Ike Williams v Duran and Homicide Hank

I saw Henry Armstrong past his peak against Ray Robinson,1943.
I saw a prime Ike Williams murder Beau Jack in Philly in 1948.
Based on what I saw, of the two, I pick Ike Williams over Armstrong, both
at their best..If a veteran Fritzie Zivic could handle Armstrongin 1940, the murderous punching Williams would defeated the in your face Armstrong
also...
Ditto with Robert Duran...Williams at his peak as a lightweight vwas second only to the BEST fighter I have seen Ray Robinson...

 

Based on several things.
What I saw of him with my own eyes
He did ko 60 opponents in the deep lightweight talented era.
He stopped such toughies as Bob Montgomery, Beau Jack, Sammy Angott, Enrique
Bolanos,tough Freddie Dawson etc. He vdropped and beat the heavier Kid Gavilan.-
And he was blackballed for quite a while by the boxing Guild [mob], and had to fight
under wraps, quite often...
All of these things shortened Ike's prime, it is true...However to me and most all
boxing fans of that long ago time, he was considered when uncuffed, just under Ray Robinson,for his sharp cutting punching power, and boxing technique....
I had 4 boxing idols of that time...
Louis
Pep
Williams
And of course Sugar Ray...Not for nothing was that era called a "Golden Age ",I say !

 

Adendum
Ike Williams was so feared at that time that Willie Pep or Sandy Saddler, both who fought lightweights, would NEVER entertain the idea to challenge Ike Williams...
That speaks volumes !

 

Williams never stopped Angott. In fact it was the opposite. Angott stopped Williams in their 3rd bout.

 

McGrain, good question-In the Beau Jack fight in Philly ,I and the entire audience was screaming for the ref to stop the fight,screaming...,Beau Jack was pinned against the ropes, with his hand entwined in the ropes..Jack was OUT ON HIS FEET, but couldnt fall
because of his body and hand entwined , wouldnt allow him to collapse on the canvas.
That was THE danger ! The strong and gallant Beau was kod and unable to sink to the canvass....Not unlike Benny Paret many years later who died from the blows of Emile
Griffith, when ref Ruby Goldstein didnt call a halt to the fight soon enough..the difference
was Paret was badly beaten by the stronger Gene Fullmer, a short time before, and it was a cause of Paret's death...Beau Jack survived though....I will NEVER forget that
night in Philly..
There is a difference between a ONE punch ko artist, ala Satterfield ,Jackson, and a
fast punching combo puncher like Robinson, Williams etc.The accumulative punches
hitting a target is just as deadly IMO....

 

Would Kid Lavigne have let him off the hook ? It,s hard to say because Lavigne would have been 81 years old in 1950...b.b.

 

I wonder how Joey Peralta would do with Duran and Armstrong.

 

:rofl:rofl

Anyway, i like Duran over Armstrong. Williams though is the more difficult one for me to pick, he was amazing at making space for venemous combos in tight situations. Duran was better inside, but that attribute of Williams that i just mentioned could be huge imo.

 

You are of course correct...Williamns did not STOP Angott, but Beau Jack
halted Sammy Angott in 1946...b.,b.