Eddie Machen vs. George Chuvalo: 1965

Who takes this? Machen is obviously slipping, but would come back to beat Quarry. Chuvalo is probably more feared and certainly more dangerous at this point, but is much easier to beat and has been beaten by much lesser fighters than Machen. Chuvalo is pretty aggressive of course, and Machen's 50/ 50 in that department. Does Machen outbox Chuvalo, or does Chuvalo punish Machen to the body? Or is this a war? Chuvalo could force a good fight out of nearly everyone. If Machen is aggressive on this night, it's about like Patterson-Chuvalo. One of my favorite 60s fights that never happened.

 

True, but he still clearly beat Ali. I was mainly thinking of how a post-prime Folley handily defeated Chuvalo without any real trouble of any kind. And of course, Machen and Folley were very similar.

 

huh? I meant Ali clearly beat Chuvalo! what a ridiculous mistake! ha ha

 

It depends how deep and appreciative you are of some of the guys that competed in Chuvalo's era. Durelle, DeJohn, Doug Jones, Bygraves, Ramos, Miteff, and Cleroux may not be ATGs but were all highly ranked heavies in the late 50s and 60s. Of course, Williams is the only other name as famous as Quarry that Chuvalo beat, even though Williams was old and Chuvalo failed to impress that night. I suspect many of the old timers have a deeper respect for guys like DeJohn, Jones, Ramos, etc. and are better equipped to speak on them since they saw more film up of them, may have read the magazines of the day, saw them live, or maybe talked to them or see them train. While I was not around back then, I do have certain levels of appreciation for the aforementioned fighters.

 

I know what you're thinking. As I clarified earlier, I meant to say Ali clearly beat Chuvalo, but got distracted, and ended up producing a ridiculous statement that would ruin any credibility I have among sane and friendly members of this forum.

 

I'm agreed. I gave Chuvalo a few rounds against Ali, and he landed some punishing flurries to the body thruout the fight. By 1965 I don't think Machen had the ability to dance around and stay out of Chuvalo's reach. While he would still have the head movement and bob and weave, I think Machen will be fighting Chuvalo flat-footed, which is a good situation if you like a good fight. I think Machen on the ropes makes this an esp. thrilling contest. Not as one-sided as Frazier-Machen, actually a good, two-sided fight.