My chief memory of their match is the right to the body which folded Johnson in half at 2:01 of that clip. Marvin worked his ass off for that one, not wanting a repeat of his earlier WBC title loss in Indy, but he just couldn't take it to the body. Mike Spinks later deflated him with a right to the gut just before nearly decapitating him with that lethal hook. (I'll say this for Johnson: He came back from four defeats which should have utterly destroyed him.)
An utterly masterful performance by Eddie..I remember being impressed by it then, when I saw the fight live..Mustafa was majestic and unhurried.and so patient..and in control..the body attack was one of the most skilled and debilitating as any I've ever seen. A master boxer at work over a really game, hard luck guy in Johnson. My hat's off to Johnson too..he was a real warrior...he had just score his career high win over Galindez and was confident, but to no avail against Eddie Mustafa.
Excellent strategy on the part of Gregory. Every time Johnson tried to open up with the southpaw lead, he'd get cracked under the right rib cage with a left hook. Really took the wind out of his sails. He had him doing the chicken dance with a body shot, followed up by a perfectly timed right cross to put him down. One of his best performances, though it wasn't out of the ordinary for his style. He was usually always very laid back and often lazy in the ring, this time his strategy just allowed him to capitalize on the opportunities it opened up. He'd have been content riding out a decision here just as well, I think, had those opportunities not came.
Johnson brought it to everyone he ever faced. Eddie didn't have to go looking for him which played into his hands as stated in the above post. Marvin Johnson truly was a warrior who had no regard for being knocked out, it was either him or you. Mustafa Muhammad was the classic case of a talented, but lazy boxer.
One time he wasn't was when he nearly killed Mwale, a match I even prefer to Eddie's stoppage of Johnson. Mwale was the most aggressive and aroused I ever saw Easy E. (The commentators were even saying during the match that poor Lotte had better not make Eddie mad. Mustafa Muhammad needed anger pills to get him riled up. Today, if I was his trainer, I'd have him overdosing on Effexor.)
that Mwale fight showcased Edies one shot power, whereas in the Johnson fight Eddie pulled back a bit on that power and displayed his great and unfortunately, underused overall skills..two great glimpses of Mustafa and what might have been had he been more dedicated and not pursued that pie in the sky **** like fighting Renaldo Snipes and being less than his best vs Michael Spinks.
As fat and out of shape as Eddie was, he never took a backwards step, and seemed to carry all the power against Snipes. That match nearly cost Holmes as much as it did Eddie, as Snipes looked like the most featherfisted heavyweight contender in the business. (Lennox would have been knocked out by the shot Snipes floored Holmes with. There was nothing in Renaldo's career to suggest he was capable of anything like that.) The way Snipes ran against Eddie, Mustafa might have been better off coming in near 175.)
Eddie's finest hour for me. He showed sensational boxing skills and great power. He probably should have taken Marvin out earlier but Eddie really did need an extra dose of aggression to make the most of his great talents. Some more aggression and dedicating to 175 would have seen him achieve almost anything. With his power he could have been successful even as a slugger let alone a boxer puncher!
I always had abit of a grudge against Eddie for not living up to his great talents over the course of his career. He had some special abilities but not much fire.
