How good was Johnny Tapia

Hamed by knockout

 

Could never stand (still Cant) Hamed but at 126 he’s icing them. Look at what he did with Bungu. Bungu at 122 probably beats both of them IMO. I know, styles make fights, but I think if you’re coming up in weight to Hamed you gotta be able to back him up.

Re: OP - Tapia was an exceptional fighter. I’ve not thought of his placement at 115 or in general? He’s a deserved hall of famer and probably among the top 5 at 115 but he never really wanted to fight Too Sharp and with good reason IMO.

 

just to throw into the mix, here is some great short hook counter punching from in close... beautiful technique, has Boxing improved, levelled out, or remained the same since about the late 20s, 1930s...

beautiful skill here, Joe Brown, whom doesn't get much remembrance. if I remember rightly he was killed by his own car, rolling back over him on his sloped driveway.

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No, you don't remember rightly... it was Davey Moore who died that way.

 

cheers for that, thanks.

 

Some feel that it started to decline in the early 50s.

 

yes, since the advent of Televised Boxing and the Demise of Small Halls - Local and Club Fighters, number of Boxers fell, number of fights (generally speaking), and so on...

But I do agree, the TOP Boxers since those days still possess those Golden Year Skills, it's just that too many don't and champions at 16 Fights and rarely fighting Top comp for the right to Titles in the 1st Place, that disqualifies modern boxing today and in recent decades.

Still some GREAT Fighters, but no where near as many, plus "it's Ovah", it'll never be seen again - 17 weights, 5 Governing Body's Belts & titles, fighters actually two weights bigger than what they compete at and on and on.

 

I think the decline, over several decades following WW2, in number of fights/fighters, began to really turn around with the fall of "The Wall". So many more countries have now taken up pro boxing, which has changed the sport in a big way. A huge influx of EE boxers (and also from Africa and Asia) means, that the US (especially) and UK no longer hold what was previously almost a monopoly on world titles and top world rankings. The competition is now much more international - which surely can't be a bad thing!

Yes, Yes, I know - 17 weight classes, multiple organizations handing out more or less meaningless "world" titles belts. Of course hard core boxing fans, who have found their way to a "Classic" forum, sneeze at something like that - and I'm sure, we all wish it could be different. But I'm afraid, in today's environment it can't! It is what it is, and we can choose to live with it - or turn our back on the sport completely!

Personally, I don't pay too much attention to what boxer holds which title, or how many fights they have had! I just want to watch good fights/fighters. And, luckily, that's not strictly a thing of the past... though I know, there are posters here who believe, that today's boxers would be out of their depth, if matched against the true masters of yesteryear, and that there have been no truly great fighters in the last 25 years!

This is a sentiment I don't subscribe to, as I believe every era has had their share of ATGs. Even the last couple of decades have produced som great boxers - but that's just my opinion.

 

you can't argue with that!

there have been times when I was 'seemingly' dismissive of today and/or certain fighters...

but for me it's the Numbers thing, where there is definitely talent at the TOP, there was unarguably more of this talent among TOP and Fringe fighters in past Era's, particularly from the Boxing's Leading Nations, because of the sheer number of Fighters Fighting.

I have fallen away from the sport, but still admire many a good fighter.