Moments when you knew you were in the presence of greatness.

Tyson's dominant KO of Berbick put him in the realm of can't miss for me. That sort of performance over a solid experienced unintimidated fighter like that was a treat.

 

I think it was watching barrera give a complete beat down to ritchie wenton i think, after watching that I knew he was something special, even considering the comp! ok, he wasnt exactly a unknown at the time either, but i was young at the time and really took notice of the moment!

 

Hmm quite recently of top of my head is Pacman destroying Barrera:huh

 

Because I hated him so much, I refused to acknoledge what I'd been seeing, but watching Whitaker completely dismantle another great in Azumah Nelson left no doubt in my mind.

 

Lewis-Holyfield I, 8th round. That's when I knew Lewis was the Real Deal.

Barrera-Hamed, I'm sorry to say that I'd never even heard of MAB before that (!)

Matt-Skelton-Michael Sprott II, both of them

Calzaghe-Lacy, after about the sixth round

 

Before HBO and PPV took over boxing the 1970s was a great era for watching up and comers. In San Diego broadcast TV carried lots of boxing featuring Hispanics from L.A., Tijuana and elsewhere. So it was apparent early on that Alfonso Zamora, Carlos Zarate, Danny "Little Red" Lopez and others would be recognized as greats (altho' Zamora may have been a bit of a disappointment compared with the others). Same with Wilfredo Gomez, Salvador Sanchez, etc.

The first time I watched an unbelievably skinny kid named Erik Morales, a few fights before winning his first title. I only had to watch a couple of rounds to realize he was gonna be a great champ.

When I saw Bruce Curry as a teenager fighting in the open division at the Golden Gloves in Fort Worth. Slick guy with a style reminiscent of a small Joe Louis, quick shuffling and rapid fire jabs followed by whistling combinations. He was one of the best amateur light welterweights in an era of great amateur light welterweights, including Ronnie Shields and Sugar Ray Leonard. Bruce's pro career turned out to be fraught with frustrations, especially when he was ripped off for two decisions after whipping Wilfred Benitez. But he finally won the light welter title.

One amateur I didn't give enough credit to was Tommy Hearns. He looked gangly, awkward, didn't use his height and reach as effectively as possible and seemed to have no power.

Well... can't always be right.

 

When I saw Bernard Hopkins dismantle Felix Trinidad I realized that B-dop wasnt one of those mediocre titlists who was around only because there was nobody there to beat him. He was a great.

When I saw Winky Wright beat Mosely the second time.

I think after a few rounds of Lacy Calzaghe, I realized that Joe was really that good.

 

.............I hated the way he carried himself. Not an ounce of class or humility, frequently referred to himself in the third person, that kind of thing.

 

Delalhoya's pro bebut. I remember thinking..."wow! This kid is going places ."


Holyfield's fight with Braxton (Qawi)II. He(Holy) looked like a monster compared to how he looked in the 1st fight, and I knew right then I was looking at the future heavyweight champ and couldn't wait for he and Tyson to rumble.

 

.............Don't like Jones either, no.


I've never taken anything whatsoever away from either from their in-the-ring exploits. They were both sensational fighters, but I'll leave my admiration for those that don't put themselves on a pedestal.

 

when hopkins was schooling trinidad

 

For me, I think I've always been able to spot a good guy or a bad guy. The defining fights I'm thinking of are ones that made you sit up and no matter what you knew about boxing a fighter was showing he was a class apart.

We all knew MAB was good but when we saw him dismantle Hamed we knew we were seeing one of the best Mexicans to ever do it.

We all knew Lewis was good but we still doubted him, especially coming off ANOTHER brutal ko loss but when you saw him dismantle Tyson, you knew he was great all along, you just didn't want to accept it.

Usually its the 50-50/underdog fights where like everyone else you just couldn't say exactly what was going to happen and then BOOM you were FORCED to sit up.

Recently, I'm thinking maybe PAC-MAB, Hopkins-Tarver, Calzaghe-Lacy etc

 

Sanchez-Gomez, Barrera-Hamed, Jones-Toney, Holmes-Cooney, Tyson-Berbick, Hopkins-Trinidad

I remember getting the feeling that I was watching a great fighter in all of those fights

 

The first time I ever visited the ESB lounge.