Most Fragile Hands

Braddock did, as well. Either that, or Cinderella Man was filled with utter **** beyond the overdramatized portrayal of Baer.

 

Right. But it would be very conspicuous for a deadly puncher like Shavers or Tua to not have had any difficulties with their hands. (Dempsey reportedly got one of his hands smashed by a quick bowling ball while resetting pins in one of his many odd jobs before the Fireman Flynn affair, but he is supposed to have never had any boxing induced problems with his mitts.)

Which Spinks? If we're discussing Mike, he reported that his hands were starting to hurt as he kept practicing his power punching on steel chinned Willie "The Bull" Taylor, before the referee stopped it just when Willie was winding up with yet another roundhouse hook.

Which raises another interesting question. Some master boxers developed that way because of fragile hands, while others like Pastrano and Pep apparently chose their styles regardless of whether or not they had hand trouble. (Pep's attitude was one of self preservation, while Pastrano didn't want to hurt or be hurt.)

 

I haven't even bothered to see it, but that flick absolutely did not need to be overdramatized to be a great movie. In fact, I would venture that it could have only been a great movie by not being embellished. The way he went out on his shield after giving Louis four rounds of hell, and went out a winner against Tommy Farr, could have been worthy of cinematic treatment, as well as how he actually had a manager who looked out for Jimmy's financial interests against Louis with that 10% future earnings deal. (Joe Gould belongs in the IBHOF for that alone.)

 

Didnt know about Burley but Loughran is a good pick!

 

Ali had hand problems Pacheco used to shoot them full of novacaine,Jock MCavoy a very hard puncher had both his thumbs broken in a mill accident ,he had painkilling injections before fights,used to bite his thumbs through the gloves to loosen them up!

 

Two lightheavyweight champions from the 1970s were notorious for broken hands problems. One was WBC champ John Conteh (1974-77) and the other was WBA champ Mike Rossman (1978-79).

With Conteh and Rossman, broken hands led to layoffs and subpar performances when they stepped into the ring after recovering. In both cases their prime years were cut short by these interruptions.

Another fighter whose career took a downward turn because of broken hands was heavyweight Oscar Bonavena.

 

I was thinking of Cory Spinks, because he doesnt have much power.

It is true though that maybe they have that style becaues their hands do bother them.

I dont remember Lewis ever complaining about his hands, but then that doesnt guarantee they are in good shape either.

 

monzon had fragil hands because of his early days malnutrition problems.when he first entered a boxing gym his trainer, amilcar brusa ,noticed that and took him to a doctor.the doctor told him that it would be chronic but if he ate foods rich with iron the probability of an injury will be less.

 

Could it be that hand problems induced Bonavena to develop better skills and mobility than he would have otherwise possessed? (He displayed a good long jab and fast feet against Chuvalo and Frazier, hardly a plodding form.)

Sure, Conteh's right hand was damaged mechandise, but he nearly decisioned Saad Muhammad with jabs and hooks alone. From an orthodox stance, 80% of the right hand's work is supposed to be defensive. Can it be that he was actually better in the first fight with Saad precisely because of heightened focus on using his left?

Rossman of course relinquished his title back to Galindez because of a busted right. (Still, with the best jab in the division, I have to wonder if it was truly necessary for Mike to surrender the title on his stool.)

 

I seem to remember a promising hard hitting middle named Al Hostak that lost some fights due to brittle hands...

 

Terrible,did you lose an Av bet?

 

I think Tommy Hearns' hands were hurt a lot.

 

BIG DEE HERE= Max Baer had hand problems at various times in his career
breaking his right against Braddock. One of the biggest things not known by the fight fans but known to top boxing historians is that three weeks before
the Joe Louis fight he did an appearance for charity by boxing an exhibition.
What happened was he threw his right hand and the guy ducked right into it
breaking the second outside bone in the hand. The New York boxing commission offical Bill Brown who hated Max Bear with a passion would not let him out of or postpone the fight with Louis. So Max Bear had to fight the most destructive and greatest heavyweight of the era with his greatest weapon disabled. If you study the fight closely you will see that Baer comes out and throws everything he can at Louis. After the 1st rd Baer almost never throws the right with any conviction because its shot. After the fight they had to cut the glove off of Baer`s right hand because it was swelled up so big. That`s not to say he would have won the fight with Louis but it sure
would have made things a helluva lot more interesting with his right in the condition it was for Schmelling and Carnera. Braddock was and is an underrated fighter. Braddock had a cast-iron chin and when his right hand
was perfect a wicked puncher. As a Lt. Heavyweight he was a terriffic puncher who was put in with the greatest Lt Heavyweight pure boxer of
the period and maybe of all time ( Tommy Loughran ) and was taken to school
over 15 rds in 1929 by him. Loughran had fought Harry Greb 6 times by the time he fought Braddock. Loughran was another very hard puncher that had to change his style because of brittle hands. Loughran`s right hand was
a hammer at the beginning of his career but breaking and damageing his right
caused Tommy to become a master-boxer. Braddock had a great right and
had a decent but limited left hand. Both hands collapsed over and over
to the point of being ridiculous causing Braddock to fight with broken and very damaged hands to try to support his with and kids. The losses mounted
up by the boat-load and today fans think he was just a fighter along the lines of a Leon Spinks who Braddock would have killed when his hands were sound. The Braddock that won the fights to the title and the one that fought
Baer would have slaughtered Leon Spinks easily. Baer, Loughran and Braddock
all had terrible hand problems that contributed to losses. Especially Baer and Braddock.

 

You're dead right about Baker, SQ. Didn't know it was common knowledge.

Bob was always nursin' his paws, even after sparrin' at Stillman's.

 

SuzieQ49 had my pick. Bob Baker who fought out of Pittsburgh in the 4o's and 50's, Lightheavy and Heavy, his career, unlike someone like LaMotta, was so negatively effected by his small, weak hands, most people these days never even heard of him.