Would butterbean have been a serious contender ..

No. But he would have been today for sure.

 

Maybe one of the alphabets would rank him in their top15 after a long bumstreak today, but no way near a serious contender of course.
But maybe in the 30's or 40's or even further back when being the HW champion had just risen above being a circus act and guys like Porky Dan Flynn went the distance with Hall of Famers and ATG's.

 

this. Butterbean would be a top contender in the K2 era, where many of the contenders idolise his fatboy status and try to attain the same physical forms as their hero.


but butterbean in the 30s-40s? no, there were no butterbeans in that era. you got into the ring for a 15 round contest, you needed to be in better shape than todays fatboys.

 

also butterbean would be a top contender for being vastly more intelligent than the person whostarted this thread.

 

Lets be serious for a minute here. As bad as I think todays era is Butterbean would never be a contender in this or any other era. He was beat by a 100 year old statue of of Larry Holmes and would be outworked by contenders in every era. He might find an occasional win by ko against an unprepared opponent, but he'd never be considered a serious contender. To slow, to crude and to little stamina.

 

Tony Galento would like to have a word with you.

 

We are talking about Prime Butterbean. Not the shot, out of shape, disinterested guy who showed up to collect a payday from a rejuvenated Larry Holmes.

 

Galento was never the slob Butterbean was and could go 15 rounds as well as having power. He was crude and unsightly, but he was in shape. There is a reason Butterbean never transitioned past being a 4 round fighter.

 

Well than someone should have specified that than! This changes everything.

 

Galento, who claimed to be 5'9 (177 cm) tall, liked to weigh in at about 235 lb (107 kg) for his matches. He achieved this level of fitness by eating whatever, whenever he wanted. A typical meal for Galento consisted of six chickens, a side of spaghetti, all washed down with a half gallon of red wine, or beer, or both at one sitting. When he did go to training camp, he foiled his trainer's attempts to modify his diet, and terrorized his sparring partners by eating their meals in addition to his.
He was reputed to train on beer, and allegedly ate 52 hot dogs on a bet before facing heavyweight Arthur DeKuh. Galento was supposedly so bloated before the fight that the waist line of his trunks had to be slit for him to fit into them. Galento claimed that he was sluggish from the effects of eating all those hot dogs, and that he could not move for three rounds. Nevertheless, Galento knocked out the 6'3" (192 cm) DeKuh with one punch, a left hook, in the fourth round.

Sounds like an outstanding athlete with a great work ethic/training habits.

 

word with YOU, more like. TG is nowhere near Butterface.

"reputed""claimed""supposedly"


look up the meaning of these words next time you try to claim facts.

but for now, you flop.

 

Opposite.

VS 30's-40s fighters he'd mow em down with his size and chin.

Vs modern fighters, he'd be jabbed until he was bloodied and stopped.:-(

 

You can't really compare Galento to Butterbean. Galento weighed between 214lbs to 247lbs, Butterbean weighed between 302lbs and 426.5lbs. Butterbean was usually about 100lbs heavier than Galento.

Galento also started boxing at 16 as an amateur. Butterbean turned pro at 30 having fought for a few years in toughman tournaments. The difference in experience and quality of opponents was considerable.

 

Yet Galento actually fought rated fighters and proved he could go fifteen rounds, and did so in an era that wasnt watered down with multiple titles. Yeah, they have so much in common.