What if jimmy had been given the wins against Ali, Shavers, Norton, to name a few, but if the judges gave him the wins on their scorecards, how he would be perceived today. Would people be saying how great he was? I mean, imagine, some small heavyweight with no rediculouse act loke Ali, no macho **** like Foreman, no muscled body like Norten, and no big punch like Shavers, but this small heavyweight comes out and beats Lyle twice, Ali, Norten, Foreman. I'm not saying if he fought a different fight, but the same fights he fought, but he got the nod from the judges, would he get more respect? Thats what I'm asking, all you guys who bash him, would you give him some love, give him some respect? Call him great? I'm just wondering.
I certainly don't bash him but those kind of wins would have created quite a legacy for him. His lack of Charisma, Power, Size and Machismo would make him ordinary to the public but he would have been accepted as a new breed of champion. Remember Holmes lacked the Power of Shavers, Charisma of Ali, Machismo of Foreman, and Body of Norton and it took him 48 consecutive wins with no losses and 20 title defenses and a few years to get the respect he deserves. He would most certainly be a top 10 fighter. As I would imagine that he'd be fed a can or two in stay busy fights before taking on an aging Frazier which he'd likely beat before losing to a young Larry Holmes. But Ali, Lyle 2x, Norton, Shavers and Foreman? Those would be solid wins. Real Solid.
These things you just mentioned that Jimmy lacked are all very true, but that's one of the reasons I'm such a big fan of the guy...he was like a ghost...a unique talent in the face of all that and a thorn in the side of the "big guys" that you mentioned. He just did his thing and made them all look like big clumsy fools...and got screwed by the officials in doing so...one of my favorite heavyweights of all time.
I think Young would have fit in nicely back in the 50's...he had such a cool, laid back, nonbelligerent personality, like Walcott, Charles and Patterson did...and did what came naturally, which was a gift from God..
Wow, I just posted this a few minutes ago and got a lot of feedback already. Yea, I agree, thats what I love about him, besides his natural gift of boxing ability. He was certainly a different character, like you said, cool, nonbelligerant, but, from what I've seen of him, and read about him, a very cool and interesting character, much more likeable, to me anyway, than bigmouth Ali, and the other big badasses, though I lke them too. But this guy, he had something very special, very different. Thanks for the feedback guys.
Foreman is a massive, massive win. On the strength of that alone, he gets enormous mileage. Then there are the dual wins over Lyle. Jimmy doesn't get enough credit for his 5-0 1981 campaign. At times, he indicated his intent was more to survive than win. He needed to keep his weight down to be at his best. He came it at 205 for Mike Boswell in 1976, after his shot at Ali. By then he was pushing 28, so that was a physically mature weight for Young. As Cosell later said, Jimmy was a balloon for Ocasio at 220. He was just over 200 for the Shavers rematch, and had just turned 26. At that weight, if he was big enough to handle Earnie's power, he was big enough to survive the power of anyone. (Also, that rematch was right before Lyle I. 200 pounds was clearly heavy enough.) Maintaining a lighter weight would have enhanced his speed, mobility and work rate. Coming in say ten pounds lighter for Norton, he may have been able to move enough to deny Ken key opportunities to score points to the body. (Yes, Young also weighed 213 for Foreman, but Norton was a different kettle of fish.)
Young & Jersey Joe would be evaluated as equal... Young vs Marciano?....now I am beginning to think about that one too.
Machen & Folley had similar personalities. (And Liston loved to bounce those type of guys off the canvas)
