willie pep vs ike williams...

Pep may well be ahead for as long it lasts but Ike can stop him at any time, not Pep's division

 

I think Pep stands a good chance here, actually. Ike would most certainly not be "stopping him any time he wants". Pep was the foil to Ike's style, and while he may've been smaller, he proved himself the superior of Ike's proven Lightweight foil Willie Joyce when Pep gave him a boxing lesson. A + B doesn't always equal C, I understand, but I'm not sure Ike would be able to land enough on Pep to force a stoppage at any point. In which case I might have to favor Pep by decision.

 

Footwork would be a massive issue for Williams here

 

While Pep wasn´t a lightweight he beat some pretty good ones. So, it´s not as if he has no experience there. And he has the style and speed advantage. I think he outboxes Williams for most of the time but at times Williams get´s him where he wants him. Won´t be enough to put him away though. Pep UD.

 

I beg to differ with the above posters, who claim the 126 lb featherweight Willie Pep
would beat 135 lb lightweight champion Ike Williams....Not a prayer would Willie have against the bigger and murderous punching Williams...
For what it's worth, I saw both of these two great fighters in their primes in action..
Willie Pep could have made a fortune if he fought Williams, yes a fortune, but wisely chose not to challenge Ike to a fight...Every thing that 126 lb Sandy Saddler could do
the 135 lb Williams could do better..In fact Saddler who fought some lightweights,
never challenged Ike Williams for his lightweight title...Sixty five years ago all boxing
fans knew why Pep and Saddler, never demanded a shot at Ike Williams crown...
Ike was too much of a banger for the two featherweights to cope with IMO....

 

Did you see any of Ike's bouts with Joyce, Burt?

 

Ike late stoppage too much for Willie, in power and strength.A bigger ,harder hitting," Saddler",spells bad news for the dancing master,imo.

 

So Williams and Saddler are comparable stylistically now?

 

No they are not, but Saddler out - physicalled Pep in 3 fights, and he was not as strong as Williams nor as hard hitting . There is a reason neither challenged Williams,and it wasn't because there wasn't enough dough on the table.

 

No ,I did not see the Ike Williams/Willie Joyce fights, but I did see Willie Joyce fight at MSG...Willie Joyce was a great boxer, who nthough a lightweight did not hit much harder than 126 lb Pep...Boxing is style matchups and Pep was faster than Joyce ,but Ike Williams hit so much harder than the two Willies..But Joyce at 135 pounds was able to cope with the top stronger lightweights...Eight pounds difference is a lot for smaller men...

 

I'm not saying I can't fathom Ike winning, he most certainly could, but regardless of the reasoning behind the fight not coming off, stylistically this sounds like a very favorable matchup for Pep, the only issue being Ike's size. However, Ike wasn't a mauler or a pressure fighter, as Saddler was. He didn't rely on dirty tactics and dirty clinch-boxing to deal with movers. He was stand-up boxer-puncher who was content to box behind the jab and pick his spots. If he had you hurt, then all hell was unleashed, but only then. Given slickster Willie Joyce's multiple successes against Williams, I just think Pep had the class to pull off something similar. Over a 10 or 12 rounder, anyway.

 

Perhaps that's truer than I was letting on, and it's something I considered as well. Stylistically I believe Pep had the edge here clearly, but you may be right when considering the strength and size differential. If only the Williams/Joyce bouts existed on film to get a better assessment of how they went down.

 

Yeah, it's a bad match-up for Williams.

 

So many years later,it is difficult to understand the nuances of boxing in the 1940s...The pertinent question is this ...If Willie Pep or Sandy Saddler
wished too, they could have gotten a bout with Ike Williams for the 135
pound TITLE in a heartbeat, but they chose NOT TO ! WHY didn't either
Pep or Saddler challenge Ike Williams for the title ???The bouts would have sold out, but Pep or Saddler never asked for a shot with Williams...
The answer is obvious I believe...Ike Williams was too big and strong
a puncher !Pep and Saddler were wise not to step in the ring with,
Ike Williams,an alltime great lightweight....