They'd been given the benefit of the doubt as many more popular fighters are, and or were simply just a little luckier. I've always thought Robin Reid would have a great or borderline great resume if he'd been given the nod against both Ottke and Calzaghe. Ottke is one of the few champions to retire undefeated ever and Calzaghe might duplicate that. Being the only man to beat both would have been huge. Then there's Rocky Lockridge. Chavez, Lopez, Wilfredo Gomez, Pedroza. Even half of those names would have pushed him beyond some people's "not quite great" opinion of him.
Assuming Lockridge got those wins and went down as a great, Laporte starts to look not to shabby either given the Lockridge win IF we give him victories over Chavez and Pedroza as well. Had him drawing with Pedroza and Chavez a 2 point winner, but if Laporte got the nod both times it would not have been a robbery imo.
A good chunk of LaPorte's losses were close calls, SD's and MD's. His resume would look oh so different with the smallest changes.
Juan Manuel Marquez Chris John - Hometown decision Norwood - Either way Pacquiao 1 - Either way Pacquiao 2 - Either way
JMM is a great shout for a modern fighter. Hopkins is already an ATG, but imagine if he had won 2x over Jermaine Taylor (the heir apparent) and, several years later, an undefeated Calzaghe? If he was still the champ in 2009 he would've been a champ for... fifteen years? How many defenses? He'd be a high-level ATG.
