Gavilan vs Mayweather @ 147lbs

Ditto.

 

If Mayweather has some dimension to his game, Gavilan is Matrix.

I don't see Mayweather, as fast and fresh and innovative as he is, lasting 15 rounds against Gavilan. Gavilan had been in there with everyone -faced every style and seen everything. Robinson, Ike Williams, Beau Jack, Billy Graham, Tony Janiro, Basilio, Gil Turner, Johnny Bratton, Tiger Jones, Bobo Olson, DeMarco.... it's a who's who. Forget the vastly superior experience. His height (5'10 +), aggression, and unorthodox punching would make a hard night for Mayweather. If Floyd formulates a game on the ropes, Gavilan can be counted on to make him pay dearly for that mistake. If he decides to use mobility and finesse, Gavilan constant activity will neutralize it.

I see Gavilan as having answers and then some to deal with the smaller Floyd. Floyd would look smooth early, but it wouldn't last. Gavilan fought with a proud disdain that was built on fundamentals and style. A hard, hard man to beat.

Note: Robinson's willingness to fight him in a burner and then turn around and give him a title shot soothes the wounds he inflicted on us all for ducking Burley.

 

great post!

 

Excellent stuff...Stonehands. You don't disappoint. BTW. How would you see Gavilan/Burley? It is a very tough call to me...I think I lean towards Gavilan due to his aggression. But it's not really fair to judge Burley on such limited knowledge. ( in my case anyway)

 

Gavilan-Burley...

It can only be rough speculation, but from what I know, Burley had trouble with great boxers who were larger than he. Ezzard Charles was 6'0 to Burley's 5'9 and both he and 5'9 Jimmy Bivins were between 5 and 10 pounds heavier. Bivins later campaigned as HW. Burley had trouble with Holman Williams too, who as Futch said, wasn't a puncher but was another great boxer. Both Williams and Burley were the best Futch had ever seen.

Like I wrote earlier, Gavilan was a fantastic technician and he was also a stylist. He had a way of completely throwing off your timing and could explode like hell on wheels at any moment once he saw an opening. His relatively low % of KOs is deceptive. Gavilan had power -guys were carried back to the corner at the end of bouts, he broke jaws, and he knocked down many. He wasn't in there to hurt, he was in there to demonstrate what he had and he struck me as having a good time doing it. He may have simply wanted the fun to last! There were other reasons I'm sure as to why some guys lasted the distance against him. [Hint: "LCN"]

Gavilan only went down twice to my knowledge -Ike got him and Basilio got him with two beautiful left hooks.

While Gavilan was a boxer first and a stylist second, Burley was more of a pure stylist. In other words, he fought more according to his own textbook which was part old-school (his stance and hand placement) and part unorthodoxy. His power was what made it work. I believe that he fashioned his style in such a way that he could maximize the power of the shots thrown. It was said that he threw everything in every punch -even his jab was more of a left cross shooting upwards. It is no wonder that his hands cracked as they did.

Burley's style was both complicated and shocking. I suspect that those guys who could solve his style could exploit its weaknesses. That was both hard to do and dangerous to try, so most guys wilted and fell... but special guys like Charles, Bivins, and Holman could and did solve it and then made the adjustments.

So the 2 questions for me are, does Gavilan have the prerequisites to win here? Those prerequisites include serious boxing skill and a good chin. The second question is, could Gavilan solve the style that was Burley's?

I say yes to both.

Thus for me it is Gavilan, by decision.

 

Excellent post.:good On boxrec Ray Robinson commented that he 'feared' to take chances against Gavilan...In their title bout...
The Keed was special...

 

He also hit Gavilan with the hardest punch he ever landed flush, according to himself, and Gavilan just took it.

Hard to believe though, considering Gavilan was dropped by Ike Williams.

 

You make it sound like Williams couldn't hit. He was a big lightweight.

 

That's true. But anything can happen at anytime in the ring though...I've read on the ESB board (don't know the original source) that Basilio considered Williams to be a harder puncher than Robinson! I'm not sure if Basilio's dislike for Robinson had something to do with that comment or not...

 

Gavilan was knocked down four times, vs Carlos Malacara, Julio Cesar Jimenez, Ike Williams and Carmen Basilio.

 

It has nothing to do with the fact that he couldn't hit, it has to do with the fact that Robinson was a bigger fighter and harder hitter at WW than Williams. But then again, as someone said, anything can happen in the ring, certain things don't go as they should.

 

I wouldn't be so quick to judge the punching power of Williams and Robinson.