reminded me how much of a savage benn was. i dont think barkely expected him to come out throwing nothing but power punches when they fought. also, hagler walking through some of hearns better shots puts you in awe. how awesome would it be to have guys those guys back in the division at the present.
I call this composite punching and it obsesses me. The two best examples in my opinion are Roy Jones and Archie Moore (also my dream fight at 175). Jones does it all, makes the angles, strange and text-book, punches with speed, follows up quickly, has power, has great positioning, knows when to throw what, is a world class finisher (despite lacking that crule streak needed to make a guy from a world class finisher into Joe Louis). In terms of punching power he is only great, but when I did a top 20 composite punchers all time list, he only went and made it. Ring only had him at 80 something I think, but they are more interested in pure power. Moore was not so visibly astonishing, but he was world class with the angles, and also very cute. He was feinting at such a high level it's not actually visible. A couple of accounts have him exposing the scar tissue on his gut (gall bladder) and countering of the shot he knew his opponent would load upon seeing the exposed tissue, and throwing before his opponent did. Loading up on a hint of an angle taken in anticipation of a half available opportunity - that has been engineered. The mind boggles. This is a good example too. Technique plus a love of the finer things in life. One of the lesser know, lesser mourned casualties of the 12 round distances were the type of subtle moves that take time to pay off - and might not pay off at all. Not worth feinting to the body for four rounds only to find your man won't drop his guard and having to start agin if you are 1/3 through the fight rather than less than a quarter. Someone say "amen".
The right hand McClellan landed on Danny Mitchell was scary. Mitchell just fell sideways, lying motionless on the canvass. McClellan knew the second he hit him that it was over.
If anybody remembers the commentary on Jackson v Graham it's awesome. "Ohhh, no! That's what we were worried about. He won't get up from that." About the only person who didn't know that was Joe Cortez who actually completed the ten count bent over the clearly unconscious Graham. Fierce.
thats how it was at once upon a time! pure talent....Marvin Hagler how I miss that guy even Benn and those guys. You can just see the balance, power and beauty in Sugar Ray Robinsons punches. Epic war Hearns v Hagler, at a time when guys delivered in the big ones. Different time and Breed. Thats why I grew to love Boxing. Today I feel that love but im getting disillusioned. Two things this weekend made me feel like the writing is on the wall that the game I love is diluted watering down and dying...I went to the big casino to see the BHOP V Calzag fight and there it was an MMA event instead! they were even charging 10.00 at the door. Then Yahoo on its cover had the title big fights this weekend and there it was St Pierre and MMA again. There was no mention of BHop or Joe C. Then Calzag slapping his way to Victory and the controversey surrounding the decision, the babbling back and forth. I dont care who won, I just want a clear and concise ass whipping like the days of yore. The skill level the guts and warrior mentally its alll gone. Everyone chasing the bucks and easy fights. The cherry picking that goes on its disgraceful! yet I know someone will come along soon. like always one of the greats will appear and restore my faith in the game. July 26 will probably do it for me I dont even care if Margarito wins its just refreshing to see Cotto take on quality opposition and that fight will be great. The winner should get PBF see Im already feeling better. I love boxing but sometimes it just gets hard.
I hear you. Just nice to read a thought-provoking post, there has been some absolute drivel to sort through today. See above. :-(
You're comparing him to guys who fought at championship level for 7 years in some cases. So cool off. KO% like this is great but on the way up, it does happen. Let's see where he's at after he's defended his belts for 5 years.
Theres a certain fire that you could sense from a few fighters. Cotto may never be a "legend" or viewed in the same light as some of the ATG, but I do see that fire in his eyes because he fights to prove a point. He fights to fight the fights and he is still young and hungry. See boxing has slipped out of the hands of mainstream viewing, and because of that boxers have been able to get away with bull**** and it has made the sport a little weak. It isn't as bad as it all seems though as the young divisions still carry that "warrior code" but they're slowly leaving as fighters like Morales and Barrera left us last year. I think boxing is just going through a phase right now. There will always be fighters that fight with a fearless heart like a lion, And I think its just a matter of restoring that "environment" to the game, if more fighters carry that mentality in the same era than it will help shape the sport into the better. But as long as a chosen few fighters can make 25+ million in 1 fight, and all the other just as deserving fighters only make just over a couple million, then there will always be a couple of fighters that pull the bull****. There will always be pure talents out there, when I look at Calderon, Mijares, Gamboa and yes Mayweather it restores my faith that somewhere someplace there are young fighters being groomed into unbelievable talents to help carry our sport.