Terrance Crawford v Anthony Mundine at 168

Agreed sure Choc had an unconventional career and some embarrassing losses but at super middleweight on his day he was damn good. If the likes of Kessler couldn’t knock him out I don’t think Crawford would at 168 I think it goes the distance.

 

Mundine was a really good fighter on his day. He gave prime Kessler a good fight and could have won if he had let his hands go more.

 

Yeah I thought the same that if he let the hands go more he could’ve won because he was catching Kessler flush at points in the fight. I think he was a bit too cautious and the threat of Kessler’s power made him hesitant.

 

Yea like when Danny ko'd RJJ's Ghost , that will go down as the biggest crindge of all time in Boxing Commentating , I forget the plebs name now Prow.

 

Crawford it's not the same league

 

He had a very narrow 'prime' window. After the masterclass in the first Green fight, he let it slip. At his best he was right up there at 168.

 

Chocs biggest problem was his chin, it was made of glass and after the Ottke ( who's overall record indicates a lack of ko power ) loss by Ko fought scared v mostly over matched blokes , if choc had inherited his old man mandible he would have been a serious contender but he didn't so he fought mostly guys who were in over their heads, don't get me wrong he used boxing as a business plan and took in a heap of money via every one of his fights being on PPV but after ottke it was all over for him as in being a genuine world title holder contender He wasn't in Crawfords class and the likes of Calzaghe , Froch, Ward would have mullered him .

 

i can't really argue with you about Mundines chin, there's too much video evidence and we're talking pre AI!

 

Yep , I guess in another few years though with this AI his Vera Lynn will be right up there with George chuvalo and Gatti

 

You can't say that when he gave prime Kessler a close fight. He was a top 168 contender. Elite speed, good power, sharp technical boxing skills overall. He also destroyed sam soliman like nobody else ever did, and he fought a number of top opponents. After he destroyed Sam he was at his best but then strangely decided to keep beating up bums and go down in weight.

 

He didn't give an up and coming ( not prime ) kessler a close fight at all and as for beating Sammy Soliman ( who I've a lot of respect for btw ) doesn't make you a top world class performer . Imo choc realised the level he had to fight at consistently and decided it wasn't for him and stayed away from the top boys .

 

I thought he fought well against Kessler. Kessler was an undefeated world champion at the time. Sorry mate, he wasn't up and coming at that time. He was arguably the best super middleweight in the world. Kessler thought he had lost the fight before the decision was announced and quite frankly I have seen a lot worse 'home cooking'. Again, absolutely can't argue with you about Mundines chin but for that period in time, he beat Echols, who was a huge puncher, went 12 in a good fight with Kessler and dominated against Green who was another big puncher. In his prime, I honestly think he's a chance against Calzaghe ( genius but an open hand slapper ) and Froch. I would lean towards Froch stopping him though but Mundine might have been ahead on the cards. I'm disagreeing with you about the version of Kessler that he fought, not about his chin. However he was performing well at that point in time.

 

Nah mate Kessler if I remember correctly had only just become the champion of a fragmented title after he beat Siaca for a vacant title ( WBA ) ? Add to the fact kessler had travelled to Sydney for his first defence with a back injury v Choc , no way was Kessler at his peak or even 100% fit at the time so choc didn't fight a peak kessler imo . Choc fought the wrong fight in that fight really as he should have taken all the advantages of the cards he held and jumped on mikkel but he fought scared for most part of that fight , he did have some sucsess in the earlier rounds but a less than peak or fit Kessler for me showed him just how tough it was going to be for him to fight and beat a top draw established champion and beat him if he wanted a genuine run as an elite level champion so he decided to go back down the weights and fight at a level less lower , he fought a couple of good fighters at middle weight in Geale etc domestically but his career was mostly made up of weight drained fighters with less than solid records on ppv , Boxa in those days used to make ridiculous demands on these lesser fighters too who were only too happy to agree to get their share of the PPVs .

 

If I remember rightly the punch vs Ottke was a temple shot and not on the chin which can get anyone.

Not that I'm saying Mundine had great durability or anything like that but I thought I'd give a bit a context to that KO.

 

When legend becomes fact, print the legend.