Braddock by decision. Recent discussion seems to indicate that Bonecrusher is going to join Ron Lyle as far as being on too high a pedestal around here. Dude was an absolute journeyman.
Braddock was an actual journeyman though until very late in his career when he got a few notable wins.
You don't have to put Bonecrusher on too high a pedestal to contend he would beat Braddock. All other things being equal (preparation and focus) and Smith stops him mid to late.
Which showed that the raw materials were always there, just like someone else who often gets dissed here, Walcott. IMO Braddock is much closer to elite status than Smith although neither was an ATG.
I think that's a bit different though Baer didn't seem to take the Braddock fight that seriously. And Braddock took his chance and rightly won full credit to him. But i don't think Braddock rates that highly though on a H2H basis and his career outside of the Baer fight is not that memorable. Walcott on the other hand had numerous notable wins vs great fighters and H2H at his best he rates quite highly and his skill level is at a far superior level to Braddock.
I agree Walcott was better than Braddock. I just go against the conventional wisdom here that Braddock was a nonentity. And I was never enamored with Bonecrusher either in real time or now. I’ve pointed out before that this place has an affinity for big punchers and tends to overrate them.
Yeah big punchers always get overrated it's because there's nothing more exciting than Heavyweight KOs. Bonecrusher is a bit of a strange one he couldn't get rid of Marvis Frazier despite swarming all over him in 1st round and even knocking him down late on. But then he can stop the likes of Weaver, Witherspoon, Bruno. I think Bonecrusher was very limited pretty much on a similar level to Baer in regards to how wild and unimpressive on film they can look. Although I think Baer is a considerably harder puncher in regards to single punch power.
I’m undecided. Braddock was a decent boxer with a solid chin and the ability to go 15 rounds. And he DID win the title by surviving and outpointing max baer.
