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! Round of Thirty-Two Fight 6: Jose Torres vs Maura Mina 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. Jose Torres (41-3-1) When people talk about “old-school” fighters they are talking about guys like Puerto Rican Jose Torres. Check out his 1966 fight of the year with the timeless Eddie Cotton for a fine example. It’s not that Torres does anything we don’t see today but rather the way that he does it. There is no flashy shoulder-roll or sizzling footwork, he just slips jabs with good reaction time, arbitrary head movement, technically sure positioning and well-drilled balance. The over-riding definition of old-school is economy – it is born of necessity as fighters trained and learned to box fifteen rounds, a whole 25% more than their modern counterparts. His moves at every range are dotted by a certain care that often cannot be seen in the modern ring. Nothing is wasted. His opponent, Cotton, is complicit in this and together they turn in one of the great light-heavyweight fights. Torres delivered a similar performance against Willie Pastrano, from whom he took the title. Pastrano, probably, is past his best but this is Jose’s best effort on film, a fight in which he demonstrates all that is good about him. Moving forwards steadily in that now famous peekaboo style, gloves high, dipping and cutting the ring off on the fleet-footed Pastrano before the champion even knew where he was headed, a vicious body-attack the tip of his spear. It was a one-sided beating that resulted in the first stoppage of Pastrano’s career for any reason other than cuts. The reason on this occasion was an accumulation of punches that forced the referee’s hand between the ninth and tenth round. Melio Bettina (83-14-3) Bettina was a solid boxer who stalked his man and when he cornered him, assaulted him with a barrage of punches; He was tough enough - and good enough - to battle this way and get the job done; He lost only 13 bouts in nearly 100 contests; During his career, Melio won the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World (as recognized by New York state) During his career, he defeated such men as "Tiger" Jack Fox, Bob Godwin, Fred Apostoli, Solly Krieger, Booker Beckwith, Gus Dorazio, Pat Valentino, Steve Carr, Joe Knight, Jimmy Mendes, Gunnar Barlund, Clarence "Red" Burman, Charles "Buddy" Knox, Buck Everett, Swede Berglund, Jack "Buddy" Walker, Lou Brooks, Altus Allen, Harry Bobo, Eddie Blunt, Joe Muscato, Bill Weinberg and Curtis Sheppard. Bettina was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995. So says Cyberboxing (hence the punctuation); my main bugbear is I can't find a nickname for Bettina, anyone know? If not, feel free to give him one please. In addition to his wonderful defeat of Cotton, Torres managed defences against former top contender Chic Calderwood, who he blasted out in two with a booming right to the ear, and the always game Wayne Thornton who he outclassed over fifteen. Against this must be tempered Jose’s loss of the title to former middleweight **** Tiger, a fighter totally incapable of filling out into a light-heavyweight, not once but twice. It is also true that he lifted the title against a fighter that probably should never have been in possession of it, Pastrano gifted a decision over Harold Johnson.
Melio Bettina is severely underrated. Southpaw too if I recall. as for Mina, if he can beat Bob Foster he can beat Tores.
Jose Torres won a poorly atteneded match to make the quarter-finals by unanimous decision in a close but dull fight. The two fenced late in to the content, Torres countering Mina's rushes consistently enough in the final third to get the nod.
Good stuff!! The low turnout for this fight doesn't look good for Torres in the next round. Wait, does this mean Torres and Tiger will fight for a third time?
