Were You Ever a Fan of the Less Popular Brother?

Well I can't say I was a fan as he fought decades before I was born by Buddy Baer gave a hell of a fight to Joe Louis, didn't he?

 

That was huge in the U.S. Basically everybody watched the Olympics, and they were featured prominently … heroes. Boxing was popular but that played a role in it going completely mainstream (along with the first Rocky movie, released also in 1976).

Leonard was the darling of the bunch, became a star before our very eyes. Howard Davis was probably considered the best prospect coming out of the games. The Spinks brothers were a big story, but Leon stole the show with an upset win over Cuba’s Sixto Soria, who was schooling him until Leon unleashed his jinx for a dramatic win. Leo Randolph was pretty impressive but flyweights don’t get the spotlight.

All of the American gold medalists but Davis (huge surprise) won world titles as pros. Leo’s heart wasn’t really in it — iirc he waited quite a while before deciding to turn pro and retired as soon as he lost his title.

The biggest surprise of the U.S. team was Clint Jackson — team captain, rated No. 1 in the world and going in considered America’s best hope — not medaling. He was an upset loser in the first round iirc.

If Leon hadn’t won gold in Montreal, he never gets that early-career shot at Ali that he cashed in by being the right guy at the right time … that made him a star and fast-tracked him.

 

Howard Davis seemed to have good luck & timing when it came to the Olympics, but some bad luck and timing when it came to winning world titles. Losing by a single point to Edwin Rosario after being dropped in the final round. He was pretty inexperienced as a pro when he lost to Jim Watt.

 

I would've liked to have seen Buddy in more big fights. I'm not convinced that there was such a big gulf in class (or even one at all) between himself & his brother.

 

Did better against Louis.

 

Eh, the main difference was that Max just stayed down instead of being pummeled into unconsciousness. Buddy lasted two more rounds but look at the state of him by the end of the fight. These two had insane mandibles.

 

But he actually put Louis down!

 

That's what I think about Buddy and pretty much every notable fighter of that era. We only have the fights these guys fought against Louis, the title fights before Louis and almost nothing else.

 

Max landed 2-3 power punches in the end of round 1, Buddy dazed Louis with a hard left, dazed him but how much the knockdown was caused by the punch itself and how much because of Buddy driving his gigantic torso into Louis is debatable.

 

Gaby Canizales for me. In the modern social media era Orlando has gained a (deserved) boost in popularity even with younger fans. Unfortunately, this hasn't extended to his brother.
In my personal opinion, Gaby was the better of the brothers. Fought some absolutely top notch names too.

 

I'm with you, Rough. I was a huge fan of Gaby's ever since seeing him against Diego Rosario. I too believe he was the better of the two, but will concede that Orlando had the more successful reign.

 

But it stands as a knockdown to history.

 

Agreed with this. It's unfortunate how underappreciated Gaby still is considering he was a really entertaining fighter to watch and was a big puncher. Wasn't as flashy or skilled as his brother but he definitely fought much better names, fighting the likes of Jeff Chandler, Miguel Lora, Raul Perez, Bernardo Pinango, Richie Sandoval, Duke McKenzie.

 

Rafael Marquez
Gaby Canizales
Khaokor Galaxy
Vitali Klitschko