In terms of how good he is hes clearly a member of that group of P4P greats from the 10s and 20s who climbed to HW but doesn't stand out among that group. Hes just there. He split his career fairly evenly at 4 weight classes preventing his high ranking in any of them off resume. H2H you can justify putting him very high off him doing better at LHW and HW than all but a few guys since him but the highest I can imagine putting him is 4th behind Greb, Robinson and Ketchel and he might land like 10th if I go through everyone. He lost to Greb late enough in Grebs career it prevents you from giving him too much credit for almost winning.
It's odd how often he gets lost in the argument for P4P discussion, at least recently. A couple years ago, I went back and rewatched everything I could find available. Dude was more than a Toy Bulldog but highly skilled with a great sense of distance and timing. Not a guy like Ketchel who I look at, just rub my chin and say, "I guess so but I don't see it."
He is most impressive if viewed in P4P terms. He has impressive resumes at welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and even heavyweight, but like many P4P greats he spread himself thin between the divisions.
Hi Seamus. I am with you, Ketchell was an idol of mine pre Youtube, I had his photos in my wall growing up, read all I could about him, the written word had him as a demigod of Middleweights', then we saw him, oh dear, he was poor, very poor, all rushing in with no purpose, lots of lunging, swinging away , and missing, I would have Walker a big favourite to prevail over him, for me after Greb, SRR, Hagler, and Monzon, it's a pick um, Steele, Zale, Burley, Walker, any order you like, but one thing is for sure, no fighter epitomised the roaring 20s like Mickey, there is an old clip of him wearing dancing shoes whilst hitting the heavy bag, he loved life and lived it to the full, his little pug face, childish looks and thick curly hair belied his tempestuous nature, and toughness, friends with film stars and gangsters, in his book " I got a call from the big fella, and the big fella in Chicago was Capone, you didn't let him down, I was seen to his big office with 4 henchmen in the room, one was Machine Gun Jack McGurn, his favourite, Mickey he said, the upcoming fight with Matt Wells is a cinch for you, but it's not going to turn out that way, I will be having a bundle on Wells, so you know what to do " luckily for me the fight nether came off, Al came to a lot of my fights, and that encounter was never mentioned" stay safe buddy, chat soon.
He's my #12 p4p all time fighter, which is higher than I have him in any individual division based solely on bouts contested in that division. He was world champion at WW and MW, but it's really his incredible feats against much bigger, quality HWs, that set him apart and lead me to rank him so highly.
