Okay after some reflection I think Johnson stops Saad between 8 to 10 rounds , his resume is leaps and bounds over Saad's with wins over Archie Moore, Ezzard Charles, Jimmy Bivins, Eddie Machen, Nino Valdes and Arturo Godoy and others. Saad's defense would betray him against a guy as skilled as Johnson
Great clash of styles. This fight can certainly go only two ways which is Saad mounting a comeback after taking punishment and find his mark to stop Johnson much like Archie Moore did or Johnson completely outboxes him and wins via points. Personally I pick the latter as Johnson was very pinpoint with his jab and counterpunching as well as having very good defense.
Man what a great match up. I think Johnson out classes Saad only to eventually fall to Saads power late in the fight.
Saad is not as great as Moore,but he could take the jab and throw it back at you,looks t his performances vs Vonzell and Conteh. Johnson outclasses him until the championship rounds as Saad takes away his jab and blasts him with his miracle.
Vonzell's legs weren't going to last against Saad, as CBS analyst Gil Clancy promised announcer Tim Ryan they wouldn't on the CBS Sports Spectacular. Conteh is the better analogy here, but keep in mind John was largely a one armed bandit by then, yet he'd have dethroned Saad Muhammad if he'd only stayed on his feet through the final two rounds of their first bout. Back when Conteh's right was also healthy, he could use it in the same bout to produce three different knockdowns, one with a right cross, one with a right uppercut, and one with an overhand right. If Conteh had two healthy hands for Saad Muhammad I, he definitely dethrones Matt. (Yeah, yeah, I know John would've previously dethroned Parlov anywhere but Belgrade. I was also watching it.) Harold didn't even bother bringing his jab to his showdown with Pastrano (depending instead on hard mid ring body shot counters before Willie clinched to force a break, yet the decision still could've gone either way. Matt's porous defense does him in here as Harold simply scores too much too early for Matthew to catch up without more late round KDs. Harold will not have expended enough energy to be susceptible to Matt's comebacking SOP.
