Often said to have been a "dull bout" with no action that saw both men eliminated from a potential title shot at Marciano, but to me it looks to have been a very good heavyweight fight. Both men landed several hard punches throughout the fight and it was almost non-stop punching at times! [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDLw7VtqVaw[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O38tluWkndk[/ame] If you believe today's boxing "experts" are overly critical, think of the times back then. Today this would be viewed as a war of attrition on heavyweight standards. Hopefully proper credit to these two men will finally be given for putting up a worthy battle. I like the combinations Baker is putting together here against the easy to hit, but game Valdes. He is a little slow of foot but certainly not slow with his hands. I think both of these men would have made for a decent contest with Rocky Marciano for Rocky's "50th".
Valdez was going to beat number 50 for rocky and was given a chance to redeem himself with a win over Satterfeild around the time of the Marciano/Moore fight but Nino was dominated and dropped in the last rd for a 9 count by Satterfeild (who was already Blasted out in 2 by Ezzard Charles and beaten by Moore and Layne...It would have been interesting for a while but I think it would have ended brutally with Marciano getting his 44th Ko in 50 wins.....Nino lost his marketability at that point and there was no-one else on the horizon so Rocky quit for ever.
Valdes vs Marciano would have been like Marciano chopping down a tree. Whatever you say about Valdes, the guy was tough! I believe Baker vs Marciano would have been a good match-up after this. Unfortunately the press criticized Baker's performance heavily, wrongfully in my opinion, and he eventually went onto be outworked by Hurricane Jackson for a close decision loss.
Marciano might allow Baker to look good for a few rounds, sensational in fact if Baker is really able to put those combinations together, but Rocky was awkward and Baker is not a puncher nor is he fleet of foot, so the pressure would eventually get to him. Marciano forces Baker to fight at a faster pace than he is used to, the bigger man would fight back gamely in a world title opportunity but he would eventually be battered to the canvas. A lot of credit. It shows Moore's great skill and defense, he actually had it easier against bigger, slower opponents whom he could land on with relative ease.
Before round 5 there's an advertisement which says "January 1956" so I reckon it's their second fight which took place in December 1955.
I'd like to thank @TheGreatA for uploading this. Is it Valdes or Baker with the dark stripe on his shorts or Baker? Because I think the dark stripe boxer is Valdes and I thought it looked like he was landing the better quality stuff in there. Maybe a robbery? Or is it Baker with the stripe? The boxer in the white shorts close down the stretch better, so if this is Baker maybe that's why he got the nod.
Valdes has the black stripe. I saw this fight about a year ago. This is what I wrote and how I scored it. Here is a fight I didn't know was out there. The second fight between Nino Valdes and Bob Baker. Two fighters who really deserved respective shots at Marciano. Regardless, the reports on this fight suggested it wasn't much of a fight, but I found it to be a good fight. 10 point must system in effect. Round 1: 10-9 Valdes Round 2: 10-9 Baker Round 3: 10-9 Baker Round 4: 10-10 Even Round 5: 10-9 Baker Round 6: 10-9 Valdes Round 7: 10-9 Valdes Round 8: 10-9 Baker Round 9: 10-9 Baker Round 10: 10-9 Baker Total: 97-94 Baker That last round could have been scored even - they really let it all hang out - but I thought Baker was just that much more pinpoint. Again, I thought it was a good contest. Actual scores were 97-95, 99-91 and 98-92 all for Baker.
