Would Zyglewicz matches up better against Jimmy Ellis? They were supposed to fight originally but ellis declined so ziggy fought frazier.
I'll jump on this one because I think Zyglewicz gets a bad rap for the Frazier fight. He fought Frazier with the best strategy he could've. Went straight at him fearlessly and threw his hardest shots immediately and hoped to catch him cold or get in first with a bomb. What else should he have done? He wasn't winning a war of attrition as the smaller and less experienced fighter and he was not gifted with foot speed or great counterpunching skills. Took his shot, landed some hard blows and got kayoed without a prolonged beating. No question he looks much better with Ellis as he would've been a dangerous punching chaser to Ellis' matador. Maybe made it to Round 9 or 10 before wearing down or getting cut and stopped. Probably a better fighter than he gets credit for being.
Good plan. Didn’t work. I agree he took his best shot, much like the other McNeely (Peter) vs. Tyson coming out swinging for the fences, but that doesn’t really make him a better fighter than he was. If Ziggy had anything to offer, we really never saw it because he didn’t fight anyone of note outside of Smoking Joe … and hardly distinguished himself in his wins over hand-picked opponents. His best wins were probably over Willie Besmanoff and Sonny Moore, who were a combined 70-59-10 and coming off multiple losses. He also lost to a 6-7 guy by decision. Frazier did it in decidedly more punishing fashion than Ellis would have, but there’s nothing to suggest that Jimmy wouldn’t have boxed his ears off before stopping him.
Yea, Saintpat, he wouldnt have ever caught up to the slippery Ellis and he wouldn't likely have won more than a round, maybe two. But he would've gotten more espect for grit and determination for that losing performance than the 90 some second ko loss. I like him just for how he came back from that should-have-been-fatal smokestack accident to actually fight again and win a last going out comeback fight. Understand he was a well loved figure in his community in NY where he owned a bar before he passed recently.
I agree there’s no shame in his career, nothing for which anyone should mock him or snicker about, but he was probably a journeyman-level fighter who had good enough backing to always be on the A side (except against Joe) so his record reflects him to be better than he was had he fought tougher opposition. But he got a shot at the title, something few attain, and he took his shot. If I had happened into his bar, I’d drink to that, so to speak.
I suppose he’d last longer against Ellis than he did Frazier but the same could be said for literally thousands of fighters who would last longer against Ellis than Frazier.
