GOAT Cameroonian boxer?

It wasn't the same José Luis Castillo by whom Mayweather got dragged into a life and death affair, no, but he still had plenty of kick in him at that point. Or do you give Hatton no credit for knocking JLC out? This wasn't too far removed from his career best triumphs in Casamayor and Corrales II, and he went on to spring the odd upset for a few years afterward.


Plus, as said earlier, Ngoudjo was robbed in the eyes of many.

 

Quite a bit of distance between these four and the rest of the pack, too. Christian Donfack and Thomas Essomba were Olympians but have fared terribly in the pro game.

 

Quite a bit of distance between these four and the rest of the pack, too. Christian Donfack and Thomas Essomba were Olympians but have fared terribly in the pro game.

 

Can't help but feel that despite his lack of concrete accomishments there would've been more votes for Takam a couple of years ago when he was flavor of the week. Fans are fickle.

 

I'm not sure how Bika rates as the "real" champ of the bunch, though? Is a questionable decision in a close fight with Periban more impressive than a questionable decision in a close fight with Murata?

 

All four have one undeniable characteristic in common, despite wildly different styles:

TOUGHNESS.

Bika was hardly ever down and just walked through shots to get inside, and lesser-chinned pugilists would have kayoed themselves with some of the headbutts Bika himself initiated.

N'Dam is a JMM-style legend when it comes to resiliency and bouncing up from knockdowns.

Ngoudjo...well, fought through a broken jaw to go the distance twice (once also with a broken orbital bone!!!!!!); nuff said.

Takam has the Perez trench war and the fact that Sasha literally threw everything + the kitchen sink at him and took almost 10 rounds to stop him.

 

I remember in my eyes Malignaggi squandered a lot of the warrior cred he banked away in the Cotto loss for blatantly ducking a rematch with Ngoudjo.

 

Well yeah, going by the prestige of the award itself then I can see legitimizing Bika's more. Still think Murata >>>> Periban, though.

 

Nice writeup on a kid who sounds like he would've made for a good story if he crossed over.

http://fightland.vice.com/blog/a-cameroonian-boxer-in-rio

56-9 (15 kos) is a decent amateur mark, even in Brazil where boxing programs are weak & threadbare with jiu-jitsu being the more prevalent combat sport by far.

Can't find any outside record of any "Michel Willians Etondi" debuting as professional since that was published in 2014, however...nor even anything substantiating his amateur career.

 

He would have lost but I stand by the assertion most critics made several years back (abandoned by most) that short of Pirog he represented the biggest stylistic challenge to GGG of all his peers.

 

Tough mentally and physically, and savvy to boot. He combined the sloppy from a technical standpoint but effective awkwardness of a Carlos Maussa with the rule-bending, juuuuust-pushing-the-boundaries-of-what-can-be-gotten-away-with antics of Hopkins, and was heavier-handed (and more aggressive with relentlessly brutal physicality) than either.