I may have been partially responsible for starting the Jimmy Young craze months ago. First off, I'd like to say -- Bwahahaha! Mission accomplished. Now then... Young's prowess gets exaggerated -- which leads to the inevitable backlash because of his lack of motivation and negative style -- but he was extremely good. The guy fought ugly bouts, yes. So did Ali over the same time period. The late 1970's were a sinkhole for the heavyweight division in general, but with that caveat, (and unbiased judges), Young was better than everybody else for at least a year or two. Take that however you want. Some people seem to completely ignore "almosts" and "should have's" in the name of objectivity. I don't agree. Boxing skill isn't a binary win/lose proposition. Sometimes fighters do almost win fights, and sometimes decisions are bad. Young's resume suffers from both, and you should take both into account when rating fighters. After all...we Classic folk are not the sorts of people who scream "Lennox TKO6 Vitali!!!11" in the general forum, are we? Hmm?
...With that being said, I don't think Ron Lyle was all that good a contender. (I await the lynch mob).
Of course it would have aded to Young's legend if they had stolen the Lyle verdicts from him...maybe they were both Phyrric victories!!!
Of course a defeat against Lyle might be better than a win against Lyle. Just as a loss to Young is better than a victory against him. Foreman's loss to Young far outweighs Ali's win. This is a very thought provoking thread. :think
Jimmy Young was a very good heavyweight. I've made it clear so often that I'm an admirer of his. However,he's not in the top bracket of heavies. I'm talking about those such as Ali,Frazier,Foreman,Louis etc. I rate him amongst the top of the second tier,along with Ken Norton,Evander Holyfield et al. Even though he beat Foreman,and dropped a controversial decision to Ali. Foreman,although still in his PHYSICAL prime,was fighting a really bad strategy that night,and George had never been quite the same since Ali beat him. That being said,it was a magnificent victory for Jimmy. With the Ali fight,Muhammad was out of shape,and was in his post Manila career phase. Jimmy's fight with Norton could have gone either way. I reiterate - I'm a Young admirer.
Young was a good fighter but he has no one to blame but himself for his negativity plus how does he lose 10 fights in a row? Good fighter, nothing more or less and RIP. Holy second tier? He's considered an ATG and rightfully so.
Just a random sampling of the Genius of Jimmy Young. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKVYOZOJLqo[/ame]