Fighting The Perfect Fight

Chavez vs Rosario
Barrera vs Hamed
Duran vs Leonard I
Spinks vs Holmes I

 

Monzon vs Valdez II

 

I dont know about `stacked against him` but he wasnt the favourite in the fight...... Whitaker v Chavez.

Hopkins-Trinidad/Tarver is worth a mention too.

 

I remember this one well.

Leija actually had some pretty big wraps in the boxing magazines at the time,coming off this performance and the draw with Nelson as well.So I remember being a bit surprised when Gabe Ruelas beat him later on in the same year.

Gabe looked to be the man at 130 until the Garcia tragedy (which ruined Gabe as a fighter) and Nelson once again returned to rule the roost.

There were some top fighters at jnr lightweight during the mid 90's.

 

Gene Tunney vs Jack Dempsey, both fights, with the exception of the Long Count.

 

Tommy Loughran vs Leo Lomski after getting decked twice and nearly out in the first round.

 

Pernell Whitaker vs Julio Cesar Chavez...he DID fight the perfect fight and he DID beat Chavez, but he truly had the deck stacked against him with that atrocious "draw" decision.

 

Emile Griffith vs Dick Tiger I (and II for that matter)...no matter how close and disputed the decision, Griff was coming up TWO divisions and was 10 pounds lighter than the formidable Dick Tiger..

 

Ali vs Foreman
Shemmling vs Louis I

 

Morlocks we are surely from the same time zone becuz I also seen this fight. In fact, I have it. Blake sure enough looked formidable tearing apart Baltazar and stopping Munoz with his wife joyfully looking on.

Face first fighters stood no chance against that white boy. But when it came to hitting the offensively anemic Crawley, he had no success at all.

 

How my favorite, Terry Norris? Remember, vs Leonard?

The odds were certainly stacked against him that night but nobody likes to be reminded

 

Damn!! I was going to say Ali-Foreman. I thought everyone had overlooked that. A past prime ex champ, fighting a murderous punching young champion 10 years his junior who had destroyed Frazier in under 2 rounds. Many thought foreman could actually kill Ali and that Ali's only hope of survival (Never mind victory) was to dance like he had been able to in the 60's. Of course, we all know how Ali fought and the result! If ever there was an example of a fighter with the odds seemingly stacked against him, fighting the perfect fight it was imo this. In fact I remember watching an interview with Foreman who admitted that Ali had got to him verbally and such was his desire to ko Ali early that he basically put his all into those early rounds, so I guess The Greatest beat another ATG inside the ring and outside. I'm sure there are many other great examples but this one leapt immediately to mind upon reading the thread! As for Max Schmeling-vs-Joe Louis I fight. Max's 12th round ko (I believe) of Louis is acclaimed as a great performance by Schmeling, both tactically and physically (I have only read about it) but was Louis "In his prime"? I have always believed that Joe was "Pre-prime" (But I am happy to be corrected if this was not the case). No matter imo Ali's performance against Foreman trumps this.

 

I called that one right, tho I thought maybe an 8-4 decision, not a shutout, Pavlik fights nothing like Calzaghe, especially when it comes to pushing the pace.

 

:good A great pick!

 

Pavlik does indeed fight nothing like Calzaghe, I think you would have to be demented to think so, but Hopkins either visibly tired or took breaks in the three fights with Taylor and Calzaghe. This led me to believe the old man could not maintain a fast pace for 12 rounds anymore against a younger, strong, determined opponent - and Pavlik looked young, strong and determined in his middleweight career (and in the first Taylor fight I think he did show that he was capable of fighting at a pretty ferocious pace at times). I thought Pavlik would be able to keep coming forward, keep unloading punches, making it an even fight, and then when Hopkins took the inevitable break, Pavlik would take over, put rounds in the bag, and take a decision. I did not for a minute think that Hopkins would be so aggressive off the back foot, and I didn't think he would be able to match the younger man's pace for 12 rounds. I was both surprised and overjoyed at how the fight transpired - oh, and embarrassed for doubting the great man.