Who was the better heavyweight Tami Mauriello or Elmer a Ray?

I’ve already posted why ray rates above mauriello

Due to his far superior peak beating Charles and Walcott and destroying a man in 2 rounds savold who was of the same level as mauriello.

Question do you give mauriello any chance at all to defeat Walcott and Charles in 46-47?


Me believing mauriello avoided top black men is a separate issue. I have the same opinion on lastara as well

 

Funny you come to that conclusion yet in all of my lists I post, most posters here consider them very fair and very good! So Cleary I rate both the white and black fighters accordingly


My rankings don’t reflect biasness toward black men

 

I’m 31, I’ve been posting here since I was 17!!! I’ll still be here in 30 years! Maybe my opinions will change by then . When I was 17 I used to defend lastara Religiously because of how big a marciano fan I was. Since then I’ve done a ton of research and realized how overrated he was. As I’ve matured into an adult I’ve realized I can still love a fighter (marciano) and be fair and critical of his opposition

Many posters here still feel the need to defend there hero’s at all cost, and are unable to be critical in any shape or form

Louis and marciano are my two favorites but they missed out on a few key players of the era. In the case of Elmer Ray I believe he was better by far than any Louis title opponent except conn Walcott and Schmeling. I believe mauriello was just another contender in line, while I believe ray was a rare great contender who had the tools to win a world title

 

Question,

Does anyone actually think Mauriello looks good on film?

To me, he doesn’t. I think he looks overweight, I think his punching technique is off. He throws a lot of arm punches, he doesn’t know how to combination punch, he looks uncoordinated, his handspeed is slow. He doesn’t move his feet well, he doesn’t box very well from the outside, couldn’t jab.

A decent, strong, scrappy fighter with a lot of heart and slightly above average power. His chin is fair but questionable. A slightly above average heavy contender but not a world beater by any means. Definitely a good middle-light H

But does he display any tools on film that make you think he could have beaten Charles or Walcott in 46-47?

 

Yeah, I mean tami had heart and guts in the ring. Not much else. He had decent power but not great.

He had no shot to beat the elites of the division Louis Walcott Charles conn and Ray

But he was right there with the Savolds and Baksis of the division

He was a really promising young fighter at 17 at 144lb, but he got fat around the midsection and never got any better. He was done at 23.

He should have stayed at 160-175lb

Too small for the likes of Ray and Louis. Big 6’2 naturally 200lb men

 

Easy, Conn, Bivins or Walcott should have been number 1 in 1946 ....not Mauriello


Did he mix it well with the big boys?

The biggest top men he fought, 210lbers Louis and Baksi, Mauriello lost too. He also lost to 220lb journeyman Johnny Skhor.

Mauriellos best wins oma, Savold, and woodcock weighed 182-192lb..smallish heavyweights.

Did Mauriello ever defeat a 200lb plus rated heavyweight? Perhaps Nova was still rated but barely, he was past his prime definitely on the slide.


Here are some of the 200lb plus rated heavyweights of the era

Joe Baksi
Elmer Ray
Lee Q Murray
Harry Bobo
B Baer
big boy brown
Turkey Thomson
Al Hart
Roscoe Toles
Lou Nova


Muariello beat nova. Did not beat any of the others.

He looked fat around the midsection against Louis...perhaps his best fighting weight was 175lb, not 200lb.


Even Lesnevich at 180lb knocked Mauriello out at 200lb once Tami got bigger and more mature. Tami fought him better weighing 175lb than he did at 200lb.

Lesnevich went 0-2 against Bivins and Charles and publicly admitted ducking them both from a title shot at 175. Lesnevichs manager admitted this too.

This leads me to believe Lesnevich and Mauriello were a clear level below Charles Bivins Ray and Walcott

 

Yeah not good enough for 1 over those guys . Just read the records

 

You are taking the New York RING rankings where Maureillo was from

And not the NBA ratings which had mauriello rated much lower during those years


“Walcott”

Funny you say he wasn’t highly regarded. By 1946 he had defeated three men oma Baksi and Bivins who held victories over Mauriello.


In fact going into 1946


Against common opponents

Walcott was 3-0

Mauriello was 2-4

Do I need to bring up Bivins? He went undefeated 1942-1945 with 2 victories over mauriello and he did better against common opponents (Pastor, lesnevhich)

Bivins record against mauriello 2-0

Common opponents

Bivins 6-1

Mauriello 2-6-1

 

I just posted significant facts

Going into 1946...

Walcott had 3 wins over men who beat mauriello

Bivins has two victories over mauriello plus had beaten two other men who mauriello couldn’t beat


Again common opponents

Walcott 3-0
Mauriello 2-4

Bivins 6-1
Mauriello 2-6-1


Walcott and Bivins should have been rated above mauriello