Underrated Losing Efforts

MANCINI VS Arguello 39 years ago to the minute right now.

 

McGirt in the first fight with Whitaker. I scored it many years ago but had Pea winning by only a point.

 

Tyson vs Douglas. The narrative nowadays is that Tyson rolled over and let himself lose. Watch it again, and tell me that Tyson wasn't trying to take his head off.

 

Sal Sanchez vs Chucho Castillo

 

So many great fights:
Walcott vs. Marciano I
Basilio-Robinson fights
Paret vs. Ortega I
Griffith-Paret I & III
Patterson vs. Chuvalo
Norton-Ali II
Frazier-Ali III
Arguello vs. Escalera I
Lee vs. LoCicero
Weaver vs. Thomas
Hagler vs. Mugabi
Mercer vs. Cooper
Holyfield vs. Bowe I

 

So many of these guys came so close to winning these fights whereas others, like Walcott in the case of Marciano 1 was having perhaps the best performance of his career up until the 13th. On the other hand, you have fights where Escalera just had the **** pounded out him by Escalera but never once backed off, and even rallied brilliantly on occasion.

 

EPIC fight! I agree mostly. I do think Norton dominated him from 4 on, but people do often overlook the events of the 3rd in their telling of the tale. Quarry was a ball of fire in the 3rd, pounding Norton with dozens of great shots. Quarry was over the hill, and Norton was the better man. But it was a great slugfest that was kept competitive for both men's parts. It's probably a top 25 greatest heavyweight slugfests of all time imo.

 

Yeah there was no quit in Tyson that night. Even after a beating, when he was put down heavily in the 10th with his senses scrambled, his first instinct was to try and grab his fallen gum shield and get up. Compared that with Foreman when he also unbeaten and seen as unbeatable like Tyson, First time Foreman was put down and in trouble against Ali, he sat up and didn’t even make the effort to try and get up because he felt too tired.

 

Kelvin Seabrooks when he lost his title to Orlando Canizales
Pascual Aranda when challenged Antonio Esparragoza

They both took terrific poundings and kept coming back on sheer will.

 

Joe Bugner against Frazier. Very courageous performance and sadly forgotten for a few reasons. As I've said before, the derision Bugner receives from all ends of the British fight fraternity compared to the love-in heaped on Henry Cooper is one of my pet peeves....But that's for another time!

Whitaker against Trinidad might be worth a shout. The scorecards (which I think were a little wide in any case) make it look like a procession for Tito, but Whitaker was right in it for about seven rounds in which there wasn't much between them until he got his jaw broken. But that's another part of why it was such a commendable losing effort by Pea: smaller guy, way past his best, inactive for sixteen months beforehand, already hooked on drugs, legs totally gone and fighting with an excruciating injury, but he still went the full twelve with a hard-hitting monster and did so without having to run and make it a pure survival job. Well, aside from the odd bit of clowning in the twelfth, but I'll let him off for that under the circumstances.

 

I love what you said here. That was a spectacular fight, and an overlooked win for Joe following his defeat at the hands of Foreman.

 

Oscar Bonavena's losing performances (Ali, Frazier (2)) actually got him more notoriety than his victories. -Hagler/Duran.
RON LYLE'S losing effort vs GEORGE FOREMAN!

 

He let himself loose through a combination of cocaine and Japanese hookers.