The 70s Decade End Awards

This is also why i wanted Frazier in that list: He decisioned Ali. If you can't knock him out, he's gonna be very hard to deal with over 15.


By the way, could you post the judges' scorecards in the Young-Ali fight?

 

I will when I'm home tonight mate. :good

 

1: Duran
2: Monzon
3: Ali

Duran was amazing in the 70's - the best fighter p4p, the most enjoyable to watch and at the end was making his mark at Welter I think he was 74-1 buy the end of the 70's. Monzon & Ali where good but not as good as Duran.

 

Ali-Young robbery. Cards for Chris:


Tom Kelley:

A: 555 555 555 545 445 72
Y: 544 444 444 454 555 65


Terry Moore:

A: 455 555 555 545 544 71
Y: 544 444 444 454 455 64


Larry Barett:

A: 545 555 555 545 444 70
Y: 555 444 444 554 555 68

 

How not?

 

I agree on Napoles by the way, whose best wins came in the late 60s but not Monzon, who was more dominant than Ali and none of his decision wins were debatable. 14 defences in a row, no defeats in decade, while Ali had 3.

 

My 1970s ratings would be something like:


Monzon. Duran. Ali. Napoles. Arguello. Gomez. Canto. Foster. Zarate.



Ali, Napoles and Foster better in the 1960s.

 

Carlos Monzon over Muhammad Ali and Roberto Duran.Ruled over the division without losing and re-unified the belts with a win over Valdez.

 

That's right.

 

Fighter of the decade

1/ Monzon or Duran (Can't split them at present)
2/ As above
3/ Ali.


Comeback of the decade

Muhammad Ali (No contest)


Fight of the decade

FOTC 1971


Event of the decade

The Rumble In The Jungle/FOTC


Most irritatingly nasal voice of the decade

Howard Cossell.

 

Muhammad Ali or Roberto Duran for fighter of the decade.....
Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier III for best fight of the decade....
Muhammad Ali vs George Foreman for upset & event of the decade....

 

I wouldn't say Monzon was a more dominant champ than Duran, though i think he was a slightly better overall one, in large part due to much less comfy home country advantages.

 

Ok, i think there is a difference between fighter of the decade and BEST fighter of the decade. The best from a performance standpoint, I agree, would be Monzon (or maybe Duran), but the FIGHTER of the decade should take under account, not popularity but impact on the sport as a whole. Ali arguably can claim to be a participant in the fight of the decade (fotc or thrilla) , comback fighter of the decade (jungle), event of the decade (fotc or jungle or thrilla) as well as having the biggest wins of the decade. Can any other fighter make those claims? The decade was dominated by Ali, and not just because he was popular. He also performed well. I agree that he flopped off after "thrilla" with horrible performances and lacked the consistancy of the other two mentioned but one cannot argue with the fact that Ali was the dominant FORCE in the sport. Also remember that in team sports (and I know boxing is not one of them) the player of the year or MVP is often not the BEST player. (check out Kobe Bryants career) Ali was not the best fighter necessarily, but he was the FIGHER OF THE DECADE!!!

 

As far as being the most ICONIC fighter of the decade,and the one most responsible for bringing boxing onto the front page as often as the back page,then it was Ali. No contest.

As far as consistency as a dominant fighter goes,Muhammad takes third place to Duran or Monzon. He was n't quite as dominant over as long a period of time in that decade. Muhammad was n't the force he was after '75.

Now,everyone on here knows how big a fan I was/am of Ali. He's my favourite boxer of all time. And if we sliced the seventies up into two halves,I'd give the 1970-74 segmnent to Ali,definitely. It would be -

1/ Ali
2/ Monzon
3/ Duran.

 

1. Monzon
2. Duran
3. Ali
This is not a popularity contest...it's about the most dominant champion..and that was Monzon...crowning it all by retiring an undefeated champion.