Leotis Martin

I regret that we were able to see so little of him. I liked what I saw; a slick boxer/puncher; IMO he would have made an impact on the division perhaps into the mid-70's. I saw his 67 elimination bout against Jimmy Ellis again some time ago. The fight was stopped in the ninth due to bloody damage to Leotis's nose and mouth but he seemed to be coming on when the fight was stopped. I also wondered why he strangely went to the body so disproportionally when he should have head-hunted more.
A fine heavyweight contender.

 

I would also include Eddie Machen in such a list.

Very solid in every respect, who had a lot of heart coupled with good and unflashy skills.

 

I saw him fight Thad Spencer at the Albert Hall terrific fight ,it got, Fight Of The Year by Boxing News.
Good fighter, underrated puncher , shame he couldn't capitalise on his win over old Liston.

 

I obviously don't know this but, until he won the crown, I don't think Dundee wanted a young Clay within ten miles of Eddie. A bad style matchup.

 

High risk, little reward type of fight,imo.

 

Eddie Machen would be a very dangerous opponent for any immature boxer, simply because his fundamentals were so sound that things could go VERY wrong. That's true, even with someone as naturally talented as Ali.

Dundee did an excellent job of bringing Ali up: he was given plenty of challenging opponents, but no-one who "had it all" and posed too much danger. So Ali could never afford to be complacent (at least, not for long without getting knocked down) but he didn't suffer from the David Reid/Fernando Vargas problem of being taken too fast, too soon.

I think Ali-Machen, after Ali won the title, would look at bit like Folley-Ali, with Machen performing well and snatching a few rounds, but falling behind on points as the fight drew on. The 1960s Ali's combination of speed and aggressiveness was something that few opponents could survive, so I suspect Ali would stop Machen, probably some time after round 10.

 

At age 34 Machen derailed Jerry Quarry ,who was unbeaten at the time .
Rocky Marciano was in the audience, purportedly to offer Quarry a contract, after what was presumed would be another win,he left before the end.

 

Machen didn't just separate the boys from the men, he separated men from the men.

 

I can't help but like Brian London. Not the best boxer in Britain at the time, let alone a real world contender, but he was always game and had some really great moments, e.g. the Rocky-esque last round against Ingemar Johanssen.

 

do you remember a fighter named alongi who marciano was supposedly interested in ??

 

:goodjohansson put his foot in his gob saying his sister could beat london.
the blackpool rock nearly put ingo out

 

If I remember correctly, that is one of the very few fights that was won by the "No saving by the bell EXCEPT in the final round" rule. Johansson was out cold.

 

Tony Alongi ,good looking young kid, had two back to back draws with a coming Jerry Quarry.Alongi was a good boxer and should have gone further imo.

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