I saw this tonight and was pretty disappointed in it. Surely there must have been a better fight that year. Would anybody be willing to field a few alternatives?
Good fight, although probably not as good as Basilio's slugfests with DeMarco the previous year. Saxton fought the wrong fight - going to war with Basilio - probably because he got stick for the way he fought in the first fight. Not sure whether there was a better fight though in 1956 at world title level, though.
With the exception some good flurries in round four, I didn't think there was much to it. Well below the quality of some of Basilio's other fights. And it was so one sided. I like a foty to be action packed with several changes in momentum. I think this might have got the nod because Basilio was a popular fighter and won in previous years. But I can't imagine there weren't five or six better fights that year.
Back in the day they used to make some really weird FOTY picks. Foreman-Frazier was a FOTY right? And Ali vs Foreman was as well, and though the Rumble was a good fight and a fascinating slice of history, there's no way it can stand up to most FOTYs in strictly entertainment. I think it used to have more to do with a fight being memorable or really significant. Basilio-Saxton II probably got picked on the basis of that, because Basilio was a sympathetic figure after the first fight, and because Saxton was a bit of a villain because he was so blatantly 'mobbed up'. Maybe, that's just my speculation.
I thought it was a good fight...not the best FOTY but decent. Not sure what else there was to choose from: Gene Fullmer vs Rocky Castellani This content is protected Patterson winning the title by stopping Moore This content is protected Saddler vs Elorde II This content is protected
Those were the ones I thought of too. But maybe the best fight that year wasn't for a title. Maybe, we just have two contenders having a donniebrook. I think I heard on this sub forum once that Ralph "tiger" Jones vs Tony Baldoni was a good scrap. This content is protected
