There's absolutely no way Fenech comes remotely close to Whitaker, he'd be hitting air all night. Then he'd get frustrated. Then he'd perhaps try to knee Whitaker in the balls as he tried doing to Nelson in the rematch. Fenech was a sook when things didn't go his way and Whitaker would have made it that Fenech wouldn't haven't gotten anything his way. If it went the distance Fenech would barely have won a round
Nah, not a hater of Jeff Fenech at all. Infact I followed his career closely from the very start and thought he was a fantastic fighter. Then through the years I started to question him and his standing in the game. In reality he was a mini Tyson in that he was a bully and when someone stood up to him he was found wanting, and especially when he didn't have advantages to fall back on....fighitn at home, being a massive bantam / junior feather come fight time, defending against the likes of Greg Richardson who couldn't even make it to anywhere near 122. His antics after the Zarate fight though, was the one which made me seriously question him. He had a massive dummy spit when he thought Zarate had been awarded a technical decision due to a cut I stand by my claim that Fenech is beaten easily by Whitaker, to the point of embarassment. Whitaker was bigger, faster and a much better fighter
Yep, fantastic performance from Fenech in that one. If there was fair judging in that fight he would and should have won a close UD. One of the traits of a great fighter is how he handles adversity in the ring and Fenech handled it badly during most of his career. After being robbed he thought the rematch would be a walk in the park (that's a direct Fenech quote) . He didn't do any homework and Nelson obviously did. I was there for the Nelson rematch and he was humiliated by a great fighter
...there's alot of merit in what you say but the thing with Fenech at that particular time that he was 'peakin''...that is something that no-one can see when you look back and compare records...and I'm not sayin' Whitaker wasn't red hot at that time either because he sure was...either way you look at it..it was a juicy matchup..
You know its amazing how people get there perceptions of things , especially after time goes by . So let me refresh your memories , Fenech was a freak , Jeff had this uncanny ability to drop down weight and retain his strenght , This is what made Jeff a great , he was awsome , people say he got stronger has the fight went on , not true , they got weaker and he stayed the same , his fitness and his strenght allowed him to out muscle and outwork guys with superior skills . This remarkable ability to retain his strenbht whilst dropping weight was simply the thing that made him so good , I distinctly remember having a concversation with another trainer at the time who said Fenech wil beat Lester , my answer was , NO HE WILL NOT because it will never happen , has i suggested then it will not happen because , Mordey and Lewiss are not stupid , they know Jeff will never ever throw Lester around and Lester will be too big for him . How anyone can ever assume that Jeff Fenech a guy who got knocked out every tiome he fought at lightweight , would beat a all time great in Pernell is ridiculous he would off been knocked out quicker , . Jeff was a great fighter at the lower weights but at lightweight , stuff the excuses he did'nt have the one big advantage he had in the lower weights , strenght and did'nt have the skills to compensate for that lack of strenhgt at the higher weight . Jeff Fenecch great fighter ,,,, Certainly Hall of Famer ,,,,, Certainly Slayer of giants ,,,, Definetly not
Gee Buster that's a big statement. Lets be a bit real. It was a draw, Aussies will always call it a robbery but not everyone saw it that way. The rematch was given without hesitation and Nelson travelled thousands of K's and ended any arguement about bout 1. As for Whitaker, what fight did Jeff have at 135 that convinced anybody that he could compete with Whitaker ? ps. Not a hater, just a realist.
I took 3 words out of your earlier post (the crap out of) and what is left above I agree with wholeheartedly.
Anyone with a pair of eyes that work and an ounce of ability to judge a fight knows that Fenech was robbed that afternoon in Vegas. US boxing publications saw it no differently.
everyone knows who won m8 even the american commentators had Fenech winning, one of the biggest robberies in the sport of boxing. He made a great fighter look adverage and almost knocked him out in the last round. It was one of the best performance of Fenechs career.
Trumpy...my opinion is one that I formed back then...weighed heavily against the worlds biggest boxing brains...during them years I was reading 4 or 5 boxing magazines a month...cover to cover...when Fenech was on the cover of KO magazine just about everyone in the game had a opinion on that fight...I'm pretty sure amoung the experts that Fenech had plenty of fans...