(I was going to post the link to whole fight, but apparently, I need to be a registered member for 60 days, even though I've been on and off on this site for more than a decade, but here's the partial YouTube link to the whole fight: "/watch?v=jOu4_1boeLs") I'm sure that this topic has already been brought up, but it doesn't seem like it has been recently, so shall we discuss it again? This fight is the kind of fight that reminds me how much I love (classic) boxing. It has an almost mythical story to it, imo. Robinson giving up 15 lbs to fight light-heavyweight champ Maxim, a fighter I'm beginning to appreciate more and more as time goes on. There's so much to say about this fight. Maybe a few questions to consider: I think that we can all agree that Robinson was on his way to win a decision? Who is to blame for Robinson running out of gas? His corner, for their apparent incompetence? The promoters, for setting up the fight on such a hot day? Robinson himself, for not pacing himself? Maxim, for wisely pressing Robinson? What do you think would happen if Robinson won? Would he continue to fight at lhw? Do you see him challenging Burley or Moore or even Walcott, Charles (who beat Maxim five times), or Marciano (probably not)? Would you rank/rate him higher if he would've beaten Maxim?
He didn't drink the water. He spat it into the bucket. He should have drank the water. You weren't allowed drink the water back then. Crazy how they had to help the exhausted ref out of the ring and replace him around the 10th round. But Ray was still battling away.
I didn't realise boxing was like golf where you can be plus 1. Don't you think being ranked numero uno is good enough for Ray?
Ray had Moore and his Wife over for dinner to discuss a possible fight ,it fell through because Ray wanted "all the money".
I think you will find the official weights were 157 and 173. Not that a pound made that much difference.
I watched the full fight yesterday, with sound off, so I am not influenced by the announcer. I didn't think Robinson was ever very effective. It appeared to me that he missed a great deal, and had trouble reaching Maxim with his jab. Maxim was just very good at blocking and bouncing away. Maxim seemed able to block Robinson's left hook every time. Robinson scored to the body, but those blows didn't seem to impact Maxim at all, although they scored. I didn't think Maxim was really hurt or ever bothered that much by any punch Robinson threw. For his part, Maxim did very little offensive fighting for the first eight rounds. His strategy seemed to be to move straight forward behind his jab and just keep Robinson moving and circling or dragging Maxim around in the clinches. He didn't seem to be even throwing that many body punches. Starting in the ninth, Maxim became much more offensive minded, and I thought the whole tone of the fight shifted. Maxim got in some good body punches and they really seemed to drain Robinson. He also started catching Robinson with more jabs and a left hook now and then. Those hooks seemed to stun Robinson. I gave Maxim the 9th and 10th, Robinson might have stolen the 11th with a flurry of body blows, but I think the effort took more out of him than Maxim who just kept coming. The 12th and 13th were big rounds for Maxim, who in his own plodding way was hitting Robinson with some telling blows. Watching the 13th closely, I thought it was several punches from Maxim near the end of the round, including a final inside right, which sent Robinson reeling toward his corner. I think that Maxim probably would have sent Robinson down in the 14th. *Maxim was interviewed, and said he found it an easy fight as he had been used to fighting much bigger men, implying that Robinson's punches just weren't that effective. Well, size matters and the film backs Joey up. I never noticed him shaken at all. **Kearns said the plan was to wear Robinson out, and I have to say that Maxim's conservative style over the first eight and then coming on offensively in the latter rounds does support Kearns as this being the plan. ***Robinson's style, with all the moving and feinting, was far less efficient than Maxim, who only moved in a straight line to close distance, or to bounce away if he had to in order to avoid punches. ****I would have scored this one somewhat closer than the official cards. I will have to re-watch this some time and score round by round, but I could see giving Maxim five or six rounds up to the finish.
Yes, now that I think about it more, I don't see Robinson fighting any of them. Maybe Moore. I guess he would've pull a Jones, Jr. (a la Ruiz) then? Yeah, I read about that. Odd how they looked at water back then. Another posted said that people avoided freshwater back in the John L Sullivan days. Odd. The ref story was interesting too. I just find this fight so mythical, heh. Lol, yeah, I thought about that, too. I rate Robinson as the greatest welterweight and the greatest p4p, but he's not in my top 3 middleweights though. Maybe his mw rank would be higher if he had beaten Maxim? Meh, probably not. Interesting. Robinson sure has a reputation for being a hardass businessman. Oh, thanks. I had thought it was 15.
Interesting. Good ****ysis. Maxim certainly didn't look to ever be in trouble despite Robinson's early onslaught. Kearns and Maxim certainly followed a smart strategy, but would it have been effective too late without the heat? I wonder. I'll have to rewatch the fight to see just how close it was.
