Great fighters on their best nights

I disagree with the following choices.

But I definitely agree with Duran's performance against Leonard, aside from the end when he started to slack a bit.

 

On March 8, 1971, I can't think of many guys who would have defeated Joe Frazier the night he beat Muhammad Ali.

 

Leonard's best night was against Benitez, Mayweather against Corralles, Hagler probably against Sibson. What do you see as the best performance from Robinson, Whitaker, and Hopkins?

I think LaMotta 6 is probably the overall best SRR looked that we have footage of, Whitaker had a few that could be argued, I'd probably say Nelson given the opponent, but I think Ramirez II could be easily argued as his overall best showing, and Hopkins performances against Tarver, Joppy, and Johnson are probably the next choices, but I see his win over Trinidad as his best performance.

 

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Salvador Sanchez vs Gomez
Donald Curry vs Milt McCrory
Kalambay vs McCallum I
Monzon vs Benvenuti II

 

Agreed on the first 3 picks.

I think we never really got to see the best of Robinson, even though I agree it's probably the best we have of him on film. Maybe the Gavilan fights would've been his WW peak. I actually thought Whitaker looked better against Haugen and Nelson than against Ramirez in the rematch. I was nevwer as big a fan of his work in that fight as everyone else. He just looked a bit lackadaisical to me, though it does say something that he could afford to take it that easy on that level of fighter. I'd say Hopkins's best win was the Tito win, and he looked brilliant doing it, but I generally think he was at his peak a tad bit earlier than that, say Glen Johnson fight, even though it wasn't as good an overall win at all.

 

It's almost guaranteed that the best performance by Robinson was at welter, but he does look spectacular against LaMotta, and both Gavilan fights are supposed to have been close with Robinson saying they were hsi hardest fights. I don't know how I forgot what Whitaker did to Haugen, that may be the most one-sided decision I've ever seen. I to believe Hopkins' peak was a bit earlier with the Trinidad performance probably being his last in his overall prime (although he still looked about as good in the Joppy fight a year later). Johnson is a good pick for performance, he just looked perfect in that fight, but Trinidad was an overall better fighter when he met Hopkins then Johnson was, so I still hold that as his best showing.

What do you feel was the best performance by Trinidad (Joppy for me) and Olivares (Rose)?

 

Tito's best performances were probably at 154 for me, maybe his win over Thiam, though he did look great MW against Joppy, which is why I take that win for Hopkins much more seriously than the Oscar win.

The Rose fight is a good choice for Olivares, given how skilled Rose was and how Ruben basically ruined him as a fighter. Ruben at his best was really something, one of the most versatile and skilled of all Mexican boxers.

 

Totally agree. At his best Ruben was probably the overall most impressive of all the great Mexican boxers I've seen.

One more question, what's the best performance from Napoles? I personally can't really decide. also, Saldivar, as I haven't seen much of him.

 

A lot of the footage of him at his true best(135 and 140) is lost, though there are a few of those fights available. Of his WW reign his bouts with Cokes and his one-sided victory over Emile Griffith(albeit a weight drained version) are the best he's looked.

 

Fighters I disagree with:

HOPKINS - Johnson
MONZON - GRIFFITH I
LEONARD - Benitez
LEWIS - Tyson
MAYWEATHER Jr. - Corrales
CALZAGHE - Kessler

not mentioned fighters:

PATTERSON - Johannson II
Jack JOHNSON - Burns

SCHMELING - Louis I
SCHOLZ - Humez II
MUELLER - Giardello II
DAGGE - Obed
SCHULZ - Foreman
MASKE - Rocchigiani II
ROCCHIGIANI - Maske I (Graziano got robbed in that one)
STURM - Oscar
ABRAHAM - Ikeke

 

What about Olivares TKO2 Alan Rudkin?
This was Olivares first defense of his Bantamweight title. Rudkin was No1 contender and had split a decision with Rose earlier that year in Australia and given Harada a fight in Japan. He was only stopped once before this, on a cut eye and was never stopped after it. I think this was Olivares at his absolute peak.