Dick Tiger vs. Tony Zale

Ihetu for me, he's a monster in the exchange, and a more clever fighter than Zale, craftier. War for the ages though, with some dramatic/violent moments.

 

Me too...I don't think anyone at 160 goes straight to Tiger and wins.

 

Maybe Jake?

 

Jake would get in that ass.

 

I appear to have displeased you.

 

Let me backtrack...maybe Walker!

I think Jake would give a great fight (He is not getting stopped by Tiger) The thing about LaMotta that gets overlooked is his boxing ability, he is not Willie Pep by any means but he is very well schooled fighter with underrated footspeed and handspeed. An interesting point to consider is how well LaMotta uses his left jab...LaMotta had the capability to apply intelligent pressure, not going all out and Tiger did go into a counterpunching mode at times. But with that said, I give Tiger the overall edge due to his combinations and strength. He wouldn't stop LaMotta, but he would start to wear him down later in the fight. Great fight though, and I'm not selling LaMotta short...Just have alot of respect for Tiger. Two weight champ in a fantastic and tough era.

 

I think a prime Billy Papke would give Tiger a hell of a fight .
Another? Rodrigo Valdez.

 

Frank Klaus.

 

By all accounts Papke is a terror, Ketchel consistantly backed him up though. I don't dismiss that fil on Ketchel like many do...I think he was great at what he did...and that was grinding people up on the inside. Give Stanley and Billy fights with the rules of their era and they put up a fight with everybody. Valdez fought two good fights with Monzon, I don't see much anything else accomplished...Great puncher though. BTW-Who would you take between Ketchel and Valdez? I like Ketchel myself. Nasty fighter.

 

Tiger was a class above Zale. He was too strong and too good and would win by late round stoppage. Tiger was also too strong even for Jake but Jake had a decent shot of outfighting him with speed and combinations and could decision Tiger ...if Jake fought a dumb fight he too would lose ... you don't try to outmuscle Tiger at 160 ...

 

I wouldn't take any of the names that have been tossed around in this thread as favorites over Tiger - and certainly none of them would beat him while going at him or standing in front of him. LaMotta, Klaus, and Papke were likely tailor made for Tiger. Walker could box on his toes, as could a pre-war Zale (see his fight with Al Hostak, for example), so it's conceivable that either of them could find a way to compete with Tiger. Even so though, a prime Zale reportedly had very close, hard fights with fighters like Fred Apostoli and Steve Mamakos who took the fight to him, so I would probably still favor Tiger in this regardless.

 

The man of steel wins by a late tko