Fighters who you hold in lower regard than you once did?

Jones didn't prove that? You are miles off, mate.

 

A lot of boxer's suffer serious multiple injuries during fights and off to the hospital, nothing new there. Point I'm trying to make is he got up after 5-6 seconds, not 9! standing firm and ready to continue and was coherent, as seen from his automatic reaction from the stoppage. You're telling me the man doesn't deserve to finish out the last 2 seconds of the fight after getting up from the canvas after 5-6 seconds?? Give me a break ...Steele just incompetent as*******

 

Then you must all think Larry Holmes made Ali look bad. Jeffries was a washed up fighter, out of the ring for 6 years for the Johnson match, and had to lose a lot of weight.

You're better off judging people in their primes. Besides there are a few rounds easily viewed by Jeffries vs Johnson, if you watch them the round before 13 are close enough.

 

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I thought early on that Meldrick Taylor was going to be an exceptional fighter and become arguably the finest of the 1984 Olympians and all seem to be on course until he fought Chavez in one of the most anticipated matchups of the time. He did put up a great fight and came close to winning but it seem that, that fight and it’s outcome had such a dramatic effect on him both mentally and physically that he never seemed the same again.

Actually maybe I’m being too harsh on him in including him on this list. It wasn’t really his fault that the Chavez fight practically ruined him as a fighter and at his best I still hold him in high regard.

 

If a fighter is consistently beating the best available contenders, then it doesn't strictly matter how big they were, or how old they were.

What matters is the strength of their credentials as contenders.

If a fighter legitimately establishes them self as the #1 contender, then neither their weight nor age can erode that status!

 

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How do you prove what is a weak era, and what is a strong era?

We all have our suspicions, but they could easily be overturned in practice.

Even when you get an obviously strong champion in a weak era, somebody seems to hand them their head at some point.

I don't think that any era is all that weak!

 

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Sorry you didn't like the result.

He gets up and has to use the ropes to hold himself up or steady himself.

He looks at his feet as the ref is counting.

He looks up and then looks over to his right while the ref is trying to ascertain whether he's coherent. (He isn't.)

And the ref rightly stops the fight at that point. As he should. He's unresponsive and out of it. That's the objective, and Chavez achieved it.

Fight pretty much destroyed Meldricck, who fought an incredible fight while taking enormous acculumlative punishment. That's why he was the guy in the hospital after.

It's not a matter of how many seconds it takes a guy to stand up, it's whether he's 'there' when he does. And he wasn't.

Throwing a few curse words into your response doesn't make it more correct, btw.

 

Fitz and Sharkey under powered? Your points quickly fall apart.

Jeffries was 35, out of the ring for 6 years, had to lose a lot of weight, and had no warm up fights vs Johnson, who at the time was in his prime and active. If this is not enough,Johnson hired his old trainer.

Try watching the film and commenting. Johnson was safety first until Jeffries begins to slow and tire, only really opening up in the later rounds.

Jeffries often had quicker wins vs men that were taller or heavier than Johnson, see his title defenses vs Ruhlin or Monroe. Of a quick exit of Kennedy who could have been over 200 pounds.

If you want to use Willard vs Dempsey, Louis vs Marciano, or Ali vs Holmes, the older worn out fighter lost badly. Jeffries at least won rounds, cut Johnson, and went out exhausted in the 15th in the desert heat. The others were stopped much sooner.

 

Fair enough you have your opinion ,, I have mine... He sure let Hearns go a lot further against Barkley !!!

 

I have mixed feelings about this thread. Because my thoughts on different fighters fluctuate. To give you an example, I had Marciano quite high (top 8 hw).... Then lower (11)... Then high again (right now I have him at 7). That's the beauty of us learning from others.

 

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I think the Chavez fight simply sped up what was going to be a short stay at the elite level.

If he gets the W over Chavez, or doesn't fight him, he still would have trouble making 140 (according to him) and goes to 147. He still beats Aaron Davis for the WBA title, but the division has a plethora of talent, or is about have it in a couple years.

Fighting Terry Norris above 147 was a terrible move by management. Probably a cashout bout as they saw the writing on the wall that his time at that level was running low.

But I think Taylor was an excellent fighter during his short prime.