Two classy boxers who found their greatest renown in different directions, Lt Middle for Mike and Lt Heavy for Eddie, but they were no slouches at this passing through weight, At 154 Mike was never the Bride or even the Bridesmaid at the big 154lb weddings, chances are he may of shown up a Bride or two or divorced them from a more lucrative future (?) so up Mike went, but the Bodysnatching came a little harder at 160, Eddie of course was to put on his own Bodysnatch masterclass against Marvin Johnson at Lt Heavy, when a fixture in the talent soaked 70's Lt heavy Division, bald headed marauder James Scott did Run over Suffocate Eddie with Pressure, And Bad Bennie set that Blueprint down at 160, Mike was not immune to a bald headed tormentor in James Toney in 2 out of three thrilling encounters, Perhaps Mike and Eddie should of had it written into their contracts " Battling Baldies - Persona Non-Grata.." Mike and Eddie like to fight at their own pace, and if allowed to do so could be classy performers, Both could box well, hit solidly, took a good shot and if allowed to establish their own rhythm were hard to knock off kilter... Not their Best weights, but perhaps this meeting on middle ground could produce a classy chess match, and a bit of extra effort on one side might be all it takes to swing it their way.. Methodical Mike or Steady Eddie ?
Brainstorm!! Give me Eddie with Angelo Dundee in his camp. The ultimate motivator with the ultimate undermotavated talent. He'd ragdoll McCallum!!
Maybe with Angie, Eddie wouldn't have attempted Snipes. In the buildup to Mustafa Muhammad's ill fated HW foray, Archie Moore was talking as if he was the one doing the fighting. (And watching the Mongoose try to stare down Snipes while standing beside Eddie during the referee's instructions has remained vivid in my mind ever since, even though I only watched it when it aired live.) I blame Moore for fueling Mustafa Muhammad's delusional notion that all he had to do to beat Snipes was let himself get fat. Give me Eddie with Mackie Shilstone as his conditioning coach.
Strange match, like a lot of Renaldo's bouts. Eddie never took a backwards step, just plodded after Snipes dancing around the ring perimeter. At one point, he twisted his ankle on a negligent photographer's camera, resulting in a momentary limp, but he quickly recovered and proceeded as if it hadn't happened. The few times Renaldo did go to the ropes and covered up, Mustafa Muhammad really unloaded thunderous shots with both hands to the sides of the body, but of course he was trying to pound on a real heavyweight's torso. No sign was seen in either Snipes-Cummings or Snipes-Mustafa Muhammad that Renaldo was capable of anything resembling the shot which would drop Holmes. He didn't look like he could deck a decent MW, as though his physique was strictly for show. Eddie seemed much the harder puncher here. Snipes-Bob Foster might have been interesting if Renaldo tried boxing Bob like that. BF had the height, reach and jab to make Renaldo pay for those kind of perimeter tactics. Snipes boxed Eddie as if he was afraid to be labeled as a bully for beating up on a little guy. (This was around the same time that Berbick sleepwalked through a decision loss to then CW Champ ST Gordon.)
No, I believe he caught lightning in a bottle when he decked Larry. I never saw him execute a punch remotely resembling that one except for when he decked Berbick early, catching Trevor cold with a relatively minor knockdown. His power looked utterly impotent against Cummings, Witherspoon and Coetzee as well. (I thought he beat Spoon clearly with sheer volume and hustle on the inside, while Coetzee was clearly robbed against Snipes.) I don't think he carried Eddie, he just applied the style I'd have expected him to deploy, taking advantage of his height, reach and mobility against a smaller, slower and badly out of shape opponent who couldn't do much of anything about it. Snipes had previously gone the distance with lighter opponents who were vastly inferior to the 201 pound EMM, like Mike Tarasewich and Johnny Warr. Eddie was a competent defender and counter puncher, so Snipes lived to his name, sniping away out of range of return fire. Years later, Renaldo was decked in the opening round by 190 pound Melvin Epps in their first bout, and maybe already felt in 1981 that Mustafa Muhammad could hurt him if he got a chance to really tee off. (The true extent of Eddie's power was something of a mystery at this time, because he was so reserved about opening up in exchanges, but KO Magazine did rate him as the hardest puncher at 175, before Michael Spinks nearly decapitated Marvin Johnson. I don't recall Snipes allowing any clean head shots by EMM, covering up tightly on the ropes in giving away those body punches I mentioned earlier. Eddie really did thud away when he hammered Renaldo's sides though. The man definitely understood the principles of leveraged punching.)
Snipes was a real wierdo and enigma at times. Anyone would have thought it was he, not Eddie moving up in weight the way he ran around and seemed fearful to exchange. It worked ok, Eddie's spare tyre and laid back style meant he was seldom going to get Snipes where he wanted him. Snipes hated toe to toe exchanges, he said this himself after the Berbick fight. Besides decking Berbick he staggered him at least another time as well, when Berbick was warm. He showed superb power at times in that fight. Near dropped him with a couple of left hooks. Snipes wanted to run but Berbick cut the ring off so well he had to actually fight, and fight well he did.
I just have to thank poster for calling Gregory by old nickname "Flame" I remember those days, his first manager owned Flame steakhouse in New york. Gregory was bigger than McCullum, but McCullum was better pound for pound.
