Yes, it would be very possible for a great, well rounded fighter like Jofre to upset a master like Willie Pep. I would not give too many fighters achance at all against Pep, particularly those who trade solely on power, and agression, as Pep would feast on them with ease and even make them look foolish in the process, but the rare fighter with a variety of tools at their disposal, like Jofre would have a better chance of pulling this off.
Yes, he could potentially. I think the major issue with Pep would be his chin, or at least durability, and this opens the door for Jofre not only to eke out a close decision, but concievably to stop him. Jofre is generally underrated. A man who lost only to a great fighter such Harada in a 20 year career could beat anyone near his weight. I would favor Pep, though, as Jofre was really a bantamweight at his best and Pep a feather.
Well, Jofre was not at his best at Featherweight, one thing we must remember. His prime, and the majority of his career, was at Bantamweight.
Pep was stopped six times in his career. He was stopped four times by the age of 30. This doesn't prove he has a weak chin, but it doesn't appear to be an all-time great chin either, given that he was such a wonderful defensive fighter, and Saddler was able to stop him three of four.
Saddler was just a freak of nature who stopped lightweights. As for the other 3, i need to do more research before stating a firm opinion but, over 200 fights and being stopped by only a few is pretty damn good. Sweet Pea or Drew101 can shed a MUCH better light on this than i.
Saddler was one of the best pure powerpunchers of all time, and was really only able to starch Pep one time out of four (Pep quit on his stool in the last two fights). He was kayoed by Collins by a shot after the bell, and a lot of people thought that he threw the fight with Lulu Perez. That leaves his loss to Hogan "Kid" Bassey, when he was 36, and basically ran out of gas after boxing well in the early portion of the fight. Pep did get knocked down a few times, but, by and large, his recuperative abilities were pretty good. I would certainly say his chin was pretty solid, all things considered. Jofre's a tough fight, though...even the Jofre that was past his prime would still have had enough to give a Pep a pretty good go.
I think you are referring to all the fix talk--the Lulu Perez fight is certainly questionable, but the rest I think were honest. Certainly Pep did not have a weak chin, but he was probably easier to ko than someone like Robinson, say. Could Jofre? He could punch at bantam, but Pep might be another matter.
What do you think it was that made Pep end it for himself in the 4th fight? He was up on the cards I believe and boxing well. Taking punishment for sure, but after something like that you have to wonder how he was able to continue boxing for another 5-6 years, and then make another comeback well after that. Astonishing, it would seem the 4th Saddler bout should've been the end of a career. Do you think cries that Pep took a dive hold any merit?
It's possible; there were cries of "fix" after the first fight too-even though that was a clear kayo, and certainly there was speculation that he laid down for Perez and Collins...but I'm not so sure that was the case. I mean, the fourth fight had started to deteriorate into wrestling match, and Saddler was known to use his thumbs and laces, so maybe he did sustain an eye injury that led to his retirement. Also, Saddler was coming on in the fight, and Pep may well have remembered the beating that he took in the latter portion of the second fight. Pep was a couple of years older, and maybe he didn't fancy the thought of facing Saddler for a fifth time, given the abuse that he'd been through in the three previous encounters. So, I think that at most, it's a case of him saying "**** It", perhaps knowing that he might not have had enough of a lead on the cards, or enough in the tank to keep Sandy off of him.
Damn, i feel like i should be paying to see this back and forth between Drew101 and SweetPea. *sipping N.O. Xplode* Phenomonal,thank you guys.
You got to remember Pep came back from a plane accident that most doctors felt would end his career, he went on to fight again. The fights against Sadler were mostly llke a caged event (dirty for boxing) but in the fight where only minimal thumbing was allowed Pep put on a masterpiece and completely out boxed Sadler, still was this the best PEP, No, Willie had seen better days
