What are some notable stretches of fights were a fighter appeared to be at a clearly defined peak, in terms of his form and the impressiveness of his wins/performances. For example, I've always felt Carlos Ortiz had a very impressive streak in which he pulverized Sugar Ramos, KO'd the "unknockoutable" Flash Elorde, and then completely shut down his old rival Ismael Laugna. To me, he was at the height of his career and form at the time of those fights. From late 1924 through '25, Gene Tunney had his most impressive streak IMO when he whupped LHW contender Jeff Smith in a no decision (flooring him for reportedly the first time in his career), put a beatdown on old rival Harry Greb, and then became the only man to stop Tommy Gibbons, the #2 rated HW contender. He also KO'd journeyman Bartley Madden, which is notable for the fact that Madden had previously extended top contender Harry Wills the full distance and made him work for the win. Of course, there's the incredible streak Henry Armstrong had in 1937 through early '38, culminating with his shocking win over Barney Ross. Other random examples: Kid Gavilan in mid 1952 through early '53, in which he successfully defended his title with decisive wins over Gil Turner, Billy Graham, and Chuck Davey. Ike Williams in mid 1947 through '48, in which he KO'd Beau Jack, Bob Montgomery, Tippy Larkin, and others, and decisioned Gavilan and Johnny Bratton. Dick Tiger in 1965, in which he crushed Rocky Rivero and Ruben Carter and decisively avenged his previous loss to Giardello. Pernell Whitaker during his LW title reign, in which he whupped Greg Haugen, shut down old rival JL Ramirez, gave a body beating to Jorge Paez, outboxed Azumah Nelson, and scored a shocking 1st round KO of Juan Nazario. Azumah Nelson during his successive KO wins over DalRovere, Mario Martinez, and Jim McDonnell. Perhaps JC Chavez at the start of his jr. LW reign, in which he crushed Martinez, Roger Mayweather, and Ruben Castillo in quick succession. IMO, Duran was at his peak at the tail end of his LW reign (vs. Viruet and DeJesus) up to his win over Leonard. Other examples?
Marco Antonio Barrera vs Erik Morales, Luiz Freitas, Jose Luis Valbuena, Jesus Salud, Naseem Hamed, Enrique Sanchez, Erik Morales II. I think out of those fights, which all came after one another; Barrera's greatest ever showings came against Morales I, Salud, Sanchez, and Hamed. That was his peak, no question.
I would say up until the Briscoe rematch was his absolute peak. The Monzon who looked lackluster in rematches with Griffith and Bouttier was not the same as the one who overwhelmed them in their first fights.
Jack 'Kid' Berg's spell from beating Tony Canzoneri in 1930 before losing a rematch to him in 1931. During that spell he defeated Mushy Callahan, Joe Glick, Kid Chocolate and Billy Petrolle among others. A short but outstanding peak. Some are obvious, others have their peaks and valleys.
Good call there. Speaking of Canzoneri, I would say his own peak was during his stretch of wins over Berg and Al Singer.
