Top 10 Fighters in Terms of Stamina

The top 4 The Funny Man has chosen is incredible. Saldivar is very deserving.

 

I don't think Hagler belongs there.

 

You don't? Elaborate, as he always seemed strong down the stretch for me.

Sal' Sanchez also.

 

It's silly but I can't get the first fight with Vito out of my head. He rallied against Duran but not particularly powerfully and while he finished stronger than Leonard that didn't wow me either. I think Saldivar is a better call. Hell Hagler might be number 4 just aft middleweight: Greb, Monzon, Flowers, Fullmer, Tiger are all his equal at least. I'm not sure he was any fitter than Mike McCallum.

Anyway it's nothing strong. It's like rating Ali in the top 5 chins; I would disagree but not too vociferously.

 

Ok this is just a shout and I know some smart people may take the Micky but I don't really care as I am not suggesting he makes the list. but non elite type fighters do justify a shout on occasion .


Alan minter went fifteen rounds a few times and always finished strong and rarely lost a final round

 

Definitely Calzaghe. Over a 1000 punches in many of his fights.

 

Very informative. Thanks for the reply I can roll with all of this.

 

Ali's an often overlooked call, so I'm pleased to see him mentioned here. I'd like to supplement your comments with some additional points.

Staying power is one thing, finishing power another. Marciano was stunning in his 100 punch close of Charles I, but he no longer had the power to finish Ezz off. Frazier's closing round knockdown of Ali in the FOTC was monstrous, but so was something else which immediately followed.

Coming after 14 rounds of war, Ali got back up right away, and actually returned fire later in the round. It was written that the knockdown made Frazier a champion, while getting up from it as he did made Ali a legend.

Previously, he triple dropped the rugged Bonavena in round 15 of a slow paced but physically grueling maul for an automatic stoppage, on the strength of a career best single hook. Ringo even caused Frazier to tire a bit towards the conclusion of their 1968 rematch.

Reacting to the affront of sustaining a referee ruled knockdown against Wepner, he undertook a sustained counterattack over the next several rounds to pull off a knockout win with 19 seconds left. [Tony Perez waved off the count at seven, but Chuck was not able to make it back to his feet on his own in time if Perez had opted to complete his count. As he did following Manila six months later, Ali collapsed after stopping Wepner.]

In Manila, Carlos Padilla has said he would have stopped the final scheduled round in Ali's favor after giving Frazier about 45 seconds to rally, if Futch had let Joe out to touch gloves. And Muhammad had Shavers going at the end of 15. Beyond that, how many heavyweights would have had enough left to get up, actually fight back, and reach the final bell of the FOTC after the way he got flattened?

For my money, Ali had the best proved stamina of any heavyweight during the 15 round limit era. Lasting the distance to win on scoring is one thing. Having enough left to force a halt to the action after touching gloves for the 15th and final round is something else. Ali produced two 15 round stoppages, was denied a third by Futch in Manila, and simply got started too late in the round to halt Shavers.

Late in his career, the inconsistently conditioned Bobby Chacon did comment that if he was still around to touch gloves for whatever the final scheduled round was, that he always tried to finish by going for the knockout, something he succeeded at five times [including an early eight rounder, and four ten rounders]. While Schooboy is certainly no candidate for this thread, I think his expressed philosophy of trying for a knockout after touching gloves for the final scheduled round can be a useful criteria for assessing stamina in limited round contests.

Marciano and Frazier are always lauded among heavyweights, as Ali sometimes is, but Floyd Patterson gets overlooked. Always in terrific shape, he never came close to gassing, but failed to defeat Jimmy Ellis decisively because he over paced himself against the novel experience of going 15 rounds. I sometimes wonder what it might have meant for Floyd's later career [especially with Ellis] if D'Amato had matched him against a durable challenger during his reign who succeeded in taking him to the final bell. [A young Chuvalo, with newly acquired Canadian Heavyweight Title in tow, might have been a better choice for safely extending Floyd 15 rounds than Brian London in early 1959. London had already been starched cold by Cooper. In 1968, Floyd's inexperience at going the 15 round limit cost him dearly.]

During the pre 15 round era, what Gans did over 42 rounds in the scorching desert heat of Goldfield against Nelson is monstrous. Ditto what Willard managed in Havana with temperatures under the stifling Cuban sun over 26 rounds. [The aging and overweight Johnson's own performance over the first 15 should not be ignored either. Around 35 years later, the much lighter Sugar Ray Robinson could not achieve against Maxim what Jack Johnson did over the first 15 rounds in making the fight against Willard. We have all this stuff on film for posterity.]

People can criticize Willard's skills and flaws all they want, but in Havana, Big Jess did something for the movie cameras which can only be speculated about of other heavyweights highly touted for their stamina. [And he did NOT look nearly spent at the end. Remember, this was in Maxim-Robinson type humidity, but hotter, under a bright sun, not at night, and after a bout which lasted TWICE as long as Maxim-Robinson. Temperatures for Maxim-Robinson were recorded at 104 degrees Fahrenheit, while Willard-Johnson was at 115 degrees, and rising!].

While Jeffries left little doubt in the Sharkey rematch movie light furnace that he could have done at his peak what Willard did in Havana, the fact remains that only Willard-Johnson went beyond 25 rounds in heavyweight championship competition during the Queensbury era [raising many questions about exactly what a ripped Jack Johnson was capable of against a peak Willard or Jeffries, when he stopped Jeff on July 4, 1910].

 

As a one off, Ibeabuchi's performance against Tua was ridiculous.

 

Gatti. The beatings he took never stopped him from coming forward. Great stamina and will power.

 

Henry Armstrong,Jeff Fenech,Calzaghe,Mayweather,fighters that just never seem to get tired..

 

All in his mid 30s TFM

His workrate combined with his footwork in his mid-late 20s is something special

 

Sheeeeeeeeeeeet no mention of Aaron Pryor on Ephedrine?????

Good post, although disagree with your choices of Maxim/Willard, that's just a bigger opponent tiring our a smaller opponent by walking them down and leaning on them so they have to work hard and run. The smaller man has to work harder and hence tires quicker.

 

Emile Griffith should be mentioned here because he's the king of the 15 rounders. He had more 15 round bouts than anybody if I'm not mistaken.