Fearless Freddie Pendleton, fought "everybody"

Sorry, i meant to reply to this and give a fine underrated fighter his due a lot sooner.

At one point Pendleton was the best "bad" fighter in boxing i.e. the best fighter in boxing with a bad record.

Let me summarize some key points -

Turned pro at 18 and lost 4 of his first 6 fights before winning a few.

He came off a basketball court with 1 days notice to beat Tyron Trice in the first round.

Lost 4 of his next 5.

Lost by a bee's prong to Jimmy Paul, ko'd Roger Mayweather, drew with top contender Frankie Randall then lost to 2 clubfighters before drawing Bramble and then ko'ing Fuentes in 15 seconds.

When he was 12-12-1 Ed Gersh watched him sparring 140 champ Billy Costello and saw potential. He saw amazing moves but a bad record.
He sent him down to long term friend and veteran trainer Larry Kent.
After this he went 9-3-2.
At the time Emanuel Steward said he might be the best 135 in the world among other things.
In the early 80's he often accepted fights on one or two days notice.
His previous trainer had taught him how to get thru fights unhurt. This led to close fights often going against him.
Kent taught him the psychology of winning. He had him fight aggressively while still utilizing his speed and defense. He also taught him how to punch with full leverage therefor greatly improving his power.

Freddie learnt to go out there and try to get rid of a guy if the opportunity presented itself. He may have been the second best 135 in the world at one point.

 

Tons of respect for Freddie Pendleton. I saw him fight Rafael Ruelas on the undercard of Gonzalez v Carbajal 2. I was certain he'd stop Ruelas early and he almost did, 2 knockdowns in the first, and there were others that were called slips. Pendleton had a rocket of a right hand.

 

He was extremely solid in the 135 division between 1985-93.

Ko'd Bramble in their second fight in '88 and was a maintsay in the top 10 for the next 5 yrs, including a stint as IBF Champion.

Bottom line - the guy was very naturally talented and could fight.

When he and Randall foght to a draw in '86 on ESPN I thought "Both these guys will win world titles some day."

Towards the end of his career he fought for Don King and got some title shots he didn't appear to deserve, but he more than paid his dues earlier in his career.

 

Fair call. He could absolutely fight that's for sure. His early record held back his opportunities earlier even after he shored up his game. Good too see that somewhat evened out later.

 

Big Pendleton fan back in the day. Even got a letter printed in KO Magazine urging they do a story on him.

Never understood why he had so much trouble with otherwise nondescript Shelton LeBlanc, but otherwise he had a great run in the mid-to-late 80's. Loved the Mayweather and Fuentes knockouts and when he won the title by outboxing Tracy Spann.

I think his high water mark was going the distance with prime Pernell Whitaker and winning a few rounds. That was an excellent career accomplishment.

 

Vastly underrated.
I thought he beat Randall and he actually won a couple of rounds off of a PRIME Whittaker.
Knocked Mayweather into next week. Shocked Fuentes in under 2o seconds.
Almost beat Jimmy Paul. Took out Tyrone Trice.
In all honesty I thought he beat Rafel Ruelas- I think they didn't want Freddie around to upset the applecart.