as he has been voted by most boxing historians as one of the greatest pressure fighters EVER. Ellis was full of mongrel, a bit like Tyson who wanted to knock your block clean off your head, so I give Lester the power with Fenech's hands always plaguing him throughout his career. Overall I see Fenech winning a very close 15 rounder, with Fenech suffering a flash knockdown early and Lester tiring late in the fight, waning under Jeff's relentless pressure. (oh and for those interested in the sordid and dodgy backgrounds of both fighters, search for a documentary called ' A Melbourne story '), and anyone with a passing interest in the 80's Melbourne underworld of the Carlton crew v Painters and Dockers will enjoy) Fenech's family with all due respect have serious mental health issues. His brother served 14 years for the murder and burial of his gay lover, his sister is mentally ill, so one doesn't need to speculate much on how far do apples fall from the proverbial tree...
Don't forget guys like Coffee and Olympic gold medalist McCrory, these guys were highly rated until they ran into Fenech. Greg 'The Flea' Richardson also.
Fenech lost his ' punch resistance ' courtesy of Nelson, it's after the rematch that he was never the same.
Fenech was a 26 year old, 25-0 for his debut at Super Feather against Nelson 1 in 1991. I think (though I maybe wrong) Ellis's last fight at Super Feather was against Tony 'Mad Dog' Miller when he was 20-2 and 21years old in 1986. No way Lester could've boiled down any lower than Super Feather, he was 5 foot 10 or 11. Jeff was about 5 foot 6 or 7. The size difference and the distance of 5 years meant we were never to find out. When I was a teen amateur I got a call from Lester in 1986 thanks to Helen, the editor of Australian Fighter magazine. Lester said he'd been trying to get Jeff to agree to a fight. At that stage I think Lester would've monstered him. I watched Fenech-Nelson 1 last year and was surprised how well Jeff moved his head. Even in the last round he easily ducked under Nelson's left hooks and right crosses. Lester had tricky head movement but could be timed after a few rounds and he never used his length and height to advantage. Lester was very quick and if he decided to develop a strong jab he would've beaten Barry Michael and plenty of others. But Lester wasn't that cultured. He was good though. He reminded me of those rangy Mexicans like Antonio Margarito. The could've boxed but win or lose they preferred wars, and left hooks to the body.
if they only sparred once, it was in sydney leading up to the fenech/ coffee fight..they sparred 2 rounds..ellis fought on the undercard..i was there at newtown police boys club that day..there were no knockdowns..good sparring session though