Just saw his fight with Ali on ESPN at midnight last night. Tough guy. Think he was mentioned as being Argentinian? Worked the body suprisingly well, but was cut prone, or so it seemed. Looking over his record, he seemed like a fighter capable of suprising you. Chuvalo only managed a SD over him, Cooper was damned near knocked out by him seconds before the end of their fight, and he's got more than a few good wins on his resume. Anyone know anything else about Miteff?
I watched that fight last night also. I have always wanted to see this particular match again as I remember watching it back in 1961. Alex Miteff usually gave a good account of himself with alot of his fights ending because of cuts around the eyes. He gave a young Cassius Clay a run for his money in that 1961 fight. I would like to see more of his fights on ESPN Classic. I wonder how he would have done against Patterson back then if he had gotten a title opportunity. He certainly could have done no worse than Brian London or Tom McNeely when they got their title shots.
Russell, I haven't heard Miteff's name in an eon. I remember the first day he walked into Stillman's gym in '54, with another Argentine hopeful, a lightweight. The lightweight (who's name escapes me) was very classy and nimble, just not very durable. Hung'em up and became one of NY's leading fight photogs. Alex was a mean body puncher -- put all his weight behind it, and he was built like Chuvalo. But for all his vicious swings, his punches weren't as devastating as they looked. After Alex retired, he became the chauffeur for David Susskind, a TV producer.
