most surprising win by a brit against foreign opposition...

:happy

 

Should Clarke really have been allowed in the ring with Vargas?

 

Yes, and I think his performance proved any critic wrong, who doubted the match at the time.

Hindsight can be a fine thing and often carries 20/20 vision...

 

He's a good guy for those "Fighter 1 to Fighter 2 in 4 steps" threads because he has world class opponents from 130 to 168.

 

At the time Clark was no worse then Foster going in with Winky. Vargas just had a lot more buzz.

 

Thats looking back though Slip. Clark-Vargas was considered a bigger mismatch than Foster-Winky at the time the fights were made.

 

You're right Gaz, but as i said that's only because Vargas was a star and Winky was unknown, i was speaking more in retrospect. When Clark fought Vargas we was no worse then Foster, his career seriously went downhill only afterwards. People look at Clark now and think how was he allowed in with Vargas.

 

Yeah, in retrospect Winky-Foster looks as bad beacuse even though people knew Foster was probably out of his depth nobody really knew just how special Winky was at that point.

Everyone knew at the time that Clarke didn't have a hope in hell of beating Vargas.

 

Yep, and Vargas was considered a special talent at that stage, that's where the 'bigger mismatch' thing came from. A combination of no one knowing Winky was special and people thinking/knowing Vargas was special.

 

What about Herol Graham vs Chris Johnson?

Graham was coming out of a lengthy forced retirement and had been defeated by domestic level opposition even before the hiatus.Comes back at the higher weight and beats a supposedly decent prospect after only a couple of fights against tomato cans.

I know Johnson was a pretty mediocre fighter, but that was a thoroughly unexpected performance and dominant win.The performance against Brewer was even more surprising, albeit a loss.

 

Good call, Bomber Graham had looked shocking since coming back. His trainer and good friend had walked out on him and told him to call it a day, and Johnson was hot property at the time, it was a total mismatch...

And it was a total mismatch!!!

 

Harry Scott vs Rubin Carter.

 

Lora, that's a great shout. Johnson definitely wasn't considered mediocre at the time, he was being hyped heavly and Graham was meant to be his showcase fight. What a performance Herol put on, it was almost a Calzaghe/Lacy type of display exept Herol was 'washed up'. Turns out he wasn't as washed up as people had thought and he was suprisingly aggressive in that fight too.