Alan Minter...how good was he?

Minter did go down in the 14th Round also.
Antuofermo pushed Minter.
But it was ruled a push by the referee.

Alan Minter was pretty much a straight stand-up southpaw, who possessed
a pretty good straight 1-2.
Had decent speed, and sneaky power when he needed it.
Prone to cuts,, cost him several fights.

 

It's not surprising the associated American press favoured Vito, with many having a nationalistic fetish for anything Irish or Italian related...Minter would never have got the decision in any of the 3 Finnegan fights somewhere like Boston, whereas being the clean cut amatuer star of the two he had a bit of bias working in his favour in England imo.

Close fight the Vito one was though, no doubt.

 

It also may have been the network heads.
They were sick of Vito's non-exciting style.
Two dull fights with Hugo Corro, and a draw with Hagler (that should have been
a loss).
I was sick of him too, but I thought he won by a razor's edge.

 

Not that crazy at the time. Minter physically out muscled and manhandled Antuofermo in their rematch as nobody else had ever done, winning very impressively. He was on a long winning streak, had won thrice over the championship distance, and was defending the title at home.

Hagler had failed to dominate Vito as many expected him to, and appeared to choke a bit in his first title challenge once discovering that Antuofermo wasn't simply going to genuflect in submission. After rebounding with Hamani and Watts II, he was coming off a relatively unimpressive ten round decision over Marcos Geraldo, another critical nationally televised match, and even Marv expressed the opinion to New England broadcast interviewers that he'd probably be finished if his challenge of Minter failed.

That Minter was an 8-5 favorite would have been silly prior to Hagler's draw with Antuofermo, and seems absurd with 20/20 hindsight, but at the time, with Minter-Antuofermo II and Hagler-Geraldo as a backdrop, and Wembley as the stage for their showdown, it came across to many of Marv's fans in New England that another failed challenge was a real possibility.

Now, this was a bleak moment in professional sports for New England, and fan morale was low. The NBA Celtics were between the Havlicek and Bird championship eras, the NHL Bruins blew a likely Stanley Cup Title with a horrible last minute coaching error in a decisive 1979 playoff game with arch nemesis Montreal, the MLB Red Sox produced a collapse for the ages in 1978 (concluding with a heartbreaking loss to the nemesis Yankees), and the NFL Patriots had been screwed out of a possible SB championship in 1976 by a bogus referee penalty against the nemesis Raiders. Hagler's draw with Vito just appeared to reinforce that pattern of a can't miss championship prospect somehow still falling short of the mark. It really looked like the deck was stacked, and the stars and planetary alignment of the solar system were conspiring to deprive him of triumph. (Seven years later, SRL would bring all of that agonizingly bitter taste back to Hagler and his New England fans.)

 

Duodenum,

WELL PUT MY FRIEND, AND ALL TRUE!

Marvin got a little cocky out in Vegas for the Antuofermo I fight (15 Round Draw).
Walking around with a 'fly-swatter' saying I'll smack Vito the Mosquito.
He did hit Vito with everything but the kitchen sink, and that tough Italian kept
on coming.
Still thought Marvin won 8-5-2, but a little of the Marvin 'dog' did appear in
Rounds 11 thru 14.

Still can't figure out how one judge had it 8-6-1 Antuofermo

 

Pretty much sums it up.

 

Minter was very tough ... everyone looks at the Hagler destruction but forgets the monster shots he took and was still throwing back at the time of the stopage ... his heart and chin were top notch ... his biggest weakness was bad skin .. he bled easily and often ... he was a very decent boxer with decent speed and power ... he was far better than most contenders for sure and had many terrific battles ...

 

Weak Skin, Rock Chin

Best fight,
Antuofermo II; He just flat out destroyed Tough-man Vito.

 

Il Duce, I had Hagler-Antuofermo as 8-7 Hagler with Marvin pulling it out in the 15th. I had Antuofermo-Minter I as 8-5-2 for Vito, not counting the knockdown which I felt was bogus. BTW, the KD was in the 14th, not the 8th. The AP report got it wrong. As for Minter, I always felt he was a nice boxer, sharp hitter, excellent jaw and oodles of stamina. His skin was his issue. Held nice wins over Seales, Licata, Finnegan, Tonna and if you want to see one of the fastest, edge of your seat type of fight, watch his bout with Ronnie Harris. Both fighters hands were like a blur.

Scartissue

 

scartissue,
It's been along time since that Antuofermo-Minter I fight.
I remember the knockdown, but just wasn't sure of the round.
I stand corrected.
Like you, I thought Vito won. It wasn't the most 'stylish' fight, but Vito was the clearly the aggressor,
as Minter didn't do much clean punching after the 8th round.

I actually thought Vito did not deserve the decision vs. Hugo Corro in his previous fight.
The judge in that first fight 'British Blind Man' Roland Dakin had Minter winning
13-1-1. You think he was 'slightly' biased.

 

Does anyone think Minters racist remarks made Hagler more determined and pumped up or would the outcome still have been the same regardless. i.e. Would the fight still have finished in 3 or went longer? Ive thought about this a few times and Minter certainly did himself no favours with his remarks

 

I think Alan Minter was a little too busy reading the British Newspaper
press clippings before the bout.
It was a constant barrage of how Hagler was so over-rated.
,and that he had no chance of winning a decision on England soil.

 

I know Hagler certainly had reservations about getting a fair crack of the whip from British judges. Dunno if this stemmed from the Minter fight or he was always like that. Certainly in his fight with leonard he objected to the british judge (harry gibbs? i cant remember who) and was successful in the appointment of another judge. The irony being that that when questioned after the fight, Gibbs(?) said he scored it for Hagler

 

John,

Don't think Hagler trusted anybody, outside of Boston, Mass. 8).
It's a New England thing,,,,,,,

 

I know what you mean about Dakin. Remember the story where he was giving the Minter corner the 'thumbs up' after every round? Also, I watched a Minter interview (it's on youtube) where he said after the decision was rendered Dakin runs up to him in the ring giving him a great big hug and Minter said, "Roland, don't do that, they'll think the fix is in." I think it was simply a matter of national bias and he should have excused himself if he was going to sit there with blinders on. Ray Mitchell of Australia too. The Lionel Rose-Alan Rudkin fight, by all accounts a good close fight but Mitchell had it 15-0 for Rose. Another was Harold Valan reffing the Patterson-Ellis fight. They may have both been American but there were reports he was having breakfast with Ellis every morning leading up to the fight. A ref should never even allow a notion of impropriety. When I was an ABF official, I would pull myself from the table if I knew a fighter. I recall one of the brass saying to me, "Well, don't you think you can give a fair decision?" I told him, "Oh, yeah, but that's the problem. I don't need his whole family mad at me and I will score it legit, regardless." Maybe I was being a boy scout but I hate bad decisions. Reading about Valan in the Terrell-Wepner fight, where he allowed the promoter to change his card, tells me he was no boy scout.

Scartissue