Are these anomalies examples of "styles make fights", or something more...? Zab Judah lost to Calor Baldomir, but gave Floyd Mayweather, who dominated Baldomir in every way a run for his money. (for a few rounds) Shane Mosley lost to Vernon Forrest twice, but knocked out Ricardo Mayorga, who beat Forrest twice. Bernard Hopkins lost to Jermain Taylor twice, but thoroughly beat Kelly Pavlik who beat Taylor twice. Shane Mosley lost to Cotto, but wrecked Antonio Margarito, who beat Cotto *Manny Pacquiao should beat Cotto because Cotto lost to Maragrito, who lost to Shane Mosley, who (technically) lost to De La Hoya the second time, who got his ass kicked by Pacquiao....(added this for fun) There are many, many more, and I'm trying to come up with a list of at least 20 for an article I'm writing, but I think you get the point...what I'm trying to figure out, is if things like this a truly an instance of "styles make fights" or could it be due to other things like under-training, one guy being more determined than the other...or something else. Give me your opinions!
Muhammad Ali had trouble with Ken Norton and Joe Frazier, both of whom were destroyed by George Foreman in 2 rounds. Ali beat Foreman. Manny Pacquiao dominated Marco Antonio Barrera the first time they fought, in 2003, who was in the midst of winning two out of three against Erik Morales (from 2000-04). But Morales beat Pacquiao the first time they fought. Thomas Hearns dominated Roberto Duran, who beat Iran Barkley, who went 2-0 against Hearns.
Styles make fights is an adage that stands true but only to a certain extent. Ability also makes fights. If two fighters are on the same level then the one with the style advantage will likely win. If one fighter is better than the other but is at a style disadvantage then they might just even out in the ring (IMO Pac-JMM is an example of this). So each case is individual and should be taken as such.
Hulk Hogan Lost to The Ultimate Warrior at wrestlemania 6 But the warrior lost to sgt slaughter who lost to the Hulkster at wrestlemania 7 :think
Cotto beat Mosley who beat Margarito who beat Cotto Nothings ever certain in boxing thats why its the best
Taylor defeated Hopkins twice, lost to Pavlik twice, and Hopkins convincingly beat Pavlik. Prime Holy had trouble w/ old Holmes whereas prime Tyson KO's him but both meet up past-prime and Holy dominates Tyson
more like the mob make fights. if you don't realise forrest was paid to take dives against mayorga, then youre a goober.
It's not so black and white as just styles make fights there's other factors ..what you listed was kind of more like stupid triangle theory's are very often wrong.
Alot of it is just how things pan out on the day. We may call it the 'sweet science' but it's very much a sport not a science. The reason most rubber matches occur is because both fighters went 1-1 against each other to begin with. Look at tennis/golf/snooker (other individual sports), the top guys finish ahead of each other all the time, and leap frog each other on a regular basis. This is because they're competing against each other on an ongoing basis. In boxing, most fights are once off occasions that get consigned to history once they're done. I think if we saw all the top fighters fighting constantly there'd be wins and losses in both columns. o it's not just a favourable/unfavourable style, but who performs the best on the day..
The problem is Margarito couldn't use illegal pad in his gloves in the Mosley fight in which i bet he did use it in the Cotto fight.
Styles do make fights, but there are many other factors involved. Skill level is a major factor. The propsed Pavlik/Mora fight that Pav nixed is an example. Mora has the style to give Pavlik fits, but NOT at a level where he could actually win. Felix Sturm is another example. I always said Sturm was a better "pure boxer" than Pavlik or Abraham, but both would knock Sturm out. You also have to consider where a fighter is in his career. There is no doubt in my mind that a prime Roy Jones would tear any version of Calzaghe to shreads, but old Roy got his ass kicked. Same deal with Pac/Oscar. A prime Oscar would have knocked Pac out. Old Oscar caught a whoopin'. Personally I think a lot of people get carried away when they use the saying. As useful as it is to analyze styles, it's still not the end all -- be all -- of a fight.