The Best of the Rest: 175lbs Tier II Tournie - Round 1 - 7: Joey Maxim UD15 Anton Christoforidis

What i've done is i've lifted top tiers out of my top fifty at the poundage, fiddled it a little bit to minimise guys with no footage and used the remaining 32 names plus some subs to develop a seeded tournament to uncover "the best of the rest" at the poundage, with you, the denizens of the world's greatest boxing history forum, casting the deciding vote.

Pick your man! Write however many details you like or don't in a post below. But maybe try to post, to keep things moving a little bit. You have three days.

And let's be nice. No reason for disagreeing over total fantasies after all!

15 rounds, 1950s rules and ref. Ten points must. Weigh in is 18 hours before the fight.

I'll only vote if it's tied, then I'll decide the result.

Round of Thirty-Two Fight 7: Joey "Giuseppe" Maxim vs Anton "Christo the Fisto" Christoforidis

Anton Christoforidis (54-15-8)

Anton Christoforidis runs Joe Knight close for the title of the most underrated fighter in the tournament, I think. In 1943 he suffered back to back defeats to Jimmy Bivins, a fight he always held he won, and Lloyd Marshall, who he admitted had bested him. He then joined the US Navy, having taken up citizenship of the United States after leaving Turkey, his birthplace, Greece, his first adopted home and France, where he lived his salad days as a professional fighter, behind. When he returned to fighting, it was as a middleweight.

Similarly, he turned professional at middleweight, sparing him the losses then associated with an apprenticeship as well as those associated with a fistic dotage, leaving just his prime for the light-heavyweight division. And he did some superb work there.

He arrived on American soil in 1940, a move that coincided with his first real interest in the light-heavyweight division, announcing himself in that company in earnest with a double left-hook knockout of the prospect Jimmy Reeves. After dropping down to middleweight to go 1-1 with future nemesis Jimmy Bivins, a fight was arranged for the NBA’s light-heavyweight strap against the tough Melio Bettina. Speed and stamina were the keynote attributes in a workmanlike and savvy performance that saw Christoforidis pound out a clean, come-from behind decision over the narrow favourite. His reign did not last long, in fact he lost his strap in his very first defence against Gus Lesnevich, but he continued to campaign in the division and cobbled together a fine resume of wins against some of the era’s better fighters, including close victories over Nate Brown and Johnny Colan.

JOEY MAXIM (82-29-4)

A grim persistence on the inside combined with a technical surety on the outside, an iron jaw and staid discipline saw Joey Maxim carve out one of boxing’s most underrated careers.

Maxim was the champion of the world at light-heavyweight, coming to the title in 1951, ten long, hard years after he turned professional. He was never going to hold it long with Archie Moore lurking in the brutal shadows of the murderer’s row, but Maxim should be credited for tackling the universally ducked Moore in the first place – and for the work he did in the division before Moore reached him.

He took the title from Freddie Mills who reportedly lost three teeth and never boxed again as Maxim jabbed and hooked him into retirement. Not a puncher, his unerring consistency, accuracy and a persistence born of great durability and strength of character could nevertheless inflict severe suffering on all but the very best opponents. Certainly he had been too much for Gus Lesnevich, dominating him over fifteen rounds eight months earlier as he was for favourite Bob Murphy in his first title defence.

His third defence was far and away his most famous fight, Maxim defeating Sugar Ray Robinson in thirteen rounds as the middleweight champion of the world quit in appalling conditions, the heat in the ring said to be over one-hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Maxim never received credit for this win – Robinson weighed in as a middleweight, and the heat rather than Maxim was perceived as Robinson’s chief foe (Robinson himself naming the source of his defeat as God himself, perhaps demonstrating the kind of self-belief necessary to blaze a trail from lightweight all the way to light-heavyweight). This is perhaps a little unfair. As Maxim remarked, “did people think I had air conditioning in my corner?” It was a victory for durability and size but it was a victory none the less, for all that it is a difficult one to judge. I’ve treated it here as a successful defence against a dangerous but unranked opponent. Robinson was certainly that, taking the lion’s share of the rounds before he was pulled.

Then Moore came calling and Maxim’s time at the top was over. Maxim wasn’t so much out-classed by Moore as seemingly incapable of winning rounds, many of which were close but almost all of which seemed to be controlled by The Mongoose. Maxim fought Moore three times and at no time recorded a win.

Outside of those title fights, Maxim’s best wins at the weight were likely over Nate Bolden and the wonderful if inexperienced Floyd Patterson but Maxim spent so little time actually boxing against light-heavyweights at light-heavyweight that he must even so rank in the thirties, rather lower than I expected to see him. Any Maxim fans who are disappointed in this could do a lot worse than to track down my heavyweight list, where Maxim’s ranking is surprisingly high.

 

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Obviously Maxim is a huge favourite here, but I wonder just how difficult Anton might not be for him. Speed and stamina - preying upon a Maxim weakness and strength both.

 

Someone be brave and go first!

 

No.

You're fired!

 

Easy for Maxim!