Gutsiest performance in a losing cause

Good pick!

 

There's better and older but i particularly liked Lupe Pintor's valiant effort vs Wilfredo Gomez.

 

Evander Holyfield's effort in the first Bowe fight was guts personified.

Henry Cooper had a dip both times against Ali.

Jess Willard may have been ordinary but his courage was extrordinary when Dempsey destroyed him.

 

Speaking of Pintor, I'd throw out Owen vs Pintor as a gutsy performance in a losing cause, as well.

For very recent fights, Malignaggi vs Cotto sticks out, and of course, you can't go wrong with any of the losing performances from Marquez-Vasquez.

 

Tex Cobb vs Larry Holmes. Tex took his horrible beating like a man.

 

Holyfield against Moorer,the Real Deal had an heart atack and still kept on fighting till the end.
hard to beat that for guts.

 

one that sticks in my head as a truly daring and impressive performance dispite lossing is when buster mathis jr. fought mike tyson.

its seemed like so much of a mismatch and tyson was such a monster at the time but mathis stuck in the pocket slipped tysons bombs very masterfully and landed some soft but good shots untill succuming in the third round. it wasent long but it was gutsy, mathis was right in tysons face .


another good pick imo was when vargas showed a huge amount of bravery when he fought trinidad

lesser known but just as brave:

lazcano going toe to toe for 12 rounds against the stronger, relentless castillo

richard hall being absolutely beaten to the punch in every second of every round against roy jones jr but still gathering his strength to push jones against the ropes.

vinny pazienza being to past his prime, to small and just not fast enough to have a very resonable chance of beating the younger and fresher eric lucas, but going in there like a champ for 12 rounds and showing that he will never lost his heart to do his best. that netted the biggest espn boxing draw that year and humbling analysist brian kenny and max kellerman.

 

Joe Frazier against Foreman first time he got destroyed but refused to give up he kept getting up from every knockdown.

 

Johnny Owen vs Lupe Pintor.

Billy Collins Jr vs Luis Resto, considering he was getting hit with rocks for 10 rounds.

 

atsch I love the way some people make this out to be some herculean efffort. I talked to a pro fighter and he told me, heart is not tested when you have a cut, because you as a fighter cannot see how seriousely the cut is, so your not panicking you dont know how severe it is. Vitali couldnt see his cut.


Vitali certainly displayed reverse effects vs chris bryd, as larry merchant claimed.

 

Wilfredo Gomez vs Salvador Sanchez

 

Tell me how fighting for four rounds with your eye basically hanging by a thread, mouth cut open and a huge one below the eye and still wanting to continue isn't a diplay of guts?


And clearly you've never been cut yourself. The fact that you can't see it only makes it worse, because you feel the blood pooring and you fear your eye might be damaged or whatever. It's the unknown that scares you.

 

ive been cut before, in fact outside the ring I been hit over the head flush with a metal bat and watched blood pour down my face in streams. I agree with the pro boxers outlook, what you dont see wont scare you. I dont agree that its the unknown that scares you.


ps on a sidenote, vitali was reeling and lennox was coming on......i dont think vitali would have lasted much longer. I think he was capable of quitting on his stool before the 10th round again.

 

How's this for a cut? " I was winning and then I decided to try and knock him out,and the tenth round I got him over,backed him into the ropes,I feinted him and got him to throw a left hook ,and I stepped in and hit him with a right hand,and I'm telling you I knocked him out,and as I knocked him out he fell forward and as he fell forward his head bumped mine in the hair line, and it opened a cut ,and all of a sudden the blood cascaded down over,I couldn't see anything,my eyes were filled with blood,and he threw a right hand at me and I put my head to the side,and as I did my eyes began to roll. teh blood in there acted as a lubricant and I couldn't raise my eyes,if I put my head this way they'd roll that way. Icouldn't control my eyes.The only thing to do is move in close,I moved in got ahold ,and I wouldn't let go of him. If I let go of the guy ,I couldn't see where I was going. So I stalled through the rest of the round. I got back to my corner when the round was over ,I walked into the ropes,my trainer said "whats wrong?". I said Joe wash my eyes out,the blood. And they stopped the cut ,it was like a sheet of red all over me. But it wqs a championship fight and they wouldnt stop it.
Tommy Loughran ,recalling his fight with Jim Braddock.