Emile Griffith v Mike McCallum @154

The petulant spitefulness of this post is genius

 

No, but he would have been up in the top 5 comfortably if he was in his prime.

He was past his best when he fought Griff though.That version that was neck and neck in fights with Curto and Hart was no longer the same bad Bennie that took on Monzon and Valdez earlier, though still very good and looked very solid against Muhammed.

Mind you, Eddie as usual never moved out of second gear.Just stayed in boxing mode throughout and it was still debatable.Lazy *******.

Griffith aged remarkably well as a fighter.A testament to his skills that he was even able to hang with a guy like Briscoe at that stage of his career, even if Benny had seen better days himself.

 

Probably need to watch the Tiger fight again.I mostly just remember him having a lot of his success on the outside and at mid-range with the straight punches by taking advantage of Tiger's tendency to reset himself and try starting from scratch when turned(rather than just punch, even if off balance) he did use his subtle footwork to keep big Dick off balance so he could slip inside and pound away for a bit, but i don't remember it being the main strategy, just something he'd do so as not to become too predictable or polite.

 

This is exactly how I remember it, though I give Griffith's strength kudos for the times he did hold his own there.

I can see your point. Strength wise I don't see anyone muscling Griffith around, even if I do agree with your hypothesis that he wouldn't impose himself on everyone at the weight as well as he did to welters.

 

A bit like the man in your avatar when his legs started failing him and he needed to rough house peeps (i.e Tyson I) the extra weight was good.

Griffith was ****ed and had no choice mind you. He had outgrown welter, or at least had passed the window in which he could make the weight.

Are we in agreement that he changed to negative Emile in the second Paret fight? Or is that when, as per lora's assessment, he realised that when faced with cultured left hands he shouldn't trade too openly on his?

Mind you his left hook was still ultra crisp in the first Monzon fight. Got in and out nicely until Monzon broke him down. And he couldn't really jab with Monzon.

 

those were @ 140 and/or catchweight , u bleeding rectum , Wilfredo was drained there about as he was vs Ray Leonard.

when he was not drained , he outpointed Duran and Palomino and was difficult 4 a prime Hearns .

 

Shut up you soft ****. Benitez weighed in over 140. He was a welter.

Or was it his one defence that gets him in the top ten?

No? Just the masterclass over Palomino? In which case I would still say Benitez is not a top ten welter.

I said pretty much the same in the 'what fights did you watch today' thread yesterday. I love Griffith, no objections here.

My favourite thing he does in the second fight is the right uppercut in close. Every limb bar that is tied up and he smashes it in. Paret might be slapping more with the left to head and body but his head is the one jolting back when Griffith works with the right.

Shall I upload the first and second fights to youtube in one piece or is there no demand?

 

Find that hard to believe.

 

Andre Ward is the Lidl version of Emile Griffith.