Not a fight you hear mentioned when upsets are mentioned. Has it lost any of it's luster over the past few years? Dariusz wasn't exactly a old man, nor a fighter who had been through multitudes of wars. He was actually coming off some very solid wins. Maybe it's the new found respect I've developed for Gonzalez. Hard not to appreciate a guy who can throw a 100 plus punches a round for an entire fight. Tons of heart, great bodywork... Underrated fighter in my opinion. Considering he took Michalczewski's 0 in his own backyard...
Michalczewski was far past his best. He was an aggressor & had a lot of world title fights. Unlike Roy Jones who boxed and didn't get hit, Dariusz wasn't really built for a long career. DM forced the fight in every fight, and considering he had about 25 title fights, that is a lot of miles for a pressure fighter. A massive amount of miles and it took its toll from about 2001 or 2002. To make him have a longer career and milk the title, Universum were able to bring in a number of poor opponents that shouldn't have been sanctioned (plus some good fighter who just weren't world class like Nicky Piper & Mark Prince). However DM did beat good names in his peak - Hill, Griffin, Rocchigiani, Barber - and when you're pressing the action these fights take their toll. I thought Michalczewski should have won the decision vs Gonzalez. While Gonzalez threw decent counters and kept throwing, DM was jerking his head back with jabs. On clean blows and effective aggression, I felt DM won a close fight. Gonzalez kept punching but there wasn't much on his shots and he was shaken up a couple of times. DM as a fighter was sagging from about 2002 onward - as can be seen in his struggles with Richard Hall and Derek Harmon. It was still a tough assignment for Gonzalez, to fight away vs Michalczewski. Gonzalez has had some entertaining fights. I'm not intending to devaluue his career. I heard he had a war with Letterlough. His fight with Glen Johnson was action packed also.
I agree, DM should get decision in that fight. It was one of the worst performances by Dariusz I've ever seen, maybe the worst. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1KFSMa_8R0
Actually, this part isn't really accurate. Dariusz had been in a number of punishing fights, and had shown markedly declining form in recent fights, particularly in his last two against Hall and Harmon. Pretty much everyone agreed that he was on the way out and ready to be taken - it was just a matter of by who. For most people, the loss to Gonzales was an upset, but not a "Holy $%@#, how did this happen??!" kind of upset. The best way I can say is that it was an upset, but not really a surprise (if that makes any sense). As for Gonzales, I can't agree with you. To me he was one of the weakest fighters ever to hold a piece of the LHW title, and one of the weakest in any weight class to be recognized as a lineal champion. He was basically a gutty clubfighter with one great career performance vs. Dariusz, and otherwise lost almost every other noteworthy fight he had, and usually very embarrassingly. His "win" over Glen Johnson was a terrible decision IMO. Think of it this way: Gonzales was totally outclassed by Clinton Woods the same way Woods was outclassed by Tarver. What does that tell you about how Gonzales compares even to someone of Tarver's level?
You don't think the fact that he had to face everyone in their own backyards had anything to do with his performances? Woods in the UK, Dariusz/Erdei in Germany... Also, I don't think losing against Woods the second time around by 2 and 4 points is particularly embarassing considering the judges.
Woods outboxed him quite easily, probably should have been wider than 4points although I didnt score it
