Very close fight, I think Zora's intelligence exceeds Tubbs' speed and Zora would make the decision Very close fight!!!!!
Im not overly confident picking one over the other. Both were exceptionally good boxers. Both also had shaky chins but neither had much power to hurt the other with. Im thinking a close decision one way or the other
Do not forget that Zora Folley decisioned Oscar Bonavena on Feb 26 1965, which means Zora could take a punch.
i think Tubbs at his best, which, granted, wasnt very often has the size, speed, skills and enough power to negate the smaller Folley and win a decision
Absolutely. And I also haven’t forgotten that Tony tubbs won a decision over Bonecrusher smith in 1985 as well as gone many rounds with Tim Witherspoon in 1986 and Riddick Bowe in 1991. But his chin is still not totally trustworthy to me
On an unrelated note, Zora Folley is underrated. He fought in close to a hundred professional bouts. He was ranked in ring magazine’s top ten for eleven consecutive years , and for several of those years was in their top three. He also defeated a long list of quality opponents and fought well into old age. His questionable durability is one of the things that let him down from time to time but despite that I would still say that he was an extremely talented boxer.
Foley was knocked out by Johnny Sunderlin a 195 pound fighter. Foley was a 190 or so pound fighter most of his career. Tubbs on the other hand was a much bigger fighter. Tubbs probably was drugs. A in shape none drugged out Tubbs would easily beat Foley and stopped him.
Agreed. I like watching Folley for his cool, patience and technical proficiencies all apparently modelled on his idol Joe Louis. As to power, I think Folley could punch when inclined - though ultimately KO’d, after being dropped in the first, Zora apparently backed Liston up with a two fisted attack in the 2nd rd. No mean feat. He also tagged Bonavena with a beautiful right hand on the bell and literally caught Oscar and stopped him from falling - Oscar shakily headed back to his corner still shaking the cob webs out of his head. An extraordinarily humane act on Zora’s part but then his overall mental make up wasn’t typical of your average fighter. i don’t know what more to say about it but I still find the KDs suffered against Ali to be among the strangest I’ve ever seen. He dropped dead from punches that didn’t appear to warrant such an absolute result only to wake up all of the sudden and jump up from the canvas - though the 2nd and final KD he didn’t have his legs under him but his head seemed clear. Until then he had given the extravagantly mobile Ali some nice stiff textbook punches to be getting on with.
And Zora Folley did not get a title shot until March 22 1967 when champion Muhammad Ali gave him a long awaited title shot at the age of 34. Ali stopped the WBA no.1 ranked challenger in round 7.
Agree. Folley probably should have gotten a shot at Floyd Patterson many years earlier. His one and only world title bout against Ali was more than well earned. And he didn’t get it through crafty promoting or the workings of an over zealous media either. He did it by going to work day after day and year after year. In contrast, Tony Tubbs received a title fight in his 21st pro bout and another in his 26th. This despite the fact that he hadn’t beaten more than perhaps two notable opponents in his career and a rather short time in the ratings
Folley was near 36, & Ali afterwards Alo consoled his crying son by saying the result might have been different if he was his Da's age!
I think that if FOLLEY was able to annoy ALI in some moments, he can do the same with TUBBS, who is slower with his hands, feet, reflexes and more hittable than ALI. I'm going with FOLLEY but he can win anyone, great fight.
