agreed. Morrison looked horrible trying to find the southpaw. And that undercard fight was supposed to be a highlight type showcase fight for Morrison. As sloppy and out of position Tommy was against that guy==and just who held Yaulin in any sort of esteem? Sanders has a great straight left that is and was the straightest punch in the division. And he has a nasty right hook when he threw it. Morrison's defense is all wrong for a sharpshooter like Sanders. And Morrison has to get inside this guy to find his own range anyway. Bombed out early and all Morrison can do when hurt is slug and trade.
Morrison also tended to fade. Sanders wasn't only all wrong stylistically for Tommy, he was also a better boxer of the two in my opinion. Just compare their fights against Ross Purrutty (and note that Sanders outclassed much more experienced version of Purritty than the one that was robbed against Morrison) This content is protected This content is protected
Sanders defo has the advantage here, better boxer, better jab, better chin and if it comes to it a better brawler. Morrison is probably tidier when cautious and has a great left hook. Sanders knowing Morrison's chin is dodgy will come out for the early knock out I think he either gets it, if Sanders goes down early he gets back up and if Morrison goes down it's night night. If Morrison is on form defensively and weather's the early storm, both get fatigued in the 2nd half of the fight. Both leaning and staggering gives Sanders an 8th round TKO win. If it goes to the judges the popular Morrison takes it. Sanders 3/2 out of 5.
Yes but I never saw Sanders come from behind to win or win a tough one .. Morrison did vs Ruddock and Hipp .. Morrison definitely had heart and I feel that is precisely what Sanders seemed to lack .. a very talented, poorly conditioned under achiever ..
Sanders had heart. When did he ever pull a quit job? He'd had some flash KD's before and typically got right back to work. Against Vitali he was still trying to throw the kitchen sink at Klitschko when they stopped it. He broke his hand against Daniel Bispo and fought most of the fight one handed to win on points. He had a rough fight against a guy called Kulpin who was as tough as they come. Sanders had obviously undertrained for that one and when he failed to get Kulpin out early he had to do it the long route in a mauling, chopping fight.
If you read above I redefined my point to simply wasn't the most dedicated or hungriest .. I know he had heart as he took a big beating vs Vitali but in that fight he proved the point I was really trying to make and that is he , to me, didn't seem to be the hungriest or m most dedicated fighter, certainly not the best conditioned .. I feel he had more talent than desire ..
In that case I think I agree with you. His promoter wasn't terribly good and wasn't able to secure big fights for him. As a younger boxer I think he was pretty hungry but as time wore on he seemed to get more and more disillusioned. I remember him saying that he wanted guys like Holyfield and Lennox but there wasn't a hope in getting them into the ring let's be honest. Sanders was the definition of a high risk low reward challenge. I think his conditioning went down the longer his career went. He transitioned from a mobile boxer type to a more static counterpuncher-slugger in his later career. I think thats a product of not just age, but also the amount of time he was spending in the gym.
It also seemed he had other interests and developed other options. Until his horrible death he seemed to have developed a very good life. I forget the sport but he was supposedly very active in something as well. I happen to have liked him quite a bit. I remember first seeing him against Czyz and finding him terrorifying. After that felt he under performed against Rachman.
Sanders wanted to become a pro golfer for some reason. Apparently he could drive a ball extremely far. In the Rahman fight he'd barely trained, having done apparently zero roadwork due to recent knee operations. IMHO he should have skipped the fight until he was in proper condition. Maybe he thought he could blast Rahman out - he nearly did - but Rahman himself was on a hot run and could not be denied. You can hear his coach Harold Volbrecht in the corner begging Sanders not to slug with Rahman and to "play with him" - ie box him.
Yes I agree. Lewis would have fought him but I bet he was wishing Rahman would win. "On paper" Rahman was an easier fight than Sanders for Lewis ... although reality was disappointing in the end.
