Fighters with incredible power who didn't use it

Would’ve been a chess match for sure. A battle of the jabs. McClellan wasn’t silly, he’d of known he’d have to box Eubanks like he did Sanderline Williams, and go to the body when possible.

 

That is a good call. I read that he broke Sal Bartolo's jaw in 5 places with one punch.

 

He could have been a very decent fighter if he only had the mongrel of hundreds of fighters one could name. He also had concrete in his jaw. Plenty of tools to work with there.

 

Worth a look; a fine offensive machine at his best.

 

Yes, the eye damage he received certainly looked similar to Collins Jr, thankfully it turned out to not be as serious as the American.


But with hindsight, the first fight was the start of ‘Hoko’s’ slide. That he was still good enough to win a rematch and defend that title, despite not being the force of nature he once was, shows he was a very good fighter.

 

Will do. Spoke to an older lad in the gym last night. He said the man was a machine.

 

??????? who

 

I think I remember this dude. Liked to rhyme? Switched religion or something?

 

I met Hoko back when I went to England. He had just won the title shortly before.

Me and the girl I was dating (and visiting, she was an exchange student in Manchester) went to Liverpool one weekend to do the Beatles tour and all that. So we arrived around lunchtime and went to find somewhere to eat. We found a place in some sort of shopping center and on our walk to it there was a men’s clothier that had a sign that featherweight champion (a hometown lad) would be making an appearance at like 1 p.m. to sign autographs and take pictures and such.

Well we finished eating and it was maybe half past 12. I wanted to stay but we had a tour to catch at 1. Well as we walked past the shop and up walks Hoko with his green leather WBC belt. I stopped and said I was a big boxing fan and I hated that I was going to miss his appearance and he couldn’t have been nicer. He invited us into the shop, which hadn’t opened yet, and introduced us to the owner and said I was a big boxing fan from America passing through and the owner was very gracious.

So Paul talked boxing with me for a little while, let me hold his belt and then took pictures with me (being early 1990s tourists of course we had cameras) and signed a photo or two (they had them on hand) and thanked me for coming.

Count me as a lifelong fan.

 

I truly think Emile Griffith could punch as hard as any 147lber when he wanted to. Evidence is on film, he perfected putting as much as needed for a punch and had a very energy efficient way in everything he did.

 

The 3 of em; Emile, Eubank and Ezzard, come to mind.

 

Griffith and Charles, both seemingly held back a tad after their opponents died in the ring. I'd also add Jimmy Ellis.

 

But, if you recall his actual career, you'll see that he did have power...consider the ko's and kd's he scored far more frequently before the death of Paret. Griffith was a very sensitive, haunted sort of guy postParet. and greatly modified his style, which included pulling his punches, going for points wins, especially over the 15 round distance, which he was masterful in navigating. Also, in Exhibit A, is his famous knockdown of Dlck Tiger...the first of Tiger's career...an achievement equal to someone decking Marvin Hagler. Oh, he had the power, and God knows that Gil Glancy wished that on many occasions, Emile would put the Paret tragedy behind him once in a while when his punches needed some real snap.

 

Ellis sure didn't hold back against Bonavena...and he could have considered holding back some vs Earnie Shavers and been a mite more cautious.