I have the Bonavena-Chuvalo fight and Bonavena not only knocked Chuvalo down twice (the only time Ive ever seen Mercante blow a call) but stood toe to toe with him and outscored him. Chuvalo always had an excuse for losing but the fact was he was just a tough, slow, unskilled guy who went as far as his limited skills could take him.
Russell, basically I agree with what you say. Same love, regards for Chuvalo as you have but have to admit that what you posted is just about right.
Most people who saw the fight think the ref blew a knockdown, and I'm one of them. Bonavena wasn't a dog, he used skills to out box a much slower Chuvalo. Sometimes the two went toe to toe. Did you ever watch this fight? Its a good one.
Chuvalo's chin was exceptional ... can't compare an old George getting teed off on by prime Frazier and Foreman v.s. a young Cobb surviving an old Shavers .. the shots he took against Foreman were amazing and terrible to watch .. the Bonavena fight is on Youtube and the knockdowns are highly questionable ... combinations of pushes and off balance ... I do not see them as real knockdowns although techinically once his glove hit the canvas ... The shots George took vs Foreman dwarfed the shots McCall took from a tentative Lewis ...
yes chuvalo's chin was the best,some on here,say bonavena put him down its not so.tjhe referee was right there there were no knock downs.i guess it serves a purpose to say chuvalo was down makes their man seem a little better i guess,who knows.yes i've seen the fight 100 times or more
There is no doubt that chins like Chuvalo,McCall and Cobb were solid be cause they got hit solid by punchers and stayed on there feet but none of them were defensive masters...McCall being the better of the 3 at slipping and rolling with punches....Chuvalo had a good chin but his legs were also good at keeping him up when being pounded
i remember the fight i was into boxing at the time and i've watched it maybe 100 times since those seem a lot like pushes to me oscar used btw boxing illustrated had chuvalo winning that fight 6 rds to 4 they were at ringside
I have always fancied that Chuvalo had a little more method in his game than he was generaly given credit for.
That he did. His bodypunching had Ali urinating blood. Funny how he and LaMotta had more skill then given credit for
I'd say Hearns hit harder than the vast majority of middleweights. Sure, some hit harder - Tommy was after all a welter originally. But he KOd light heavyweights later in his career, he was the only guy to brutally KO Roberto Duran - he could seriously bang. He also threw in combinations, not just a one-punch guy. And Marvin shrugged it off, as he did versus Hart, Mugabi etc. I never said Cobb didn't have a snowball's chance in hell. In boxing, everyone has at least an outside chance. I just think it's odds on that he would eventually be KOd versus the really hard-hitting and skilled boxers in his division. If you look at his fight versus Holmes, in the later rounds he was somewhat dazed. Now replace those blows from Holmes, not a real power puncher, and who was holding back late in the fight, with blows from a much more ruthless and powerful Louis, Tyson, Foreman etc. If Holmes could get Cobb dazed by the end, those bigger hitters are IMO odds on to finish him before the end of round 15. The problem Cobb had was no defence - he was there to be hit. Because of his epic chin, he would take a huge amount of punishment. But I don't see him surviving a 15 round beating from the real big hitters. Chuvalo only lasted a few rounds vs Foreman and Frazier. The guys who lasted versus Tyson, Louis, and prime Foreman generally survived because of *defence*, not by getting hit flush for 15 consecutive rounds and having a tough enough chin to withstand it.
Hearns only landed one big punch on Hagler, and it was enough to stagger him. We can only speculate what would have happened if Hearns didn't injure his hand with that punch, maybe if he landed a couple more punches as a follow up Hagler would go down, we'll never know.
Stagger? Hagler barely wobbled, and infact was hit by a follow-up flurry of at least seven punches. Moments later he was hitting Hearns back. You know Hagler had the ultimate jaw when people use this as an example of his vulnerability.
Even robbed of one, possibly two, legit knockdowns Bonavena won the decision and won it correctly. He was better than Chuvalo. I will never understand why some people are so die-hard chuvalo fans. At every stage of his career he lost or drew with every top guy he fought and some who werent top guys with the exception of Quarry and that KO is one of the strangest in history especially considering Quarry was absolutely kicking the living **** out of george every step of the way. I guess if you love a guy for simply being tough then so be it but that doesnt make him a good fighter or a good boxer, it just means he could absorb a good ass kicking, and he usually did when he wasnt being fed local canadian fodder.