Why because all French men are alike? This would be a good fight. Thil would certainly be a better match for LaMotta than Cerdan.
your evaluation of Cerdan is unfounded and definitely among the minority, he was much better than Villemain (who was excellent; and only 5' 6" tall btw, a welter), and Cerdan was thought to be better than Thil too... Villemain, showed the True Worth of TOP Euro fighters. I choose Thil!
My opinion is based on a lot more than him kicking the **** out of granddaddy and thus rendering me in the camp of people who simply must believe he was destroyer to be able to beat old Bert... I'll put my intimate knowledge of Cerdan's life up against anybody alive today. Certainly anyone in the United States or Britain. Debateable at best. He certainly had the chance to fight him and avoided just like he avoided Dauthille. Its arguable he wasn't even the best MW in France during his lifetime, he certainly never proved it and certainly had more trouble with their common opponents. As opposed to the gigantic 5' 8" Cerdan who spent 2/3 of his career at WW?? So was Carpentier but that doesn't mean **** to me. Thil fought a consistently bigger, higher level of opposition, with greater success than Cerdan did for a longer period of time. Villemain did that? Because I thought there were great European fighters long before Villemain was ever even born. Its possible. It would be a good fight. Tough for both men. The problems that Thil had with Apostoli, Freddies strength, toughness, and come forward style would have been similar to what he would experience against LaMotta but he was also old against Apostoli and winning until he was stopped via cuts but then LaMotta was better in 46 than he was in 49 so theres that as well. So its conceivable he could beat LaMotta. I think he would have stopped Cerdan and I think he would have massacred Gilroy and showed the Brits the truth worth of continental fighters so theres that as well. Thil is my pick for greatest French MW.
