I would have liked to have seen him in a few more big fights in the 90's. He scored 18 1st round KOs and 8 2nd round KOs! He went 42-4-1 (31) overall and 5-2 (4) in HW World title Fights... if you count up WBU, WBO, and WBC title fights. He held the WBU and WBO belts. He knocked out W. Klitschko (KO2) in his biggest win. He also stopped Cole, Czyz, DeLeon, and Johnny DuPlooy... all by 1st round KO. He stopped Bert cooper in the 2nd. He decisioned Johnny Nelson. He was stopped by Nate Tubbs early in his career (LKOby2, 1994). He did not lose again until 2000 (LKOby7 Hasim Rahman, he had Rahman down). What big name fighter could Sanders have beaten in the late 90's or early 2000's?
The guy had a letha combination of ungodly power, blinding handspeed, and clever, sneaky punch placement. Honestly, with discipline the guy can take any heavyweight champ ever to hell and back.
He would have had to have fought more than once or twice a year over the last several years of his career to have any idea of what his real potential was -- from 1997-2004 he had less than a dozen fights.
fastest hands and he did damage with his combinations , unlike Ali , Jones & Leonard (vs Hagler at least) who did it mainly 2 impress d judges & public and less 2 do damage . Sanders' combinations were not just d hardest and quickest but also d longest in their duration . In addition 2 these he also was mobile 4 a heavyweight . Corrie Sanders was almost everything that ppl thought and still wish that Ali was , but 4 real . What he lacked were a serial criminal trainer and dedication in training .
Fights against Golota, Botha, Mavrovic, McCall, Maskaev, Morrison, most of the guys around at the time would've been interesting. I also would've liked to have seen a Rahman rematch.
Most avoided guy out there at the time. Nobody even talked about putting their guy in with a southpaw hitter like that. Way too big of a risk and there were plenty of other options available, so it was always a case of who needs this guy for that amount of money? Remember when Roy Jones was saying he was going to fight him? That talk died quick, didn't it? As for the topic; Tua comes to mind. I sure don't think he is solving a southpaw and that was proven later on when he took on Byrd. In the 2000 decade, I always wanted to see Lamon Brewster and Sanders. Lamon got hit by everyone clean but was kind of like a Mercer the way he hung in there. Tough as nails but he always dug deep and had that 1 punch power of his. I just don't know if he could absorb those quick shots from Sanders he'd probably never see. Or he might get knocked down 3x and land his own left hook while hurt and win the fight that way. That was really a fight for us boxing fans bout I really wanted to see.
...William Smith to Clint Eastwood in Any Which Way You Can- "You gotta be durable, real durable, and most ain't" Durability is a hell of a thing! Sanders had the tools, his chin was not great though. As pointed out above he wasn't real big on spending time in the gym. I enjoyed watching his fights very much.
Very dangerous fighter, also is or was a pro golfer. Tall, southpaw stance, big time power, very fast. A nightmare for many fighters. I love the way he destroyed Wlad in 2 rounds. I know he also sparred with Tyson and knew him well. If Corrie had a big time Trainer hed prob be a household name. He had a good chin as well. He could andbe would beat a lot of top guys, def 50/50 against everyone. He had the power and speed to stop almost anyone. Im a Klitshko fan, but I never get tired of seeing Corrie's biggest win.
Poor dedication and poor defense were his short-comings. Few wished to trade punches with Sanders, but those who did found him easy to hit as he never paid any attention to defense while on the offense. He relied on his chin to take the hits, but it would fail him as his legs started to go from fatique. A serious trainer could have definitely molded him into a heavyweight champion. As it is, he was largely an unfinished product, relying on his power and handspeed to get the job done.
You could argue that Sanders combination of size ( 64 ), speed, and power, combined with a south paw stance was the most dangerous offensive fighter in the 1990s. Sanders was often mentioned as a possible opponent for Lewis and Tyson but their teams knew the risk here was not worth the reward, and they could have very well been upset. Sanders was a heck of an athlete. Good enough to be offered a spot on the South African rugby team that won the world title. As a golfer he out drives Tiger Woods, and as a Tennis player he has a 120 mile an hour serve. He was also a sprinter in Track. Sanders main problem was dedication to boxing. That, and being stuck with a 2nd rate trainer, and a 3rd rate promoter who lacked the connections to get a mandatory shot.
