Jimmy Young rates the punchers....

Was Uzcudun stopped on his fight against Louis?

 

Good genetics.I think that Shavers was naturally gifted with lots of fast-twitch muscle fiber.These muscles were tempered by years of manual labour from an early age.
Still it wouldn't surprise me if-in addition to this-he was on the test at some point in his career.

Not exactly. :huh

 

I rarely ever put much credence in how a fighter rates the power of other fighters...fighters he himself has fought. They lack objectivity and honesty, except in the refreshingly honest Young's case.

 

What always struck me about Young was his humility. He really is a bloke that's worth listening to. He was refreshingly honest for a fighter.

 

I wrote "refreshingly honest" before seeing Cobra's last post. Maybe those words are as associated with Young as "venerable" was with Eddie Futch.

 

Indeed he was, but not because he was counted out. Louis confessed his shock to reporters. "I couldn't believe it when he got up!"

Schmeling nearly beat Louis to it at Yankee Stadium in June 1929, and certainly would have succeeded had he not injured his right hand in round five of the opening bout of his trilogy with Paulino. Even with only a healthy left though, he had Uzcudun in such serious trouble in round 14 that only the bell saved the Basque. Max was much, much more than a right handed counter puncher, and he was hell on wheels in 1929. (He was also wildly popular in NYC until after Hitler came to power, always drawing well in New York.)

 

Is your point in any way to downplay Louis' power ?

 

Fair play to Stallone for going for it though!

The funniest thing about the story is that Shavers didn't even hit him full force, when he tells the anecdote he says "So, I gave him a little tap..."

 

There are two guys that rank as favorites of mine//Jimmy Young and Willie Pastrano...oddly enough, both had generally if not exactly the same kind of styles...more or less safety first/defensive..and both were indeed...and here comes that phrase again..."refreshingly honest" and real...which, with all the brash, arrogant bull**** you're forced to wade through in the sport today...and in all sports too by the way...is so different and unique.

 

Hell, no. Joe flattened Paulino with a single shot, and set it up beautifully. It's also a fact that Galento had not been decked in over 100 professional bouts, and only floored by Dempsey in a sparring session. (Max Baer later came very, very close to dropping Tony with an excellent slip and counter move out of the corner though.)

That Louis was a superior knockout artist to Marciano and Max Baer is not disputed. But there seems to be very little support for Joe as a harder hitter punch for punch among those who were also hit by either Maxie or Rocky.

What Shavers wore on his fists were pillows compared to what his forebears used though. Norton rated Earnie the hardest hitter he got nailed by, and Shavers used ten ounce gloves for that one. Since Earnie retired, there have been frightening fan stories about what shaking his hand is like, how an opened hand has been swollen black and blue for days after a reticent Shavers has finally been cajoled into smacking into it with his fist, Stallone's story about puking after taking a shot in the gut, etc, etc...

 

Louis was the most exceptional heavyweight puncher I have ever seen on film. Unlike Rocky he rarely threw one power punch at a time. However, punch for punch I see him hitting at least as hard. Again, no one ever fought them both in their primes so comparisons of a prime Rocky and an old Joe are not accurate.

 

Do you rate his power as superior to Max Baer's where as multiple common opponents did not? (Here, prime for prime comparisons are more obviously available.)