The greatest feat of Graham was to have never been decked, never mind never ko'd in his entire career. He would have boxed and frustrated Carter much like Giardello and Archer did and would have won a unanimous decision. Carter is a bit overrated in my opnion. Sure he was a big puncher and had muscles, a bald head, and that intimidating image, but he was foil many times by slick boxers like Joe Giardello, and was crushed by Dick Tiger, and even put on the deck by Holley Mims, even if he did beat Mims on points. He won that 1 round ko over Emile Griffith, so big deal. It was a fluke, because if rematched, it wouldn't have happened again, and Griffith would have boxed smart like he learned to do so well and would have outpointed Carter.
..billy graham beat some of the best in three divisions..lightweight, welter and middle. just a slight slide from peak at middle, but still a terrific boxer. carter would be made to order for him. i watched billy a lot on live tv and honestly i don't think it would have been much of a competitive fight. carter would be aggressive and trying toi land bombs but graham was a superb boxer....and a great infighter. carter would have no answers for him.
At one time, I was working with a fellow who was a retired NYC policeman...He worked the fights sometimes, he remembered Griffith,Tiger, Torres, Ali,Frazier,Norton...He loved Billy Graham, owned a pair of Graham's gloves.
I want to second this opinion. Styles make fights and if you were to design a fighter to beat Carter, you would design Graham. My only real question would be the difference in size, but Graham handled Giardello, so I think he handles Carter.
Is it true that SRR didn't really want to fight Graham? Does anyone have info on this? I remember reading something to that affect in an old Ring mag. Billy asked Ray for a fight, Ray said " No Billy, I don't want to fight with you, we're friends." Graham would have presented some problems for Ray....as he did Gavilan.
