When we speak about the top Welterweight punchers we usually only really hear 3 names. Thomas Hearns, Ray Robinson and Pipino Cuevas aswell as afew others like Napoles etc.... I have just watched DeMarco vs Basilio 2 and DeMarco is theonly fighter i have seen who has rocked Basilio (At Welterweight) and he did it 4 times! Basilio is one of the toughest fighters that ever lived but was out on his feet for rounds 7 and 8. DeMarco has to have hit hard to stun Basilio so many times. Even ray Robinson couldnt stun him although that was at Middleweight. So how big of a punch do you think Tony had? where would you rate his punching power in comparison to the likes of Hearns, Cuevas and Robinson?
Tony could whack with the best of them. The reason he's rarely mentioned amongst the bigger hitters probably has something to do with his inability to consistently hurt top flight opposition. However, that had a lot more to do with his lack of technical skills than any lack of power, and is the primary reason he didn't score more KO's. He threw wide, winging punches that were often telegraphed and left himself open, making his punches easier to avoid and his face easier to counter. However, against a workhorse like Basilio who came right at him, Tony found a much easier target, one where his full power could be truly tested against. Based on those fights and quite a few of his other stoppage wins (Araujo, Vejar, Christensen, Saxton, etc), I think he was pretty much on par with Cuevas as a puncher. Another underrated puncher that Tony met up with (though by this time he was ring-worn and past his prime) was Virgil Akins. While a much better technician than Tony, he was a very inconsistent fighter and puncher in his own right. He would look great one night, then **** in his very next fight. Either way, when on his A game he was a hell of a fighter, one who put his punches together much better than Tony and was therefore a more dangerous matchup for top flight opposition on his best day, IMO. Not sure who hit harder in terms of one punch power, though. Maybe Raging B(_)LL could stop by and shed some light on this one.
Pea i thought he would be about the same level as Cuevas great power but lacked the tools to use it effectivly at the top class. I did think his right hand counter was a very effective punch and he threqw it very well. He threw it right over the left hand and landed on the chin quite alot aswell with surpriding accuracy. I think part of why he made crude swings was by the looks of things he was a terrible judge of distance. The amount of times he fell short of Basilio was unbeliaveable. Very bad at judging distance.
DeMarco was definitely like the Cuevas of his day, and Akins too was considered an ATG welter puncher during his heyday. I think the reason both these guys are "forgotten" today is that their title reigns were fairly brief. Neither one of them were truly great fighters, but when they were at the top, they were as feared punchers as any welter ever.
Akins was mobbed up and lazy to boot, so besides losing the fights he was told to he also lost others he could and should have won due to his lackdaisical approach and mindset in fights. But when he was motivated and not wearing the cuffs he could be a very dangerous opponent for just about anyone, good counterpuncher he was and packed a heck of a wallop in each fist too. All in all he was a real waste of talent but in the DeMarco fights he was allowed to fight without the cuffs on and thus showed what he was capable of when in top form. He subdued and knocked out Tony in both their title bouts, but not before getting banged up in each bout himself as Tony never went out without a fight and was brave as they come. DeMarco while limited in the skills department had other attributes that made up for the skills he lacked, namely his indomitable will to win, durability and tremendous punching power which was enough to see him win the welter title from Johnny Saxton stopping him with a furious and violent flurry of punches in the 14th. However his glaring deficiencies would always assure that he would lose to the cream of the crop at welter, but he would always be a hard nights work win or lose and would pose a constant threat to damn near any welter ever due to his punching power and tenacity. He was a slightly more polished/skilled version of Rocky Graziano imo with the wide winging left hook replacing the chopping right hand as his sunday best. Both men were far too open defensively however and this made them rather vulnerable to good boxer-puncher types.
