Read his biography a while back. Was his fight with Thompson a premature stoppage? (I've never seen the fight) How would a prime Nelson have fared against Haye at CW?
Never seen the Thompson fight so can't say. Johnny Nelson got a lot stick for his career, but I think he was underrated. He was one of the best Ingle fighters, and he was very sharp defensively. He could pop out that jab very quickly and use it to disrupt the other fighters attacks, often gets called spoiling, but its actually a very skillful technique to master and when done right is something to behold. I dont think Haye would be able to blast Nelson outta there at Cruiserweight, because Nelson was too good defensively, but I think that Haye's aggression would win favour with the judges and he'd win a close UD.
To me it was a premature stoppage considering Thompson was notorious for bing hurt and coming back. A prime Haye would have his work cut out against a Prime Nelson but Nelson was beatable. Yes he was awkward and difficult to beat but i think a smart Haye with his speed and footwork and explosive shots would beat Nelson. It's a tough one to call but Nelsons record showed he could be hurt as he went down a few times in his career.
Hard to say, Thompson was in a bad way but had come back from similar situations before. I don't think he'd have managed it against Nelson though because of Nelsons cautious style.
i seen the Thompson fight, it was a little premature and especially as Carl was the Champion, i thought he was under fire , but in no real danger. Nelson against Haye ? well haye was a very big CW , and Jonny was always safety first , so i would think Haye wins on points, with very little action.
Yeah it was a premature stoppage, Thompson was wobbled (for a recent example it was like Valuev against Haye), but instead of being allowed to try and recover the ref jumped in and stopped the fight - Thompson wouldn't have won the fight though if it had been allowed to go on for longer, but he should have been given the right to go on.
Had seen thompson acting as if he was hurt before' and he come back and smashed em' when carl was stopped ' he protested streight away' premature stoppage i thought'
In fareness Thompson was getting outboxed but i think the stoppage was poor and i know it hurt Carl for years after and probably still does. He disliked Nelson bigtime.
It was a terrible stoppage, Carl was disgusted, and its a shame it didnt go on a few more rounds, woulda loved to have seen how Johnny would have dealt with a Full on assault from Thompson, cos we never got to see it.
It was not a terrible stoppage, if you want to be uncharitable it was a cautious stoppage. But personally I had no problem with it, as IMO, there is nothing worse in boxing than a brave referee...
It was one of those where it could have been allowed to carry on.... but in truth it was only delaying the inevitable. Thompson was kinda hurt but still protecting himself, though Nelson was pounding on him. If it wasn't Thompson (with his reputation) there wouldn't be a controversy. As TBooze says, you'd rather see a cautious stoppage than a late one.
Because he was hardly having any success anyway and with Nelson being such a safety-first fighter he wasn't going to let him have any opportunities late into the fight and Nelson already had a sizeable lead, so it was very difficult for him to get back into it on points.
Long time since I watched this but I remember Nelson doing a number on him. Convincing victory. Brilliant right hand.