Hey, there are lot of modern champions who do the same thing against stronger foes - run fast, throw quick punches, and grab when the foe gets close. And the fact that he could move that much and keep it up for 20 rounds is amazing. Most guys who move that much are exhausted between rounds 10-12 and get knocked out as a result. Just watch Freitas vs. Corrales sometime. I do agree that O'Brien fought in a lackluster way in this bout, but fact is Tommy Burns had underrated skill, speed, and strength and was a tough cookie. BTW, this footage is not of their second bout, but their first championship fight, ruled a controversial draw by Jim Jeffries, but most everyone thought Burns had won clearly.
WOW, that clip... if I didnt know any better I would think it was 2 clowns from a Chaplin movie... and not 2 Hall of Famers duking (?) it out! But of course a "historian" will look at it through different eyes: He will see O'Brian's running around trying to avoid any real combat, and the fact that he could keep it up for 20 rounds, as an "amazing" accomplishment! Sigh...
There's much more footage of this bout, where you see a lot more of their games. I understand the criticisms however.
Burns is the one with the child bearing hips. The ref looks 2x as big, and could have beaten them both, even at 300 pounds. It just shows the type of shape Jeffries was in when he retired. This is the shell Johnson beat.
And here I thought Andre Dirrell didn't follow boxing history. It's clear to see the historical influences on his game now.
A little context for this film helps: There was bad blood between the two fighters and O'brien, probably believing Burns would beat him refused to face Burns unless Burns agreed to not to go for a knockout. With this agreed upon the fight was signed and O'Brien promptly set about proclaiming loud and long that he was Burns master at every aspect of the game. This just made Burns dislike Obrien even more and when the two met in the middle of the ring prior to the fight Burns whispered to Obrien "the deal is off" meaning he was going to knock Obrien out. Obrien, rather than take any chances of being embarrassed by getting knocked out by the man he had been bragging to everyone was so inferior, simply turned tail and ran the entire fight. Remarkably referee Jim Jeffries rendered a draw at the end of the fight to boos from the audience. He claimed there wasnt enough difference between the fighters to make a decision despite Burns continually leading, forcing the action, landing the harder blows, carrying far more rounds, and doing more damage. Burns was incensed and claimed he was robbed and that he had won by a mile (which he had). Obrien, despite his prefight bluster of being Burns master expressed his happiness with the gift draw and admitted that Burns was too big and too strong for him and that he would no longer fight heavyweights. So thats why this fight is so odd looking and so unappealing. Obrien made it that way. Obrien is one of those guys, like Abe Attell, whose record is so hard to figure because there are a lot of question marks sorrounding it with backroom shenanigans, gambling results, etc which leaves one with the impression that Obrien viewed himself as less of an athletic competitor and more of an entertainer. Basically the same thing happened in their rematch 6 months later. To get O'Brien in the ring again and beat him Burns agreed to take a dive. At the last minute he told them the deal was off. This time when the bell rang opening the bout Obrien, scared to death of Burns, literally tried not to leave his corner and refused to get off his stool. He was finally made to fight and literally turned tail and ran the entire twenty rounds. The whole story of the two fights broke a day or two after this last fight.
