Joey fought everyone in his era...in a talent deep division. With over a hundred fights, never ducking anyone...Was he the last 'old school' fighter?
No, there were a few others who came after Giardello who I would consider to be "old school". Emile Griffith,Roberto Duran,Julio Caesar Chavez were a few who were "old school" types with over a 100 career fights and alot of big names on their resume.
................I had never seen him before a couple months ago, when I got his third and fourth fights with Dick Tiger. He got solidly whipped by Tiger in the fourth fight, but was outstanding, boxed marvelously in the third bout. One of the better displays I've seen. He's one of the more interesting fighters of that period to me. Very learned, very tough guy who boxed like a dream.
There's nothing old school about Toney other than his technique imo. No i would not say Giardello was the last old school fighter, especially if your opinion of old school is more toward simply not ducking anyone.
Hm, does anybody know if there are films of Giardello-Müller I and II? Müller was the second best German mw then but lost every fight to Bubi Scholz who was the best at this time. He had two fights with Joey, winning and losing one but I don´t know much about these with the exception of the outcome.
Iv'e allways taken Old School to mean ability in some of the subtle lost arts of boxing ,that are rarely seen today ,the shoulder feints ,,countering off the ropes etc in that respect I think Toney fits the bill,he maybe a less than dedicated trainer,but then that could often be said of Giardello.Duran is a standout in this imo.
