Last night I sent my lady to bed early, kicked off my shoes, opened a cold one, and watched the first two Nelson-Fenech fights in perfect peace (**** the third one, that's boxing's version of Godfather III). Result: Pure pleasure. I haven't enjoyed fights like that for a while now, the first one in particular. Of course being an ESB-er, it made me want to discuss the action. Some points to consider: I can't think of another losing performance that I appreciated as much as Nelson's effort in the first fight (I know it was scored a draw but I, like I assume 90+% of you guys did, scored it to Fenech by a couple of points). There was just so much to admire in Nelson's performance, which was flawed of course as he was beaten IMO, but also managed to produce moments of brilliance that underlined this terrific little fighter's abilities. In round 6, there is a sequence in the middle of the ring where Fenech comes forward firing out with reaching straight shots and Nelson turns into the version of Sweet Pea that beat him so soundly the previous year, showing superb upper body and head movement with his hands at his sides to dodge each rapid-fire punch. In round 7, there is a sequence reminiscent of Floyd Mayweather vs Philip N'Dou where the Professor stands in the corner cross-armed and manages to slip, roll and parry another ferocious barrage of head shots - except that it's even more impressive because Fenech could fight like a beast whereas N'Dou was garbage by comparison. As I said, there are some glaring flaws in Azumah's performance that night. I don't know whether it can be wholly attributed to Fenech's stay-close tactics, but Nelson seems to throw a lot of weak 'sweeping' punches, where he starts his swing with his arm already arched, and just swipes in Fenech's general direction meaning the punches either miss or land with minimal impact. This issue only serves to highlight what a stunning display Azumah produces in the rematch. Despite fighting like a tiger in an intensely competitive fight, Nelson doesn't seem to hurt Fenech at any point. In the last round of the first clash when the Ghanaian is unloading at speed in an attempt to hold onto his title, his punches don't seem to have any effect at all. It seemed to me watching it last night that this was a Cotto-Margarito scenario, where one man just doesn't seem capable of hurting the other. Fast forward 9 months. It appears to me that in boxing, when an old master has one last stand and barely manages to hold off a younger, fresher opponent, he invariably gets burned in the rematch (think Morales-Pacquiao, Jones-Tarver for recent examples). Thus, Nelson at 32, who had been outfought by Fenech in the 1st fight, who had looked his age against McDonnell and LaPorte, who was going to Australia to fight in front of a partisan crowd - the stage was surely set for him to be dethroned and relegated to permenant ex-champion status. When you think of some fighters these days who calculate and strategize their careers down to the last letter, taking every precaution and seeking every possible advantage to minimize the chances of defeat, you can only commend Nelson for going down under for this fight against a young firebrand of an opponent who had given him absolute hell first time out. And what a fight again, and what a win. Surely this must rate as one of the best wins of the 1990s? It does in my book. Nelson's burst of punches off the ropes at the end of the 6th round is a show of skill that guys who fight their whole careers off the ropes would be proud of. The beautiful left hook that starts the sequence which leads to the key knockdown in round 7 is stunning, because Fenech had looked impervious to Azumah's punches in the first fight, and this punch effectively ends the fight. I mean I could write on these guys all day such is my love for these fights, but I've probably bored you guys enough, so here are my closing questions for your perusal: 1.What was Jeff Fenech's career-best performance? At what weight and on what night was he at his very best? 2.Does Nelson's performance in the second fight increase the value of Whitaker's win over him in your opinion? I think many people thought Nelson was slipping after the McDonnell fight, but surely the Fenech rematch showed he was still a world-class operator? 3.Where do you rank Nelson at superfeather? Would you place him last in a foursome involving Chavez, Arguello and Mayweather? 4.Do you think the Fenech of the first fight was a better superfeather than the 130 versions of Marquez, Morales or Barrera? 5.Is round 3 of Nelson-Fenech I one of the best rounds of infighting in modern boxing history? All/any comments welcome :bbb
I have said this many times. Their first bout is one of the most skilled in fights I have ever seen. I have'nt seen the second or third fight and havent seen any more Fenech so I cant comment any further.
I do Pops but its deserves a decent response that I will have to think about a little longer then I have time for now. But Ill pose a question to you in the meantime...If the first fight had been scheduled over 15, do you think Fenech could have forced a stoppage?
And in most other people's books as well. It was considered one of the biggest upsets of the decade outside of Tyson's losses to Douglas & Holyfield and Chavez's loss to Randall. *cough* Hopkins! *cough* vs. Samart Payakaroon at 122 IMO. Well, I personally didn't think he was slipping in the McDonnell fight; I thought McDonnell was just a good fighter, and Nelson did drop him several times and stop him for the first time in his career. I didn't Nelson started his decline until after the Whitaker fight, when he fought LaPorte. In the top 10. Possibly, though I personally always felt he was better than Chavez. Possibly. I always felt he was at least as good as any of them, at any weight. I'd say so.
Yes. The last round reminded me of the last round of Toney-McCallum 1, because I think we were one round away from an 'unstoppable' fighter being stopped. The Bodysnatcher and the Professor were both on the brink when the final bell went IMO.
:-( Come on man, there are other fighters who fit that description far more neatly than B-Hop. Hopkins has pulled one '***** move' in his life, and that was fighting Winky at 170 - Floyd Mayweather has been pulling ***** moves for eight years now. I'll track it down. I really want to see more of Fenech now, I have fallen in love with his performance in the 1st fight. Really?? That's quite surprising to me. I've always thought of JCC as a higher level fighter than Azumah. Why do you prefer the Prof? It's an interesting topic. Fenech of the 1st Nelson fight vs... - The Morales of the 1st Pacquiao fight - The Marquez of the 2nd Pacquiao fight - The Barrera of the 3rd Morales fight Would make for a good discussion I think. :good
My2sense... Re: Samart Payakarun.. Being a stone overweight one week prior to the bout wasn't very favourable to Samart in the ring. Fact mate. Taking '**** pills' to drop the weight had weakened his very core.
Yes, this was a great fight fight and remains one of my favorites! The reason I don't usually list it in my top 5 or 10 is although I am a huge Nelson fan (one of the few non Philly guys that I actively root for), I don't feel he in anyway deserved a draw! Due to the poor decision, I have trouble rating it that highly...based solely on the action in the ring it is a great fight! One thing in the course of the fight that strikes me in Nelsons favor, is the brilliant display of fighting off of the ropes all night long. Some of this can attributed to the illness he claims, some due to fenech's relentless pressure. Either way all though Fenech clearly is forcing the fight and sometimes smothering/suffocating Nelson with pressure...Nelson aquits himself well both defensively and counter punching as well as anyone I have ever seen with his back to the ropes. Is there a better performance of back to the ropes fighting than Nelson displayed that Night???? 1. I think Fenech-Nelson I was his best performance 1. B. Nelson took place in 91 at SFW..I believe the 87 sbw version was his best take your pick of the fights. 2. I don't think the Whitaker win is raised or lowered by this in anyway! I thought Whitaker would win, but cheered against it!!! Whitaker made nelson look slow and sloppy and sometimes even amaturish! But not a knock on Nelson (except I don't believe lightweight was a good choice for him, and he wisely went back to sfw following the loss), as much as is praise for pea's speed and skill. Even though it is not nelsons optimum weight, Pea totally dominated the action and thus it is a solid win! 3. I rate Nelson top 5-6, and would love to know what might have happened had he gotten another shot at Sanchez. Some call it a foregone conclussion that a repeat would occur. But I think a 14 fight Nelson learned alot that night and would have done much better in a 2nd encounter. It would be 8 years later at lightweight before Pea handed him his second loss. I believe it would take a special boxer to beat a prime Nelson at FW or SFW. 4. Yes, I believe he was! I would feel comfortable picking him over any of them! Resume wise, I am not sure he measures up with them though. 5. Hard to say. A great round yes...but many other fights qualify as well, when looking at an isolated round. For action throughout..I am not sure as many others measure up there!
Actually, I was thinking of Hopkins' recent decision to fight a just-KO'd RJ over either Green or (more importantly) Dawson. Chavez was probably more consistent, but I felt some of Nelson's individual wins were bigger or more shocking than Chavez's. Between the two, Nelson is the only one to beat any fighters that were ever genuinely great, like Fenech and Gomez; whereas Chavez's best wins, like Taylor and Rosario, were over fighters that fell short of true greatness. Also, Nelson was able to come back late in his career and pull off some amazing "comeback" wins, whereas Chavez embarrassed himself with performances against Randall and others.
Well I won't argue with that mate, I'm both disgusted and embarrassed by Hopkins choosing to fight Jones's corpse. An interesting way to look at it, one I hadn't considered. I think you'd have a tough time convincing doubters that Fenech at sfw was any 'greater' than Taylor at lww though.
Great contribution amigo, thanks. I think Toney vs Jirov is comparable in quality to Nelson's performance against Fenech for a great off-the-ropes display. :good