Hardly a duck. Roy wasn't worried about DM. He was worried about Germany, and I can't blame him. At that time, Germany was synonymous with corrupt decisions (see Ottke). Dariusz wasn't bothering to come to the states. If he was willing to, the fight could have been made.
I might end up on an island here but I'm picking Michalczewski and here is why. Michalczewski was a very physical pressure fighter that liked to work on the outside not the inside. He did everything off the jab and would tie up and be physical when someone got inside on him. Dick Tiger was successful against Torres fighting that style. I think this would be a good tactical fight but I like the strength and workrate of Michelcheski over the Peekaboo master Torres.
It's not absurd to pick DM over Torres. Picking DM over a Foster, Moore, Spinks, Charles, Qawi, Galindez, Saad would be absurd. But Torres is a winnable fight for him.
Yeah, I don't think DM beats any of those other guys you listed but I think he is much better than what he gets credit for. He does a lot of little subtle things that I like and he would always apply methodical pressure to break guys down. He really didn't have much of an inside game but watch how he ties guys up on the inside and walks them back. He was great at burning guys out with smart subtle things like that. One other thing that I find interesting about him is how short his arms are for a 6'1 outside fighter. He only had a 70 inch reach which is smaller than a lot of welterweights. Hell I'm 5'10 and have a 73 inch reach.
If you think Michalczewski would beat Qawi, then I have zero hope for you. Qawi would batter DM. Saad would knock him out, and Galindez would counter him senseless and knock him out.
I agree. Darius’ resume isn’t exactly loaded with stellar names but the man was consistent, focused, durable and strong.
Dariusz unified all the belts first, Jones should have chased him if he wanted to clean out the division.
