He did underestimate how good Leonard was going to be after years outta the ring. Not saying he didn’t train hard an come in great shape cos he always did but you had the feeling during the early rounds that he kinda thought it was just a matter of time that he would catch up an overpower Leonard which might be why he started the fighting right handed instead of in his customary southpaw stance
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Both Wlad and Vitali were extremely disciplined. There weights never fluctuated throughout pretty much there whole career and they never looked out of shape.
lol. Why did you forget to mention James Toney as well? He was just as great a consumer of burgers as Tubbs. And add other super dedicated guys like Tyson Fury, Andy Ruiz Jr, Riddick Bowe, Tommy Morrison and Pinklon Thomas to it.
Troy Dorsey, I am not disrespecting the legends like the above and guys such as Marciano, Hagler, Vito or Griffith who were always sharp and fight ready… but Troy did not just arrive in good shape consistently he arrived in PEAK condition and had a will like a terrier, those were his most potent weapons dog aggression and being a gym junkie.
I didn’t like Troy Dorsey much at all when I first saw him. After a while, I loved Troy Dorsey. Absolute warrior — he’d take a butterknife to a gun fight and keep coming at your like Jason Vorhees no matter now much lead you pumped into him, haha. Like you said: no real physical gifts except a gift for conditioning that may have exceeded that of any fighter I’ve ever seen. Amazing willpower. Sometimes he came up short, but he did not EVER fail to come to fight and leave everything he had in the ring. One of the most amazing oddities of all time is he won a world title by KO 1. Of all people. One-punch knockout, down for the count of Alfred Rangel for vacant IBF featherweight crown.
You’re right, flat out whacky he didn’t exactly have pop nor crackle not even snap (sorry)… I think had he had the right teachers he could’ve been much more, that or he was too stubborn (which would reflect his style) he was in no shortage of sparring partners I believe he trained out of the same gym as Donald Curry in Texas? I don’t remember. Troy by my impression was a Marciano who never found a Goldman… he was all arms, I wonder how hard he could actually swat had someone taught him? (lol at the Jason line btw…)
He came to boxing through karate, which he started at age 10. He was a multi-time kickboxing champ before he gave pro boxing a try, and pretty much stuck to (regular) boxing but did in the midst of his boxing career win another world kickboxing title. The two disciplines have something in common but you cannot unteach what he had been learning since he was a kid and wipe it clean from the muscle memory banks. He adapted a lot of what he learned as a kickboxer to boxing (except for the kicking part, haha) — having been around a few kickboxers in the gym, they just have a different all-around stance and approach. I’d say Troy winning world titles in two different sports (and for a period holding both simultaneously), he did all right for himself. From what I gather, he also escaped both in good physical and mental health.