How can anyone pick a Joey Giardello over a Mickey Walker is beyond me. When Giardello [a fine MW,I saw ringside] was boxing in the 1950s, he was never mentioned in the same breath as the Robinson's, Walker's, Greb's, or for that matter the Zale's, Cerdan, LaMotta's in alltime standings. It seems that the further we get from the past era's, the less we truly know about what the fighters contemporaries, who saw him and others] evaluated him. Someday for example,years from now a thread would be posted on ESB = "Who wins at WW, Arturo Gatti or Ray Leonard "?. Today when our posters have seen both Gatti and Leonard ringside, we would snicker at the comparison between the two fighters, but time erodes true knowledge of their abilities. That is why I place great emphasis of opinions of true boxing experts, who saw the fighters in question. Walker ,beats Giardello very handily.
Yes, Ace Hudkins who gave Walker 2 good fights was one of the toughest opponents in MW history. I feel that Hudkins as tough and as rugged as anyone outhustles and outpoints Giardello. Giardello can't stop Hudkins,so it comes down to who had more stamina, and Joey in the stretch left something to be desired in quite a few bouts. Incidentally, the first time I saw young Giardello fight was at the Eastern P'kwy Arena, NY ,against a neighbor of mine Harold Green, who flattened young Joey in the sixth round with one left-hook. Cheers...
Good matchup ,close fight I think they split a trilogy,one off ,I surprise myself by picking Giardello by dec
Burt B i love your knowledge ,kudos ! I ve talked to oldtimers who saw Nebraska wildcat. Many had him beating Mick 1st go at wrigley!!! ACE I beleive handle Joey handily. Giardello great fer LONGEVITY, top 50 middleweight ,saw him some great match up,did JOEY ever REALLY REALLY BEAT THE tiger in 4 outings???:!:
Lucky people saw Giardello live, it keeps all us poor sods from looking at his boxrec record and being deluded into thinking he was a great fighter. Lets not be too hard on ourselves though, after all, it's an easy mistake to make when you see a list of victims like Dick Tiger, Billy Graham, Rubin Carter, Rocky Rivero, Del Flanagan, Gil Turner, Bobby Boyd, Chico Vejar, Ralph Jones, Holly Mims, Willie Troy, Joey Giambra, Pierre Langlois, Henry Hank and Jimmy Beecham. Let's be even easier on our selves, many think he beat the likes of Gene Fullmer and Bobby Dykes too. :good As to who wins, I think Giardello would give Walker hell on his day. Walker's relentlessness probably makes me side his way though if we're talking best vs. best.
