This just looks like an outstanding fight on paper between two swarmers that were close in size and loved to fight on the inside. Two highly decorated amateur's that won Olympic gold at Lightheavyweight. Who do you got?
I could see that. Have you ever looked at Jirov's amauter record? He has some pretty impressive names on it. I will never forget how well he performed at the 96' games. Dude was a stud that should have never fought at heavyweight. He just didn't look right north of 200 pounds. My friend trained with him in Airizona after he retired and said that he was crazy fit. That was probably five years ago or so. Stylistically this is about as fun of a match as I could imagine at Cruiserweight.
One of the best body punchers I have seen in the upper weight classes. Relentless and dedicated body punching.
Bumping this thread. For what it's worth, I think the best version of Leon out slugs Jirov in a classic. Both where very close in size and pure swarmers.
The best version of Spinks, the one that fought Ali the first time, was far too busy for him. He'd likely win a decision.
Talent wise, I think these two are on similar levels. But what sets Jirov apart was both toughness - mental, and physical - and professionalism. Jirov was never out of shape and always ready. He was incredibly tough and extremely committed to body-punching. Spinks' edges are in speed and ring IQ. He didn't run out of ideas when endless pressure wasn't enough. He could box and had more dimensions than Jirov, who couldn't spell head-movement if you have him all the letters and the word was written down in the question. For this fight, I can see either winning. But I can see Jirov breaking Leon down much easier than the other way round. That commitment to the body with the straight left and then coming up top with the uppercut, as well as the more reliable gas tank means he likely breaks Leon down. Also, someone like DeLeon wasn't better than Jirov IMO, and look what happened there. Great, great fight but I still maintain that Jirov wins.
I agree that Jirov had the edge in professionalism and dedication to his craft but Leon was the more naturally talented fighter in my opinion and was every bit as tough or tougher than Jirov. If we are talking both at their best I have Leon being to much for Jirov. Regarding the DeLeon fight, that was a pretty much shot Spinks at that point. Bottom line, with Leon, it is very difficult to accurately analyze how good he was because of his substance abuse issues. Fortunately, there is enough video of him when he was healthy to see what a true beast he was.
Jirov was a good boxer when he chose to box, he should’ve beaten Joe Mesi, but didn’t get given the decision and outboxed him, he was outboxing Moorer until he got knocked out
Yeah it was weird how a guy with his amauter pedigree really regressed as a boxer in the pro's. Mesi actually outfoxed Jirov in that fight and won most of the early rounds but Jirov knocked him down multiple times in the last two rounds to make the fight close. I agree he was beating Moorer when he got caught high on the top of his head. That was a pretty shot Moorer in that fight as well. Jirov really never looked good again after that war with Toney. I remember him looking especially bad against Orlin Norris in a fight that he should have lost but pulled out a draw. At that time, Goosen Tutor where really pushing for a Toney vs Jirov rematch at heavyweight but by that point, both fighters were on the slide and the interest just wasn't there anymore.
Jirov would probably win. I watched Spinks' fight with Evangelista and he got rocked pretty badly at one point. Spinks was too vulnerable. It's a shame that Jirov didn't get any big fights at cruiser other than Toney.
