# The CHB Encyclopedia of Boxing



## Mandanda (Jun 2, 2012)

Celebrate fighters from past and present, to historic arena's and even famed promoters. All from your perspective. Ignite debate with your views, as well as wow the masses with your knowledge.

Feel free to use, quote's, articles, printscreens, video's and GIF's.

This is a great resource for the forum but mainly for people who may need schooling on a fighter or fighters. Your hard work and effort can go a long way to boosting another fans knowledge and thus bettering this forum.

Look forward to your work :good

Kind Regards,
Mand'.

*Glossary*
_DrMO: Lost Generation Heavyweights 1982-1989 (Dokes/Witherspoon/Thomas)_
http://checkhookboxing.com/showthre...clopedia-of-Boxing&p=2794&viewfull=1#post2794
_Lost Generation Heavyweights 1982-1989 Continued (Greg Page/Tucker/Dokes)_
http://checkhookboxing.com/showthre...clopedia-of-Boxing&p=2796&viewfull=1#post2796

_Vano Irons: Jimmy Wilde_
http://checkhookboxing.com/showthre...clopedia-of-Boxing&p=3084&viewfull=1#post3084

_Wallet: 'Smokin' Joe Frazier_
http://checkhookboxing.com/showthre...clopedia-of-Boxing&p=3158&viewfull=1#post3158

_Wallet: Sergio 'Maravilla' Martinez _
http://checkhookboxing.com/showthre...clopedia-of-Boxing&p=3181&viewfull=1#post3181

_Vano Irons: Ezzard 'The Cincinnati Cobra' Charles _
http://checkhookboxing.com/showthre...clopedia-of-Boxing&p=3187&viewfull=1#post3187


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## doug.ie (Jun 3, 2012)

so...can we post paragraphs along the lines of 'did you know that....' or does it have to be full articles ??....i.e. can it just be interesting snippets too ??

example of what i mean....if i posted this...

.......................


Joe Jeanette's most memorable fight occurred on April 17, 1909 in a return bout with Sam McVey in Paris, France that lasted three-and-a-half-hours, and 49 rounds, the longest boxing match of the 20th century, and one of the greatest marathons in boxing history. Although McVey began the fight strong and looked like a sure winner, knocking down the usually sturdy Jeannette 27 times, and almost knocking him out in the 16th round with a right uppercut to Jeanette’s jaw, he weakened greatly by the 19th round. Jeanette took control, knocking down McVey, a boxer (who had only been stopped once in his career, by Johnson), 19 times. After the 49th round, McVey could not rise from his stool at the call of time and Jeannette was declared winner on a technical knockout. This won him the "World Colored Heavyweight Championship," as Jack Johnson had defeated Tommy Burns for his heavyweight title the previous December.


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## JamieC (Jun 2, 2012)

Would be best if it was full articles mate, I'll get one up in a bit, I don't want to commit plagiarism but do we think we should get the whole lot over if you know what I mean


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## Mandanda (Jun 2, 2012)

doug.ie said:


> so...can we post paragraphs along the lines of 'did you know that....' or does it have to be full articles ??....i.e. can it just be interesting snippets too ??
> 
> example of what i mean....if i posted this...
> 
> ...


Do you remember the one on ESB? it's exactly like that. Just seeing as this is new home of boxing might as well do a new thread.

People can C&P there work from ESB into this one, even better it etc.


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## doug.ie (Jun 3, 2012)

Mandanda said:


> Do you remember the one on ESB?


where??


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## Mandanda (Jun 2, 2012)

doug.ie said:


> where??


:lol :good


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Yeah, it's a synopsis of any given fighter Doug. Jamie did a good one on your man Khaosai :good


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## DrMo (Jun 6, 2012)

*The Lost Generation*
_Heavyweights 1982-1989_​
The period in between the dominant championship reigns of Holmes & Tyson saw several, highly talented fighters win a world title but none of them ever achieved their full potential. These 6 fighters; Dokes, Witherspoon, Thomas, Page, Tubbs & Tucker were all born within a year of each other & would between them win all 3 major belts. The 1980's was a time of excess & this motley crew of talented fighters partied harder than any other generation.

*Teddy Atlas* "The problem with those guys is they had no personal discipline, no work ethic. It wasn't about a lack of talent. They lacked consistency, dedication, commitment, the right mentality."

*Manny Steward *""It was an era of guys who had some of the worst work ethic ever in boxing. It's an era where I can't really remember who beat who. They can blame Don King but he kept getting them all titles shots and rematches. He didn't stop them from training. They stopped themselves."

In the 1980's Don King held a powerful grip on the heavyweight division & there were shady deals, dodgy scorecards & legal disputes galore. There has never been a time in boxing when so many talented guys won titles & then self-destructed in an endless orgy of drugs, drink & women.

1/6

Michael "Dynamite" Dokes
_WBA Heavyweight champion 1982-1983

_​
Record: 53(34)-6(5)-2
Born: Akron, Ohio 10/8/1958
Height: 6'3
Reach: 78"
Favourite past time: Massive cocaine binges

Michael "Dynamite" Dokes was an exciting fighter, he could box, he could move & he had some of the fastest hands the division has ever seen. He also had a decent chin, a big heart & a fierce fighting spirit, all the ingredients to make an excellent champion.

Michael began boxing at the age of 11 & was a prodigious talent. After lying about his age he reached the national Golden Gloves final at only 15. At 17 he lost to Cuban great Teofilo Stevenson 3-2 in the finals of the the Pan-American games. Dokes beat future world champs John Tate & Greg Page on his way to winning the national Golden Gloves in 1976 & he turned pro soon after.

With Don King in his corner Dokes had a good start to his pro career, picking up wins over Jimmy Young, Ossie Ocasio & Jon Lewis Gardner.






He rose rapidly up the rankings & in 1982 he faced Mike "Hercules" Weaver for the WBA title. Dokes was razor-sharp & jumped all over Weaver, dropping him heavily then trapping him on the ropes for several unanswered flurries. The bout was controversially stopped in the 1st round & Dokes became the new champ.






An immediate rematch followed & Dokes turned up heavier & looking much softer than their 1st bout, there were rumours about his lack of training & over-indulging. The rematch took place under the hot sun in Vegas & it was an unrelenting 15 round war in which momentum ebbed & flowed after a strong start by Dokes. Many observers felt Weaver had done enough to win but the judges ruled the fight a draw & Dokes retained his title.






In his next defense Dokes fought the power-punching Gerrie Coetzee whilst under the influence of cocaine & was brutally knocked out in the 10th. Don King walked over the semi-conscious Dokes (who was laid out on the canvas) to congratulate the new champion & Michael was never the same fighter again. His life quickly spiralled out of control as his cocaine addiction overwhelmed him.






2/6

Terrible Tim Witherspoon
WBC heavyweight champion 1984
​
Record: 55(38 )-13(4)-1 
Born: Philadephia 27/12/1957
Height: 6'3
Reach: 78"
Favourite past time: Being a lazy stoner

Terrible Tim Witherspoon was big & tough, an athletic switch-hitting boxer-puncher with power in both hands & an effective cross-armed defence. Of all the lost generation he fucked up the least & probably achieved the most.

'Spoon played a lot of high-school football & didnt start boxing until he was 19. After only 9 amatuer fights he turned pro & quickly found employment as a sparring partner for Muhammed Ali. After a series of good performance he was signed up by Don King a steered towards a title.

In 1982 he beat the perennial contender Renaldo Snipes to earn a 1983 shot at the unbeaten heavyweight king, Larry Holmes. 'Spoon shocked the boxing world by the level of his performance, pushing Holmes to the brink in a thrilling fight which the champion was awarded by a razor-close split decision.

Despite the loss, the young Witherspoon's stock had risen & after a couple more wins he earned a second shot at the title. Holmes had vacated the WBC belt rather than face challenger Greg Page & so 'Spoon stepped in & in 1984 he prevailed in a very hard fought war of attrition to become the new WBC world champ. The critics predicted a bright future for Tim but it wasnt to be.






Terrible Tim wouldnt have the title for long. In his next fight he face the unbeaten Pinklon Thomas & 'Spoon started strongly but was breathing hard by the 3rd round. The tough Thomas seemed immune to Spoons power & he controlled the fight with his powerful jab. After 12 entertaining rounds Thomas won on points to become the new WBC champ.






3/6

Pinklon "Pink" Thomas
WBC heavyweight champion 1984-1986​
Record: 43(34)-7(5)-1
Born: Pontiac, Michigan 10/2/1958
Height: 6'3
Reach: 77"
Favourite past time: Shooting up heroin

Pink was a tough guy with a great chin & one of the best jabs in the divisions history. A left-handed orthodox boxer who was trained by the legendary Angelo Dundee he had a lot of potential but sadly never made the most of his considerable talents.

Pinklon grew up on the mean streets of Pontiac & his childhood was a nightmarish start in the world. He 1st tried heroin at 12 & was a full-blown addict at 14. By 16 he had been a pimp & done armed robberies but after stepping into a gym he began to turn his life around.






He turned pro after only 3 amatuer fights & steadily built up a solid record, including a draw with Coetzee & a win over James Tillis. After beating Witherspoon he defended his title against Mike "Hercules" Weaver. In their entertaining 1985 fight Thomas looked excellent as he dropped Weaver in the 1st round & then knocked him out with a beautiful right hand in the 8th.






Pinklon lost the title in his next fight against Berbick in 1986 as drink & drugs began to take over his life once again. He would never become world champion again. He fought again for a world title, in 1987 against Tyson but was stopped in 6 rounds & suffered the only knockdown of his career. In his next fight against Holyfield he was retired by his corner & developed a full-time crack habit. These days he's a councillor & born-again Christian.


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## DrMo (Jun 6, 2012)

4/6 
Greg Page
WBA Heavyweight champion 1984-1985
​
Record: 58 (48 )-17(6)-1
Born: Louisville, Kentucky 25/10/1958
Died: Louisville, Kentucky 27/4/2009
Height: 6'2
Reach: 81"
Favourite past time: Everything but training

Of all the Lost Generation Page was perhaps the most talented & certainly the most tragic. Coming from the same town as Ali the comparison's were inevitable. Greg Page had a loose-limbed & elusive style, he could float around the ring & he had quick hands & decent power. Sadly the "New Ali" imploded like so many of his peers & he ended up suffering terrible injuries before his death at the age of 50.

Page was a successful amatuer & after winning several national tournaments he turned pro in 1979. He started his pro career with an impressive string of victories which left the boxing scribes drooling at what he might achieve. Here he is knocking out the experienced Alfredo Evangelista in 2 rounds.






After beating Jimmy Young in 1982 Page lost for the 1st time against Berbick, after breaking his right thumb in the 2nd Page lost a decision over 10 rounds. Greg's weight fluctuated as he partied more than he trained but he managed to beat Tillis & Snipes & earn a #1 rating with the WBC. The champion Larry Holmes turned down an offer to fight Page & so Greg fought Tim Witherspoon for the vacant belt. After disagreeing with Don King over money Page went on strike in the gym & refused to train. Weighing at almost 240lbs Page lost on points & fired his long-time trainer after the fight.

In his next fight Page turned up in better shape but lost to the unbeaten & #6 ranked David Bay on points. Bay refused to travel to South Africa to face the WBA champion Gerrie Coetzee but Page jumped at the opportunity. Coetzee was heavily favoured to win but Page finally put in a career-best performance & he fought magnificently. In a great fight Page shook off heavy bombs from the hard-hitting Coetzee & was able to outbox & outpunch the champion. After a sensational 7th round Page knocked Coetzee clean out with a left hook to become the new WBA champ.






Having finally won a world title Page followed the same road as his peers as promptly lost it in his next fight. In 1985 he faced the unbeaten Tony Tubbs & although the fight had few fireworks it was a technical boxing match of fencing jabs & counters. Tubbs was the underdog & 10lbs lighter than the soft looking Page, his extra mobility & conditioning helped him ease away in the final 6 rounds to win a UD over 15 & become the new WBA champ.






After this loss Page began a dizzy downward spiral & he never fought for a title again. He was a long-term sparring partner for Tyson & he fought on for years. In his final bout in 2001 he was brutally knocked out & suffered a serious brain-injury which brought on numerous other medical problems. He never fully recovered & died aged 50 in 2009.

5/6 
Tony "TNT" Tubbs 
WBA heavyweight champion 1985-1986
​
Record: 47 (35)- 10 (5) 
Born: Cincinnati, Ohio 15/2/1958
Height: 6'3
Reach: 79"
Favourite past time: Eating junk food & snorting coke

Tony "TNT" Tubbs was a smart, talented boxer with quick hands & an elusive slick style. Tubbs was an accomplished amatuer who had over 250 fights & won national & world cup competitions. He would have gone to the 1980 olympics but the US boycotted the games, Tubbs had a lucky escape when he missed a flight in 1980 which contained several of his amateur team-mates & coaches, the plane crashed & killed 87 people.

Tony turned pro in 1980 & had a promosing start to his career. In 1983 he outpointed Jimmy Young & was signed up by Don King. Rising up the rankings he beat Bonecrusher Smith to earn his successful title shot at Greg Page. The predictable followed, Tubbs went out partying & turned up 20lbs overweight for his 1st defense against a fleshy looking Tim Witherspoon. In a poor fight 'Spoon was awarded a close decision but tested positive for weed in his post-fight drug test, a rematch was ordered but Tubbs withdrew injured & went off the rails.

Tubbs took on Tyson for all the belts in 1988 but was knocked out in 2, he never fought for the title again. Tubbs has been a sparring partner for many top fighters & had his final fight in 2006. He has been to jail several times for drug related offences & non-payment of child support for his 16 kids.

Terrible Tim Witherspoon
WBA heavyweight champion 1986
​After losing his WBC belt to Thomas Tim had put in some good performances, stopping US champ James Broad in 2 rounds & then dominating Boncrusher Smith for 12 rounds. After beating Tubbs 'Spoon became only the 3rd man in history to win 2 world titles & for his 1st defence he travelled to England to take on the hugely popular Frank Bruno in Wembley stadium.

In an entertaining fight Bruno started well but the durable Witherspoon came on strong & stopped the brave Bruno in the 11th round of a scheduled 15 round fight. Bruno earned £1m for his efforts, Witherspoon was due the same but was only paid $90k by his promoter Don King.






Furious about the financial situation 'Spoon was poorly prepared for his next fight, a rematch with Boncrusher Smith with the winner lined up for a hugely lucrative fight against the youngest champ in history, Mike Tyson. Though a heavy favourite 'Spoon wasnt fully focused but the dangerous Bonecrusher was fired up. Their 1986 fight was a crazy, action packed 1 round brawl. 'Spoon had never been knocked down before but he was floored 3 times & lost the title in a wild fight.






Post fight 'Spoon failed another drug test & sued Don King for his lost purse against Bruno. King settled out of court for $1m but Witherspoon was never given another title shot. For the remainder of the 80's he was reduced to fighting infrequently & at a low level.

6/6 
Tony "TNT" Tucker
IBF heavyweight world champion 1987​
Record: 57(47)-7(3)-0
Born: Grand Rapids, Michigan 27/12/1958
Height: 6'5
Reach: 81"
Favourite past time: Smoking crack

Tony "TNT" Tucker was a big, powerful man with a great chin & a decent skill set. He was another talented guy with great potential whose career was ruined by drugs.

Tucker was a successful amatuer, in 1979 he won the light-heavyweight national, world-cup & Pan-Am games. He turned pro in 1980 but made slow progress, he was frequently injured & regularly changed trainers & managers. Eventually he hooked up with Emmanuel Steward & after beating a Eddie "The Animal" Lopez, Jimmy Young & the rated James Broad he got his title shot.

In 1987 he fought Buster Douglas for the vacant IBF title & it was a close, competitive bout between 2 big, skilled operators. As Douglas tired Tucker hurt him with several big shots & won via TKO in the 10th.






Next up for Tucker was the unbeaten Mike Tyson & even though Tucker had injured his right hand in sparring Tucker rocked Tyson with a big uppercut early on & managed to survive for 12 rounds. After losing Tucker dissappeared from the ring for almost 2years as he battled with drug addiction. Tucker held the title for a little over 2 months, the shortest reign in history.

Michael "Dynamite" Dokes​
After losing his title in devastating fashion in 1983 Dokes had drifted away from the sport & after 1985 he was away from the ring for 2 1/2 years. His cocaine abuse was at almost unbelievable levels, he admitted to buying kilos at a time & had several brushes with the law. In 1987 he was out of rehab, clean & sober & ready to have one more shot. After winning 7 fights in 1988 he was awarded the Ring magazine comeback of the year.

In 1989 Dokes took on the unbeaten former cruiserweight king Evander Holyfield & the fight turned into an epic war. It is widely considered the finest heavyweight fight of the 1980's & is a must-watch if you havent seen it before. Holyfield finally prevailed in the 10th round of an awesome fight.






Dokes fought on but was demolished in 4 by Razor Ruddock & in his final title fight in 1993 Bowe ruined him in the 1st round. In 1999 Dokes was sent to prison for a very nasty assault on his girlfriend & he was released on parole in 2008, he is currently battling liver cancer.


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## Vano-irons (Jun 6, 2012)

Name: Jimmy Wilde

Date: 12 / 5 / 1892 - 10 / 3 / 1969

Weight: Flyweight

Height: 5′ 2½″/ 159cm

Reach: 66″ / 168cm

Boxing Record: 134 (100) - 4 (3) - 2 (Newspaper Decisions 4-1-0)

Born in Wales in 1892 to the son of a coal miner, Jimmy Wilde, aka 'the mighty atom', started boxing at the age of 16 in local fair grounds where he would challenge local hard men in order to make ends meat. The onlooking crowds gasped in amazement as Wilde took on, and beat, all comers regardless of their size and weight, often scoring knockouts against men twice his size.

Officially, Wilde turned professional in December 1910, where the young Welshman fought a no contest with Les Williams in Pontypridd. This somewhat medicore start was not, however, a sign of things to come as 'little Jimmy' embarked on a 103 unbeaten run, seeing him capture the British 7 stone championship with an eighth round KO of Billy Padden, a relitive novice from Glasgow.

Wilde's impressive winning streak came to an end, however, when he challenged Tancy Lee for the vacant European Flyweight Title. Wilde, outweighed officially by almost a stone, was finally stopped in the 17th round (of twenty) after his corner stopped the bout. What is intresting to note, however, is that a week before the bout, Jimmy Wilde came down with the flu, and was even physically sick moments before the fight. A brief clip can be seen here:






Wilde, seemingly aggravated by his first professional loss, then embarked on a brutal 16 fight KO winning streak, winning the British Flyweight title against Joe Symonds (58-9-5), stopping him in the twelfth.






Just three fights later, Wilde would win the IBU 'World' Flyweight title, defeating Johnny Rosner in the 11th. (The IBU, while claiming to be a world organisation, was only recognised in Europe.) This run also saw Wilde stop Sid Smith, a veteran of almost 80 fights.

Feeling unbeatable, Wilde fought twice on the 13th May 1916, defeating both Joe Magnus and ****** Saunders in less than five rounds apiece at the Woolwich Dockyard. On the 26th June of that year, Wilde would avenge his only loss to date, stopping Trancy Lee in the 11th.

Later that year, 'The Mighty Atom' officially became the first World Flyweight Champion by stopping the colourfully named Young Zulu Kid in the 11th. The fight, scheduled for 20, came to an end just after the half way mark when Wilde landed a crushing left to the jaw of 'the Kid', causing the American's corner to throw in the towel. Just three months later, Wilde would unify the World title with the British and European titles, stopping George Clark in four.

Jimmy Wilde continued winning until the 12th December 1918, when he was defeated by the then Bantamweight World Champion Memphis Moore (54-6-13), an opponent who was rumoured to outweigh Wilde by 14 pound on fight night. Like his first defeat against Lee, Wilde, somewhat dubiously, won the rematch against Moore, defeating the American on points over twenty rounds. In 1920, Wilde also defeated the likes of Frankie Mason (62-5-11), Battling Al Murray (26-4), and Patsy Wallace in a bout which drew the then largest crowd in Canadian boxing history.

Wilde's career was to end with dissapointing back to back defeats. In 1921 he was knocked out by Pete Herman (49-9-6) in the 17th and, after a two year retirement, lost to Pancho Vella (62-4-3), the Pilipino all time great, via a 7th round stoppage, sending the Welshmen into retirement for the final time.






Notice how Wilde badly stuns Villa early on.

Jimmy Wilde's record, however, doesn't do him justice. While finishing with a record of 137-4-2 with 100 knockouts, Wilde himself claimed to have fought over 800 times, winning the majority. Wilde's knock out ratio suggests he was an all action slugger who threw bombs in an attempt to knock his opponent out. This, however, wasn't the case, as Wilde was a master of defence, often making opponents look foolish by weaving onslaughts and poping out the jab with a smile on his face. One expert referred to him as 'A ghost with a hammer in his hand'. Wilde's Boxrec records also do not do him justice. Many of his opponents, particularly in his early years, are shown to have very few fights. This, however, is misleading, as the lower weights at the time were very rarely covered during this period of British boxing.

In 1990, Wilde was elected into the Boxing Hall of Fame and, two years later, was voted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame. A decade later, Ring Magazine voted Wilde as the 3rd greatest puncher of all time, behind the great Joe Louis and equally great Sam Langford.

Jimmy Wilde died as a result of injuries sustained in a mugging in 1969.

For me, Jimmy Wilde was not only the greatest Flyweight of all time and the greatest British boxer of all time, he was also pound for pound the hardest puncher the sport has ever known. A nice tribute to the Mighty Atom can been seen here:


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

I'd better do Canto now...


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## doug.ie (Jun 3, 2012)

Excellent stuff this


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## Wallet (May 31, 2012)

*Name:* Joe Frazier
*Nickname*: Smokin' Joe










*Height:* 5 ft. 11.5 in. (182 cm.)

*Birth:* January 12, 1944

*Boxing record*
*Total fights* 37
*Wins* 32
*KO's *27
*Losses *4 (3)
*Draws *1
*No contests* 0

*Amateur*: At the 1964 Tokyo Olympic games Frazier brought home the USA's only Boxing gold medal. Frazier had no business winning a gold medal in the 1964 Olympics. He had been beaten in the Olympic trials by Buster Mathis, a fighter with a far better amateur record. But Mathis broke his thumb while training for the Olympics and Frazier got his chance. It was ironic because in the Olympic semi-finals, Joe Frazier broke his own thumb. But "Smokin' Joe" Frazier was not a man to be denied. He had the thumb taped, basically fought with one hand in the finals and won the gold medal. It was typical of this gutsy fighter.

*Cloverlay*: Following his 4th pro fight, Yank Durham, Joe Frazier's Manager/Trainer, agreed sponsorship of Frazier with a Group of Philadelphians. A mix of teachers, clergy, bankers and clerks. One notable sponsor was now HBO analyst, Larry Merchant. This arrangement was similar to that of Ali's with the Louisville Sponsoring Group.

80 shares were offered @ $250.00 each.
In turn, they shared in 35% of Joe Fraziers fight purse.
Joe Frazier got 50% of the fight purse.
Plus $100.00/week salary.

After 6-months, Joe Frazier got a raise from $100/Week to $173/Week. By November 1967 it consisted of 231 Shareholders, and had a Net Worth of $468,350. Yank Durham, Joe Frazier's Manager/Trainer got 15% of the Fight Purse.

The Cloverlay, Inc. contract, which started on 1/1/66 ended on December 15, 1974, when Joe Frazier bought out the shareholders for approximately $14,500 per share. In January 1973 Cloverlay's net value was $1,200,000.

*Road to Champion*: Frazier's professional career did not start as well as he may have hoped. In just his second fight he was knocked down by 5 fight novice Mike Bruce however he went on to score a 3rd round knockout of Bruce. Frazier went on to extend his run of stoppages to 11 until he met tough Argentine Oscar Bonavena. Joe was knocked down twice in the 2nd round en route to a disputed Majority Decision at Madison Square Garden.

In Frazier's 17th bout in July '67 came his most impressive victory date. Smokin' Joe was the first man to stop the Iron Jawed Canadian who had previously gone the distance with Ali. Frazier fractured George Chuvalo's orbit (the bone under George's eye) so badly that Chuvalo needed reconstructive surgery to correct the injury as his eye partially dropped into the fault line fracture.






*Heavyweight Champion of the World*: In March 1968 Frazier fought for a version of the Heavyweight title. Following Ali being stripped of the title, Joe fought for the Vacant NYSAC World title. His opponent was the man who previously beaten him in the Olympic Trials, Buster Mathis. Frazier started well in the first but in the following rounds Mathis took control of the bout "keeping Joe off balance with accurate sharp jabs, and stinging right hands to the head". 7 through 10 saw Mathis start to tire and was forced to stand and trade with Joe at times. Mathis had previously never gone past Round 7. After rounds of relentless pressure from Frazier he caught Mathis with a huge signature left hand and Mathis was in no state to continue despite getting to his feet.






In his second defence Frazier handed former foe Oscar Bonavena a rematch following their close fight 2 years previously. This time Frazier won a clearer unanimous decision. In his fourth defence Smokin' Joe beat Jerry Quarry in the 1969 Fight of the Year. The bout was non stop action, a real heavyweight slugfest. As the bout wore on, Quarry was cut and he was getting staggered by Frazier's famous left hook. It ended in seven. Quarry had a severe cut and at this point Frazier had taken command in the gruelling bout.

Two years later after stoppage wins over Jimmy Ellis and Bob Foster, Frazier finally met with Muhammad Ali in Maddison Square Garden. The fight was given the promotional nickname "The Fight of the Century". This was the first fight where both the Heavyweight champion and challenger entered the fight unbeaten and both men were guaranteed $2.5m, a record in itself. More about the fight earlier in the thread here.

After further stoppage defences against Terry Daniels and Ron Stander, Frazier met another unbeaten American. This time it was George Foreman in Kingston, Jamaica. In a fight in which they both wore eight-ounce gloves, Frazier was knocked down three times in the first round, and three times in the second round before the Referee waved him off and stopped the bout to protect him from further punishment. The bout was awarded the Fight of the Year for 1973.






*Comeback*: Frazier returned 6 months later against British heavyweight Joe Bugner at the Earls Court in a non-title fight. Frazier won via decision with Bugner touching down in the 10th round.

In January of 1974 Frazier met Muhammad Ali for the second time. the fight was considered by many fans and experts the most insignificant and boring fight of their rivalry. But this does not mean the fight itself was insignificant or boring; quite the contrary: Ali wanted to avenge his loss to Frazier in their first fight, and a world title try at Heavyweight Champion George Foreman, who had dethroned Frazier, was at stake. Muhammad Ali was awarded a unanimous decision over Joe Frazier. Judge Jack Gordon scored the fight 8-4, judge Tony Castellano scored it 7-4-1, and referee Tony Perez had it 6-5-1. Their first and third fights became part of boxing's lore, but most viewers considered the second fight to be entertaining as well.

After his second defeat, Joe faced previous opponents Jerry Quarry and Jimmy Ellis. Repeating his stoppage victories in the 5th and 9th round respectively.

Then came the finale of the Ali-Frazier trilogy, the Thrilla in Manila. The fight was the 1975 Ring Magazine Fight of the Year and once named The Ring magazine's #1 Fight of All Time. If you haven't watched it, _watch it_.






Frazier attempted to redeem his first loss to George Foreman in his next bout. However, he was again unsuccessful as he was this time stopped in the 5th round. Joe then entered retirement before a brief comeback five years later in which he drew with Floyd Cummings.

*Style*: Frazier was a strong, "swarmer" style boxer who applied great pressure on his opponent and dealt out tremendous punishment with a relentless attack of lefts and rights; His left hook was especially stiff and quick when delivered during his bob-and-weave perpetual attack; He fought three minutes per round and never seemed to tire; He could take punishment too and not be bothered.

















*Legacy*

-3 time Ring Fighter of the Year ('67, '70, '71)
-ESB #10 Heavyweight of All time
-Inductee of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
- Ring 39th Biggest Puncher of All time.
- Ring #42 from 1922-2002.

*Joe Frazier: When The Smoke Clears*


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## Vano-irons (Jun 6, 2012)

Flea Man said:


> I'd better do Canto now...


you could always just re-read by Wilde post. Why bother with number 2 in a division when you have the GOAT already written?


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## Wallet (May 31, 2012)

*Name:* Sergio Gabriel Martinez
*Nickname:* Maravilla
*Height:* 5' 10 / 178cm
*Reach:* 75" / 191cm

*Boxing Record*
*Total fights* 51
*Wins* 47 
*KO's* 26
*Losses* 2(1)
*Draws* 2

*Early life*
Sergio Martinez didn't pull on a pair of Boxing gloves until he was age 20, despite having two uncles who had Boxing experience (one a pro). Before then he had targeted careers in both Cycling and Football. He was obviously a natural athlete and had trials with Argentinian first division team 'Los Andes'. 
His affair with Boxing started when while training, someone suggested trying Boxing as a means of improving his fitness levels.	After that he fell in love, just 1 month later he had his first amateur fight. After 18 months of being an amateur he had 41 fights, going 39-2. He was a 2-time Argentine Champion as well as 'Inter Continental Champion'. In 1997 he participated in the World Amateur Championships alonside Omar Narvaez and Javier Alvarez. It was during his amateur career that a local boxing journalest wrote that the fighter "Is a Maravilla", a Marvel in English.

*Professional*
In late 1997, Sergio made the decision not to wait for the 2000 Olympic games but to turn pro. In his first 17 fights, all in the Buenos Aires area, he won 16 and drew 1. Following this came his first big test. On the undercard of Morales-Barrera I, he fought the more experienced Mexican bull, Antonio Margarito. Margarito's record was not as impressive but he had boxed at a higher level than Martinez. Sergio was overwelmed by the bigger man, and just before the final bell of the 7th round, Joe Cortez stopped the bout.






Following his first defeat his financial backers and the Argentine Boxing officials abandonded him. This was probably the lowest time in his career and to make it worse he was out for 11 months after he suffered a recurrance of a hand injury. He claimed this affected the power of his left hand (more on this later). One doctor suggested he even pursued a different profession. Apparently, to today he still appears to be missing 1 knuckle. He had 8 more fights in Argentina, winning the national Welterweight title.

*Spain*
In search of a fresh start Martinez headed to Madrid, Spain. Unfortunately things didn't start well in Spain. Not long after arriving he had almost all of his belongings stolen by thieves. Importantly, this included all the information he had collected on Argentine boxers and trainers based in the Madrid area. He had just one number remaining. In his shoe, was the phone number of Pablo Sarmiento, brother of his now trainer Gabriel. They had previously met in Argentina where the pair had a misunderstanding and went their seperate ways. He had 4 fights in Spain, all against sub-standard opposition. He was given a second chance at a step up when he received an offer to fight Richard Williams for the IBO light middleweight title at the M.E.N. Williams was a big puncher with World title ambitions. Martinez using his speed, and boxing skills, won a clear decision despite being dropped in the 3rd round. Just 4 months later he was brought back to England to fight former WBC challenger, Adrian Stone. In an entertaining bout he stopped Stone in the 12th round. In the following April of 2004, for some reason, Martinez was brought back to the UK, Belfast this time to rematch Richard Williams. Here he put on his best performance yet, totally outclassing the Englishman and stopping him in the 9th.






Sergio had found titles but had not yet found financial fortune. He was working whenever possible, from being a Bouncer to Modelling work, while still training and fighting. Even at this stage he was a "1000 Euro-a-fight fighter'. In March 2005 Martinez fought Albert Airapetian. Following an 11th round stoppage, in bizarre fashion, Airapetian's brother Alez who had also fought on the card attacked Martinez cutting the back of his head open causing an injury that required 10 stitches.

*America*
In 2007 came a clear turning point in his career. His manager made contact with the man credited with bringing Manny Pacquaio to the US, Sampson Lewkwicz. He delivered almost immediately, arranging Martinez's second fight in the US. Sergio would face Saul Roman in a WBC eliminator for their 154lb title. Martinez dominated the bout and in the 4th round he hurt Roman with a body shot. Sensing this he targeted the body again with the left hand. The Mexican went down and never looked like making the count.






Martinez had another minor bout in Spain in October 2007 before another milestone in his career. Lewkowicz targeted US-based promoters including Top Rank. They said, at 32, he was too old. Lou DiBella however couldn't believe that a fighter this talented was so unknown. He signed the Argentine on a four fight deal, with a $30,000 minimum guarantee. He was now a US-based fighter, setting up camp in Oxnard, California. His first 3 opponents were not impressive but in the fourth he faced Alex Bunema of Congo. Bonema had defeated Roman Karmazin just 9 months previous. The bout was for the 'interim' WBC 154lb title and would be Martinez's first appearance on US network HBO. In a sparkling performance, Martinez bamboozled Bunema, punishing him for 8 rounds before the ringside doctor stopped the bout. According to CompuBox numbers Martinez outlanded Bunema 212 to 31.






In his next fight he faced former IBF Welterweight champion in a defence of his WBC title. The bout itself was bizarre. Following a left hand by Martinez to the head of Cintron he fell to the canvas. The referee counted to 10 and the fight appeared to have finished, until minutes later the referee decided to restart the fight. In the 12th round, crucially, Martinez had a point removed for hitting Cintron behind the head. Even still it appeared that Martinez had done enough to take the decision but despite knocking Cintron out, and seemingly winning on points, the judges ruled the fight to be a draw.






Martinez was out for 10 months following the Cintron robbery until he received an offer to fight Paul Williams in a non-title fight. Williams was due to fight Kelly Pavlik but at 3-weeks notice Pavlik pulled out of the fight. Martinez went up to the middleweight limit for the first time. The fight started at a fantastic pace with both fighters scoring knockdowns in just the 1st round. In a fight of the year contender there was great back and forth action. The bout was much closer than the Cintron fight but it appeared that Martinez had done just enough to take the decision. Again, the judges did not favour Martinez. He dropped a majority decision to Williams with one judge, almost unbelievably scoring it to the American by 9 points.






*World Champion*
Despite the disappointment of not getting the decision against Williams, Martinez put it behind him and returned to Boardwalk Hall to face the WBO and WBC champion Kelly Pavlik. Sergio started strongly clearly taking the early rounds. In characteristic fashion, Martinez appeared to slow in the middle rounds and was knocked down in the 7th. From there Martinez turned up the heat and cut Pavlik around both eyes. With the increased aggression Martinez clearly took the late rounds and with it, the titles by unanimous decision.






Pavlik chose not to exercise his rematch clause so Martinez instead signed to fight a rematch of his previous defeat to Paul Williams at a catchweight of 158lbs. Martinez again entered the fight as the betting underdog. The first round started as their first fight had finished at a franetic pace. In the second round a huge left hand landed directly on the chin of Williams. The American hit the deck face first and was out for the count. It was very same left hand which Martinez injured years previously and was told he should consider retirement as a result. Great credit must go to Martinez's trainer, Gabriel Sarmiento. After watching their first bout just days before the rematch Sarmiento couldn't sleep after a flaw he noticed in Williams. Martinez recalls the conversation: "Scrap everything we've been working on the last two months for a whole new plan of attack, two days before the fight!" Just a few inches to the left and a step backward was all Sarmiento was asking for. Martinez took fighter of the year and Sarmiento trainer of the year.






When Martinez chose to rematch Williams, he was stripped of his WBO title and then following that win he chose to fight Serhiy Dzinziruk. In doing this he was forced to vacate the WBC title as he refused to fight their mandatory challenger Sebastien Zbik. Dzinziruk was an undefeated 154lb titleist known best for his strong jab. Just days before the fight though, Gabriel Sarmiento was arrested and extradited back to Spain for aggravated battery. Instead, Pablo Sarmiento worked the corner. This late drama did not seem to affect Martinez as he stunned the Ukrainian by coming out and outjabbing the jabber. Dzinziruk was dropped in rounds 4 and 5 and then three times in the 8th before the contest was stopped.






*Awards*
The Ring Fighter of the Year 2010
The BWAA Fighter of the Year 2010
The Ring KO of the Year 2010
The BWAA KO of the Year 2010
IBO light-middleweight champion
WBC Interim light-middleweight champion
WBO middleweight champion
WBC middleweight champion
RING middleweight champion


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## Vano-irons (Jun 6, 2012)

Ezzard 'The Cincinnati Cobra' Charles 93 wins (52 KO) - 25 losses (7 KO) - 1 Draw

Date of Birth 7/7/1921
Date of Death 27/5/1975
Stance - Orthodox
Height - 6ft

Divisions - Middleweight - Heavyweight

"Ezzard Charles. Yeah, I've heard of him. Wasn't he that guy who took Rocky Marciano 15 rounds?" You have to wonder how Charles would have been remembered if he stayed down in the 8th round of the pair's first meeting in 1954. Charles, however, was unfazed by the power of The Rock, and rose at the count of '2' in a fight that saw him push the undefeated Heavyweight Champion to the wire in a classic battle of attrition. Instead of adding to his already great legacy, the first fight with Rocky Marciano would somewhat eclipse all that had gone before. Ezzard Mack Charles, however, was so much greater than 'That Guy'. Born on a smoking hot July afternoon in the Southern state of Georgia, Charles was already known as a fighter when he graduated from Woodward High School in Cincinnati. He entered the amateur ranks as a Featherweight, where he amassed an unconfirmed record of 42 wins with no defeats. By 1939, Ezzard had won the AAU Middleweight Championship, as well as the Chicago Golden Gloves tournament.

Charles then turned his attention to the paid ranks, assembling a 15 fight winning streak before losing to the great Ken Overlin, a veteran of almost 150 fights. Defeat, however, did not dishearten the Cincinnati Cobra, as he went on to unanimously beat the 106-16-3, and future Hall of Famer, Teddy Yarosz, before battling to a 10 round draw against his only conqueror just four months later. Charles, still a Middleweight, would then take part in his career defining fight to date, a pair of back to back fights with the master, and much avoided, Charley Burley. Ezzard, however, outfought Burnley in their fight encounter, shouting him out in the first five, before dropping his opponent in the tenth and final round. The rematch a month later was more of the same as Charles this time outboxed Burnley again over 10 rounds. Charles followed his career best performances by twice outpointing Joey Maxim before being defeated by the very good Jimmy Bivins.






After a brief stint in the army during the final year of the Second World War, Charles returned to the ring as a Light Heavyweight and embarked on a terrific trilogy of fights with possibly the greatest Light Heavyweight Champion in history, the legendary Archie Moore. Their first meeting, in May 1946, however, was not even close, as Charles repeated jabbed his opponent at will, while also dropping Moore for the count of '9' in the 8th round with a superb counter uppercut to the body. Moore climbed off the canvas only to be repeatedly out-boxed and beaten to the punch, losing a ten round non-title fight decision. The pair's second battle a year later proved much closer, with Moore fairing much better having seemingly worked out his man, despite being dropped by yet another Charles body shot in the 7th. While Moore was awarded a draw from one of the judges, the other two scored the fight to Charles. Their third and final encounter in January 1948 was again a close affair until Archie (then 88-13-7) tagged Charles with a pin point left hook which badly wobbled the man from Cincinnati. Looking to finish his man, Moore rushed in only to be caught from nowhere by a left hook-right cross combination from Charles which knocked Moore clean out. While Archie Moore may have been the greatest Light Heavyweight champion ever to grace the sport of boxing, Charles was certainly the greatest fighter in the division's long history. A tribute to Archie Moore can be seen here:






Intertwined with the Moore trilogy, Charles embarked on another three fight rivalry, this time battling the impressive Lloyd Marshall between 1943-1947. Marshall, however, had greater success than Moore did; knocking the Cobra out in the pair's first meeting. While it was said that Charles sustained a hip injury going into their first fight, his bravery proved not enough, as Charles was knocked down seven times in eight painful rounds before the referee stopped the contest. Their second fight in 1946 started just as badly for Charles, with Marshall dropping him for the count of '9' in the very first round. Charles, however, regained his composure and boxed brilliantly for the remainder of the fight before stopping Marshall with a textbox left hook to the body.






The rubber match lasted just two rounds, with Charles dropping Marshall three times on route to a KO victory. During this period, Charles also avenged his loss to Jimmy Bivins by beating him twice, as well as knocking out Fritzie Fitzpatrick twice, only to be robbed by the judges against the dangerous banger Elmer Ray, which he would later avenge by 9th round knockout.

Ezzard Charles' illustrious career almost ended just a month after his stunning knockout of Moore. In February 1948, Charles knocked out a 21 year old contender named Sam Baroudi in the 10th round and final round. Tragically, Baroudi suffered a brain haemorrhage after the knockout, and later died in hospital. Seeming contemplating retirement, Charles was urged to carry on by Baroudi's grieving family. It was time for Charles to tackle the Heavyweights.

After again beating Joey Maxim, this time via a 15 round majority decision, Charles embarked on a four fight rivalry with the great Jersey Joe Walcott, winning the vacant World Heavyweight Title after a comfortable 15 round decision in June 1949.






Between this and his 1951 rematch with Walcott (which he again won by decision), Charles fought the returning Joe Louis, beating the Brown Bomber to a very wide unanimous decision (by 9 rounds on one scorecard and 11 on another).











Charles would then lose his Heavyweight Title after being brutally stopped by Jersey Joe Walcott at the third time of asking. This was followed up by another defeat to Walcott, this time via unanimous decision.






By this time, Ezzard Charles was showing signs of deterioration. His obsession, however, was to reclaim the Heavyweight title, now held by Rocky Marciano who had twice defeated Jersey Joe Walcott. By securing a unanimous decision Rex Layne, and having knocked out Coley Wallace, Bernie Reynolds and Bob Satterfield, he secured his shot at The Rock. The Satterfield and Reynolds' KOs can be seen here:











On the 17th June 1954, Charles, now 83-10-1, would become 'That Guy' by taking the imposing Marciano the full 15 rounds, losing a close but clear decision. A rematch was scheduled for three months later, and Rocky looked to be well on his way to victory after knocking the Cincinnati Cobra down in the second. Drama ensued in the third round, however, as a right cross from Charles opened a horrific cut over the nose of The Rock and the fight looked like it might be stopped. With greater urgency, Marciano stepped on the gas and knocked Charles out in the 8th round of 1954's Fight of the Year.






Charles would never regain the heights he once held; losing 13 of his next 23 fights, before calling time on what would be legendary career in late 1959, almost 30 years after his professional debut. While Charles will always been known as 'That Guy' who took Rocky the distance, he was so much more than that. A prime Ezzard Charles could outbox master technicians, and out-bang sluggers from Middleweight to Heavyweight. Having beaten the likes of Jersey Joe Walcott, Archie Moore, Joe Louis, Jimmy Bivins, Joey Maxim, Joe Baksi, Elmer Ray and the great Charley Burley, Ezzard has cemented himself into the Top Ten ATG lists of most boxing experts and scholars. Regarded by many as the greatest Light Heavyweight that ever lived, Ezzard Charles was more than just 'That Guy'.






Ezzard Charles died on the 28th May 1975 as a result of Lou Gehrig's disease. He was aged just 53.


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## ScouseLeader (May 31, 2012)

This next post is gonna be a bit different, the first part is like an introduction to the fighter and talks about his career in general and the second will be all about his fights including videos.

I hate doing it in 2 parts, but there's no other way to do it. Should be up in an hour or so.


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## Chatty (Jun 6, 2012)

Glad you guys got this back up and running - don't think i ever posted in the last one but was always worth a good read


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Bring your Seaman Tommy Watson one over Chatty :good


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## Vic (Jun 7, 2012)

I´ll bring the Eder Jofre one sometime here....with more info than that one....


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Already one of my favourites, can't imagine it being any better!

I have loads to bring other. There's a few shit ones I won't bring over/will re-do at some point. 
Really can't be arsed to have to type video and /video loads and loads of times so will bother touched to at _least_ this weekend I imagine ;-)


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## Chatty (Jun 6, 2012)

Flea Man said:


> Bring your Seaman Tommy Watson one over Chatty :good


Yeah i'll bring it over in a bit, no vids though but I suppose i can incorporate some Chocolate/LaBarba footage in their and a few pics I have on my hard drive.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

If I'm not wrong some of Chocolate-LaBarba is on YouTube :think if not I'll put it up by request  

There's some news footage on British Pathe (and maybe some on Gaz Oc's channel) you can link to :good


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## Chatty (Jun 6, 2012)

Flea Man said:


> If I'm not wrong some of Chocolate-LaBarba is on YouTube :think if not I'll put it up by request
> 
> There's some news footage on British Pathe (and maybe some on Gaz Oc's channel) you can link to :good


Ive seen some small footage of him on his return to Newcastle after the La Barba win and some training footage. I'll check the others out and see what their is.


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## doug.ie (Jun 3, 2012)

Flea Man said:


> Bring your Seaman Tommy Watson one over Chatty :good


this ^^


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## Chatty (Jun 6, 2012)

Just found my half finished article of Benny Sharkey in the annals of my inbox, think i'll finish that one of this week as well.


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## ScouseLeader (May 31, 2012)

Name: Jose Torres
Nickname: 'Chegui'
Born: 1936-05-03
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5′ 10″ 
Reach: 74''

Record: 41 (29) - 3 (1) - 1










Not many men have contributed to the sport of boxing, from both inside and outside of the ring, than the man from Ponce, Puerto Rico: Jose Torres. Not satisfied with being a huge fan favourite in his adopted home of New York City, where he wowed fans time and time again with scintillating performances and wonderful showcases of his well-tuned skills, Torres was a keen journalist. Even during his fighting career, he regularly contributed to columns in local NY newspapers and set the seeds for what would be a very fruitful career in the writing business when his boxing career was finished. Torres's activity outside the ring didn't just extend to putting pen to paper, however; He became the chairman of the prestigious New York State Atheltic Commision in 1984 and remained in that position until 1988, where he pushed for better education for fighters so that they could, as he put it; 'At least read their contracts'. Torres would later become the supervisor for the WBO for a 5 year stretch beginning in 1990. The effort that Torres put into his projects and activities outside the ring is a massive indication of how much he truly loved the sport of Boxing.

In terms of his writing career, Torres is perhaps best remembered for his Biographies on Muhammad Ali (Sting Like a Bee - Written in 1971) and his personal friend Mike Tyson (Written in 1990, which was adapted by HBO for the movie 'Tyson').

Jose Torres first learned to Box in the U.S army where he won numerous tournaments against his peers. He later represented the U.S.A in the 1956 Olympic games in Melbourne (whilst still in the army), where he made it to the final, only to lose out in a close fight to one of the greatest Amateur fighters ever - Lazslo Papp. The fact that it was such a closely contested encounter is a massive compliment to the ability of Torres, Papp had fought over 300 times as an amateur whereas Torres had entered the ring just 24 times (!)

In 1957 Torres became a sparring partner for the great Sugar Ray Robinson, earing $40 dollars for each sparring session. The money meant little to Torres however, as he benefited exponentially from working with one of the greatest fighters to ever lace up the gloves. Torres used this added experience to propel himself to a victory in the 1958 New York Golden Gloves, where he was the champion in the Middleweight division. This would set the foundation for what was destined to be a hugely successful pro-career for Torres.

Torres success owed a lot to his trainer, Cus D'Amato, who instilled in Torres his patented 'Peek-a-boo' style which had brought much success to Floyd Patterson, the man who still to this day remains the youngest ever Undisputed Heavyweight champion. Torres arguably mastered the defensive aspect of the stance, whereas D'Amato's later prodigee, Mike Tyson, appeared to get the best of it's offensive potential. Torres's style was, in the observers opinion, not given the credit it deserved when he was fighting. Quite often observers would not credit Torres' ability to block incoming punches with his gloves, as with regularity his opponents where adjudged to have landed upon him, where in fact the highly held gloves of Torres prevented shots from scoring on his face. I suppose that Torres had a style which was possibly ahead of it's time. Despite this, Torres incorporated excellent lateral movement into his style. For a boxer, who was not so quick on his feet, Torres would often anticipate and slip shots from a stationary position with consummate ease. The gracefulness in which Torres - an aggressive fighter by nature who often brought the fight to his opponent - was able to duck and slide past incoming shots was a huge compliment to the syle D'Amato had tought his pupil and the fighters ability to seamlessly blend offense and defense. The only person who did not marvel at this was the man standing across the ring from him!

It has to be noted that, throughout an 11 year career of training Jose Torres, Cus D'Amato never, EVER, took money from his fighter. Even though Cus was entitled to a 1/3 cut from every one of Torres' fights, he refused to take even a penny from his fighter. This just shows how much D'Amato cared about not only his fighters, but the sport of boxing on the whole; It wasn't a business to him, it was a noble art form, and he wanted Torres to succeed as much as he could in the sport without any obstacles. Truly a great man and a fine trainer of the sport. He taught a style with such finesse that Torres' success is definitely a tribute to D'Amato's abilities as a professor of boxing.

Some pictures of Torres:


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## ScouseLeader (May 31, 2012)

The fights:

Foreword: I've got to say, when I posted entries on the likes of Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson, there were some fights that I posted and analysed that I honestly would not recommend to those reading the articles, particularly fights towards the end of those fighters careers. I mean, who wants to watch Larry Holmes/Brian Nielsen? I certainly don't plan to watch that one again unless there's a gun pointed at my head. With that said, however, every Jose Torres fight that is up on Youtube (and I will post) is well worth watching, and I mean every one. From the highlight vids to the full fights they're all excellent as this guy is for the purists, who appreciate the skills, abilities and traits shown by the fighter, and the nutters who just want to see some action, Torres I assure you will appeal to both in equal amounts. I can wholeheartedly say that I recommend all of these fights as worth watching at some point!

The earliest available footage of Torres is from his 13th pro fight, against the journeyman Al Andrews on the undercard of his fellow trainee Floyd Patterson's first encounter with Ingemaar Johanssen. This preceeded Torres' first fighting return to his homeland of Puerto Rico where he battled to a draw with the talented Cuban Benny 'Kid' Paret over 10 rounds. Torres displays his awesome ability as an offensive technician in the fight with Andrews; landing a powerful, thudding jab which consussively and regularly knocks back the head of Andrews. Torres also shows some fine punch variety including a lovely left-hook to the body and most notably a fine left uppercut which puts Andrews on his bottom for the first time in the fight. Another knockdown follows before the game Andrews is, to his dismay, stopped by the referee.






Torres remained ubteaten for his next 14 fights, honing his skills and steadily improving as fighter, winning ten of these bouts by knockout, albeit against a collection of rather low-calibre journeymen opponents. This allowed Torres to build his record and garner some more experience in the ring, but ultimately failed to prepare him for what would be his toughest bout of his young career against a solid, tough Cuban by the name of Florentino Fernandez. The fight serves as the typical fable of a young, inexperienced prospect biting off more than the can chew against a gritty, experienced veteran: Torres had never faced a fighter close to the level of Fernandez before in his career and this lack of experience in the face of adversity - facing an opponent who will not fold under pressure and will relentlessly attack the man in front of him came as a huge shock to Torres, who likely thought it would be a routine win against the man that Rubin Carter had wiped out in a single round just a year earlier. When it came to fight night, the touted-Torres was upset in front of the Puerto-Rican croud in San Juan, as he failed to deter the rigid and rough Fernandez who wouldn't give the technician a seconds peace. Torres saw a hopeless task in front of him: A well-drilled terror of a man who even his own sizeable power could not deter, and after 2 knockdowns in the 5th round, Torres was stopped and beaten for the first time in his career. It was the first hurdle, and Torres had fallen.






Torres preceeded to do exactly what a prospect who has lost for the first time should do, and bounced back with a fight, and a win, against a quality opponent. Don Fullmer, brother of Gene, was Torres' comeback victim and he was beaten by a comfortable ten-round decision in New Jersey. Torres had shown that although in the ring, his mental strength had proved to be suspect as he folded against Fernandez, in the gym he had the mental fortitude to take a loss on the chin and fire himself straight back into the fore without hesitation. This is a commendable trait which Torres displayed throughout his fighting career and was symbolic of Torres' great determination.

After 2 more stay-busy fights, Torres entered in an exciting bout against the very talented prospect Wilbert 'Skeeter' McClure. McClure, who boasted a record of 16-2, had lost in 2 close encounters with the excellent Luis Manuel Rodriguez and was seen as a huge test of character and ability for a Torres, whom fans still had doubts over following his devastating loss to Fernandez. It was a great crossroads match up for 2 fighters looking to fire themselves into title contention with a win. In what was one of the most efficient performances of Torres' career, he dominated the skilled McClure all night long whilst looking marvelous in the process. McClure, famed for his quick hands could simply not land a punch on Torres, who dutifully slipped the lighting quick flurries of the bamboozled Skeeter. Torres kept Skeeter at bay with a stern jab, quite often followed by powerful left hooks straight off the jab, another characteristic taught by D'Amato. McClure could not find a way past Torres' jab for the majority of the fight, and even when he did could not seem to plant a glove on a focused Chegui who showed the very best of his evasive manouvers. Torres was granted a comfortable Unanimous verdict and had shot his career back into life.






Torres, an ambitious fighter, saw little potential in the current Middleweight climate and had set his sights on the more lucrative offerings posed to him by the Light Heavyweight divison. It was a big jump up in weight, but one that Torres was prepared to do in order to participate in the real big money-fights boxing could afford him. In his final act at Middleweight, an uncharacteristically demotivated Torres took on an awkward journeyman from the Bahamas called Gomeo Brennan. Torres got off to a strong start, despite coming in at a very high 167 pounds for a fight at the 160 pound limit, showing a forceful jab and keeping Brennan away by constantly offsetting him. However by the 7th round, Torres had tired and began to look lethargic, allowing Brennan began to take control of the fight for the last few rounds, as he proved to be a slippery customer and attacked from awkward angles, confusing a Torres who didn't appear to have the energy to really have a go at Brennan. Torres laboured to a close Majority Decision but had been rather unconvincing against an opponent who despite being tricky, should have been routine for a fighter of Torres' calibre. It suggested that maybe the big fights weren't the only reason Torres sought a move up in weight, he simply could not carry the weight at 160 pounds for any longer.





 








 




Torres instantly quelled any doubts regarding whether he could handle fighting at the Light Heavyweight limit with a devastating first round knockout over the experienced former Middleweight champion Carl 'Bobo' Olsen. Torres dropped Olson with a barrage of hooks from which the champion could not get up.






Torres was immediately thrust into a title bout with the current Light Heavyweight champion, Willie Pastrano, who was making a third defense of the WBA and WBC titles he had won from Harold Johnson in 1963. Pastrano proved no match for the hungry, aggressive Torres who dropped him in the 6th with a crunching left hook to thr body, before bullying him until the champion was so beaten he could not come out for the 9th round. Torres had fulfilled his dream of becoming world champion and had done it in just his second fight at Light Heavyweight with a devstating performance that sent a chilling message to his fellow 175 pound-ers.






Torres took a tune-up fight and won a ten round decision against Tom McNeeley (father of Heavyweight Peter) before winning again in the first defense of his Light Heavyweight title with a comfortable 15 round decision against Wayne Thornton. The first notable defense of Torres' title came in his next fight against Eddie Cotton. Cotton, a hardened veteran of the game, had trained like a machine for the fight and at the age of 40 saw it as possibly his last opportunity to win a world title. What came to follow was Ring Magazines 'Fight of the Year' for 1966 as Torres prevailed with a unanimous decision win in a gruelling, hard fought encounter. Both fighters went head to head and toe to toe in a hotly contested inside battle. Initially, Torres appeared to be in control but the guile and ring-savvy of the well conditioned Cotton, coupled with his unrelenting determination meant the second half of the fight was significantly closer. Torres throughout the contest landed the harder, cleaner blows, and despite both fighters being hurt several times it appeared Cotton was hurt more frequently and Torres had earned the unanimous decision. Co-commentating for the bout was Carlos Ortiz, the Lightweight champion born in the exact same town as Torres. Surprisingly, he did not afford any bias towards Torres when scoring the fight, and in fact was rather critical of his compatriot, feeling that Cotton had done enough to earn a decision whereas in the eyes of this observer is was a close but clear win for Chegui.


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## ScouseLeader (May 31, 2012)

Torres' Light Heavyweight tenure is possibly best remembered for the 2 bouts he participated in against one the the finest middleweight fighters of all time, among the greatest boxers to come from the continent of Africa and a human fighting machine - Nigeria's Dick Tiger. They first fought in 1966 in what is likely only second to Torres/Cotton in the Fight of the year standings, a brutal, blistering encounter fought at an insane pace between 2 ultra-aggresive fighters who thoroughly refused to give and inch of ground either way. Torres lost his title to determined Tiger by Unanimous 15 round decision in Madison Square garden. In what I believe was a closer fight than the scorecards suggest, Tiger's insane work rate, powered by an almost inhuman engine for a fighter of his age and wear, was able to _just_ outwork and outhustle a Torres who himself came close to matching the challenger in that aspect. Torres, rather bloated at the weight could not match the compact Tiger in terms of physical strength and found himself outmuscled and pushed around at times in the fighter, ultimately being able to sustain a foothold and just losing out. A disappointed Torres immediately sought a rematch and the 2 locked horns at the same venue 5 months later.





 








 









In another exciting and controversial encounter, Tiger again was given the decision over Torres, this time in a split verdict. Many observers felt that Torres had earned the victory, and despite a close fight, a riot ensued at the garden as Torres' New York faithful were incensed at his 'unjust' loss. Torres did appear to oust Tiger this time around, better utilizing his defensive abilities, particularly in the later rounds where he shut out Tiger and closed the show in dominant fashion. Tiger was resurgent in the middle rounds but for the remainder of the fight was outworked by Torres who landed the cleaner blows, blocking and smothering much of Tiger's work on the inside. Torres had given the fight of his life yet seemed unable to convince the judges that he had won. Tiger retained the title. Regardless, Torres had competed in two of the most heated fights in the history of the Light Heavyweight division and had pushed to the very limit and arguably beaten a truly great fighter.





 








 




Following this disheartening loss, it appeared Torres fell out of love with the fighting aspect of boxing. Instead focusing his energies on his budding journalism career as he prioritised this over returning to the ring. He only fought twice more, and after being knocked down twice in consecutive rounds against former sparring partner Charley Green (thought bravely coming back to win by KO in 2) he retired, leaving behind a great legacy and a hall of fame career in his wake. Though his tenure as a fighter was short, Torres had always proven to be an excellent and able fighter, who despite possesing superb skills would always put on a show for a New York crowd that adored him. He was their adopted son and the passion of his displays was the greatest evidence of this. Truly a fighter for the fans in just about every sense of the phrase.

Until his death in 2009, Torres remained one of the greatest ambassadors for the sport there has ever been, and what he has done for boxing has flown under the radar for far too long. He loved the sport and pushed his support of it to the limit whenever he had the opportunity. Not one of my personal favourite fighters, but I find it hard to name one that I have more respect for.


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## Teeto (May 31, 2012)

this is all fantastic stuff my friends, I'm going to gradually get through this reading it all


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## Teeto (May 31, 2012)

I'm banned from ESB but if one of the lads could drag my Jim Driscoll one out of there and just paste it into this thread I'd be grateful


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## Teeto (May 31, 2012)

@ScouseLeader just reading through that last post you made, the point you made about Tigers strength, it truly was incredible, his strength that is, just insane how he could do it against guys naturally had the poundage on him.

Torres' Cus D'Amato style was quality, although I don't think he did it as prolifically as Tyson or Patterson, he was more concerned with being adept than those two were, I've always been impressed with how he boxed in the centre of the ring


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## ScouseLeader (May 31, 2012)

Teeto said:


> @ScouseLeader just reading through that last post you made, the point you made about Tigers strength, it truly was incredible, his strength that is, just insane how he could do it against guys naturally had the poundage on him.
> 
> Torres' Cus D'Amato style was quality, although I don't think he did it as prolifically as Tyson or Patterson, he was more concerned with being adept than those two were, I've always been impressed with how he boxed in the centre of the ring


Yeah, it's insane how strong Tiger was. Everything about him just screamed natural athelticism. At his age, for the strength he had, that insane engine and work rate, it's mad how he could do it, even at Light Heavyweight when everyone was bigger than him. A real fighter.


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## Teeto (May 31, 2012)

ScouseLeader said:


> Yeah, it's insane how strong Tiger was. Everything about him just screamed natural athelticism. At his age, for the strength he had, that insane engine and work rate, it's mad how he could do it, even at Light Heavyweight when everyone was bigger than him. A real fighter.


Imagine Tiger and Hagler getting it on, or Tiger and LaMotta, would be jaw dropping, would probably have us all crying purely out of respect


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## ScouseLeader (May 31, 2012)

Teeto said:


> Imagine Tiger and Hagler getting it on, or Tiger and LaMotta, would be jaw dropping, would probably have us all crying purely out of respect


Bang on lad, look at how good a fight Hagler/Mugabi was, and Mugabi is like a shit version of Tiger. Tiger/Hagler would be insane.

BTW, lad have you read the first part of the Torres piece? It's more of a 'did you know' post than anything else but I'm not sure how much you know about Torres, there's some interesting facts in there.


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## Teeto (May 31, 2012)

fuckinghell, I didn't realise it was three posts long Sports, this an amazing post, you should get involved with the articles lad, that's amazing. I never knew about him being a journalist and fighting in the army, I don't even think I knew about his spars with Robinson, which I should have known. He seemed like such a nice guy, Torres, I bet his articles were always well balanced.

Amazing post, scouseleader, so informative, gunna read through the second post of it now


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## ScouseLeader (May 31, 2012)

@Teeto

Thanks a lot lad, it means a lot coming from you :good

Torres was such an intellectual guy, I've actually never read one of his articles, but like you say they were probably very impartial.

The think that put the biggest smile on my face when reading about Torres was the D'Amato thing. I never knew he didn't take any money from his fighters. That's so noble of him. I bet Torres was like 'Cus, take ten for yourself', and D'Amato was like 'Nah, kidda, it's sweet'.

What a guy.


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## Teeto (May 31, 2012)

ScouseLeader said:


> @Teeto
> 
> Thanks a lot lad, it means a lot coming from you :good
> 
> ...


haha yeah, I can imagine it now. It's so touching, as you say, how D'Amato did that with the money (or didn't do that with the money I suppose is the best way to put it). The whole D'Amato situation always makes me feel heavy eyed. Great, great trainer.

Viva Cus D'Amato


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## ScouseLeader (May 31, 2012)

Teeto said:


> haha yeah, I can imagine it now. It's so touching, as you say, how D'Amato did that with the money (or didn't do that with the money I suppose is the best way to put it). The whole D'Amato situation always makes me feel heavy eyed. Great, great trainer.
> 
> Viva Cus D'Amato


I love Cus D'Amato. Absolutely great trainer and man. He's worthy of an Encyclopedia entry.


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## Teeto (May 31, 2012)

ScouseLeader said:


> I love Cus D'Amato. Absolutely great trainer and man. He's worthy of an Encyclopedia entry.


go for it lad


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## ScouseLeader (May 31, 2012)

Teeto said:


> go for it lad


Would be a great honour.


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## Teeto (May 31, 2012)

ScouseLeader said:


> Would be a great honour.


Can't wait blud


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## Chatty (Jun 6, 2012)

I'll convert the Watson one over tomorrow but here's one that most people won't even have heard of:

Benny Sharkey












> Benny Sharkey planned on becoming a bricklayer when he left school at the age of fourteen; he had even started an apprenticeship when he was persuaded by his father to don the gloves and take the place of a boxer who had not shown up. Sharkey, who had no pugilistic experience agreed and went on to win the novice tournament.
> 
> Sharkey would go on to become one of the great underdogs of boxing in a career that would span twelve years and nearly two hundred bouts. Sharkey would cause many an upset beating three world champions, five British champions as well as other champions from Wales, Scotland and Venezuela. Despite this Sharkey would never fight for a title be that a world or Northern Area championship.
> 
> ...


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## Foreman Hook (Jun 6, 2012)

Lots of XPERT-posts in this thread topic.:clap:


Foreman Hooooooooooook!:smoke


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## DrMo (Jun 6, 2012)

*Bob Foster*
WBC light heavyweight champion 1968-1974
WBA light heavyweight champion 1968-1970 & 1972-1974​
Record: 56(46)-8(6)-1
Born: 27/4/1938, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Height: 6'3 
Reach: 79"

*Part 1/2: The Sixties*

Bob Foster is one of the all-time great light heavyweights & is widely regarded as being one of the hardest ever p4p punchers. Foster was a distinctive figure in the ring with his long, spindly legs in a wide stance, his gloves close to his chest & his chin tucked down towards his narrow, hunched shoulders he prowled the ring like a preying mantis, patiently stalking his opponent with a flickering, whip-like jab. Foster carried electrifying power in both hands & his wiry frame was able to develop astonishing force. He was so ferocious & widely feared he struggled to find opponents & often had to take on heavyweights 20lbs heavier than himself. Throughout his remarkable career he remained unbeaten by anyone below 175lbs.

Robert Lloyd Foster was born in 1938 & was raised by his mother after his father left when he was 5. Bob began boxing at the age of 13 & after leaving school he joined the air force, where he continued to box & became inter-services champion. After winning a silver medal at the Pan-Am games in 1959 he was overlooked for the 1960 Olympics, instead of him a brash young Cassius Clay went & captured gold.

Bob turned pro in 1961 & he began on a long, tough road to the title. After winning his first 9 fights he stepped in on short notice to replace Zora Folley (who had contracted a virus) in a heavyweight fight against the former LHW title challenger Doug Jones (19-3-1). Foster knew Jones from his amatuer days & was confident but Jones was too strong & experienced, he dropped Foster heavily in the 1st & stopped him in the 8th, Jones would go on to give a young Cassius Clay a famously tough fight in 1963.






After winning a couple of fights Foster travelled to Peru to take on the South American champion Mauro Mina (42-2-2) but he lost by a disputed, hometown decision. Bob returned to the states & knocked out 2 heavyweights on the trot (one of them on the Ali-Liston I undercard) before facing the Chicago based & #9 ranked LHW contender Allen Thomas (20-3-2). It took Bob a little over 90 seconds to score 3 knockdowns & win by TKO, this is the earliest footage of Foster at LHW I've seen & he looks awesome, Thomas is literally sent flying around the ring by some crunching left hooks.






With that win Foster announced his presence in the division but he struggled to find anyone willing to fight him. Desperate for money Foster took on the 6'6 future world HW champion Ernie Terrell (34-4) in New York. Foster started well, landing some big shots in the 1st round but gradually his heavier opponent mauled & wore him down to a 7th round stoppage.






After a couple of 1st round KOs Foster faced the former title challenger Henry Hank & stopped him for the 1st time in his 79 fight career. 3 more knockouts followed before he faced Hank in a rematch in which Bob went 12 rounds for the 1st time. Bob won a wide 1 sided decision & Hank was left looking like he'd been beaten by a baseball bat.






Rising up the rankings but widely avoided Foster fought another heavyweight next, conceeding 30lbs to the experienced contender Zora Folley (69-7-4). Foster lost the 1965 fight by a wide decision & was only paid $300, it would be almost a year before he fought again. Disillusioned with the sport Foster got a job in a munitions factory to help support his wife & 4 kids.

In 1966 his fortunes changed after he was contacted by restauranter & fight manager Morris Salar. Salar had seen the skinny Foster knock out 204lb Dave Bailey in a round on the Ali-Liston undercard & bought out Foster's contract, promising Bob a title shot within a year. Foster won 8 fights in a row (7 by knockout) improving his record to 29-4 & he finally got his title shot in 1968, a couple of months after his 30th birthday.

The WBC & WBA light heavyweight champion was the former middleweight king Dick Tiger (57-17-3) who had held the title since beating the great Jose Torres 2 years earlier. The short (5'7) & powerfully built champion started well against the tall & rangy challenger & won the 1st 2 rounds but both fighters found the slippy canvas difficult to move around on. In the 3rd Foster started finding a home for his right hand & in the 4th Foster landed a monsterous left hook which laid Tiger out flat & unable to beat the count. Tiger had never been knocked out before & had only been on the canvas once despite fighting world class opposition for years.






Foster defended his title for the 1st time in 1969 against the brawler Frank DePaula & was knocked down when off balance by a body shot early in the 1st round. Foster hopped back up & battered DePaula, knocking him down 3 times to win by a 1st round TKO.






His next challenger was Andy Kendall who he obliterated in the 4th round with a vicious onslaught, one of the most brutal TKOs Ive ever seen.






[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mkYjYaZnD4&feature=related[video]


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## DrMo (Jun 6, 2012)

*Part 2/2 The Seventies*

Bob began 1970 with 2 more title defenses, both inside the distance & he was looking untouchable. However he had dream, to become the 1st light-heavyweight champ to beat the reigning heavyweight champ. The HW division has always attracted more money & attention, Foster felt he could accomplish something never done before. Sadly he was stripped of his WBA title for taking on the HW champ instead of a mandatory defense against #1 contender & sparring partner Jimmy Dupree but more about that later.

In November in 1970 & giving up 20lbs Foster took on the undisputed & undefeated HW champ, a prime & razor sharp Joe Frazier (25-0). In the 1st round Foster was able to land numerous jabs & a right hand which seemed to stiffen Frazier's legs for a brief moment, the follow-up left hook whistled just past its target & the bell rang to end a promising start by Foster. However the 2nd round was very different, Foster was dropped by a trademark left hook & then knocked out by the same shot moments later, after the fight Foster & Frazier went to a bar & got drunk.






In 1971 Foster defended his WBC title 4 times & went the 15 round distance for the 1st time against fellow American Ray Anderson. In 1972 Foster had the chance to reunify the titles with a fight against WBA champ Vincente Rondon(36-5-1), the Venezuelan titlist had defended his belt 4 times & was on a long 20 fight unbeaten streak. Foster knocked him down in the 2nd before one of his most famous knockouts, a counter-right hand over a jab was followed up by 2 left hooks leaving Rondon with a fractured skull & unconscious for 5 minutes.






Next up for the undisputed champion was the unbeaten Mike Quarry(35-0), the younger brother of HW contender Jerry Quarry. Mike fought well & was competitive until in the final seconds of round 4 Foster landed a sickening left hook, laying Quarry out flat & away with the birdies. Foster later remarked as he watched his younger opponent hit the canvas his eyes rolled back in his head. Bob thought he had killed him & was relieved to see him revived & eventually come round.






After these 2 devastating wins Foster travelled to Britian to take on the British, Empire & European champion Chris Finnegan (23-2-1). His southpaw challenger became the 1st Brit to win an Olympic gold medal in the 1968 games & he was a skilled & tremendously brave boxer. Their 1972 fight was the ring magazine's "fight of the year". It was a truly epic encounter but the brave Finnegan was dropped in the 10th & then utterly exhausted put down for the count in the 14th round of a magnificent fight, essential viewing.






Still unbeaten at LHW Foster took a lucrative offer to fight Muhammed Ali! (39-1) Foster hadn't forgotten that Ali was chosen over him for the 1960 olympics & Foster had knocked him down in sparring back then. Despite being 40lbs lighter Bob started well, repeatedly landing sharp jabs which left Ali with a swelling which turned into a cut, the 1st of Ali's career. The blood seemed to fire up Ali who dropped Foster 4 times in the 5th round, twice in the 7th & then finally in the 8th Bob stayed down the count.






In 1973 Foster fought twice, both title defenses against the white South African Pierre Fourie (43-1-1). After winning on points in his hometown of Albuquerque the 2nd fight took place in South Africa, the 1st major fight there since the introduction of apartheid. Foster became a hero to the supressed black majority when he beat Fourie for the 2nd time, also on points but he didnt seem his normal destructive self, content to stay behind the jab & box his way to a win. The reason for this was the fact his beloved mother (who had raised him on her own) was gravely ill, 2 days after returning from South Africa she sadly died.

In his final title fight in Foster took on the tough Argentinian Jorge Ahumada (40-5-1) & was knocked down on his way to a fortunate hometown draw. A few months later, in September 1976 Foster announced his retirement & vacated the titles he had held for 6 years & defended 14 times.






A brief comeback followed but after losing twice in 1978 he finally retired for good. Foster worked part-time for the local Sheriffs office & got involved in training. He was inducted into the IBHOF in its opening year in 1990. The ring rates him as the 9th greatest puncher of all time.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Name: Marlon Starling
Height: 5'8

Boxing record
Total fights 53
Wins 45
KO's 27
Losses 6
Draws 1 (1 NC)










_Marlon Starling was a top ten Welterweight for most of the 1980s, fighting many of the best fighters in the division and proving himself the no.1 man in a stacked era for the weight. Now, he is regarded by many as one of the most skilled Welterweight operators of all time.

But Starling had to overcome numerous setbacks on his way to establishing himself as the premier fighter in the division. Bad decisions, controversial endings, a boxing tragedy, and wrong choices made by Starling himself in the ring only seemed to make him stronger, and he learned and adapted from his mistakes to eventually reach the pinnacle of the 147lb weight class, one of the matinee divisions in the sport.

His ring moniker was 'The Magic Man', and Starling did some truly majestic things in the ring. But to friends and fans alike he was affectionately known as 'Moochy', and he had a playful arrogance to his work that made him popular despite his highly technical approach._

_An incredible defensive technician who would catch most shots on his 'earmuffs' guard but could slip and counter just as well, he was comfortable behind his jab or in close. Starling rarely took a backwards step, using his nigh on impenetrable defence to cut the distance efficiently, countering at mid-range to get close and work his intricate inside game, where he was as hard to hit as he was to hold off.

Starling had a snappy jab, could counter with his right hand, and would pop off hooks and uppercuts that were stinging rather than concussive. Lacking a big punch and suffering from tendonitis in his hands throughout his career, Starling stayed inside his opponents punching range at all times, and compensated for his lack of pop with an all-round game that made him a stylistic nightmare for most, extremely hard to hit clean, and a nagging, spiteful offence as well.

He was also a frustrating fighter who suffered majorly in his career due to his overconfidence, demonstrating too much flair in the ring at times and not focusing enough on letting his hands go, sometimes coasting against technically outmatched opposition.

A decent amateur (97-13) who had some minor National successes, Starling turned pro' in 1979. In an early bout, Starling won by clean knockout against journeyman Charles Newell. Seemingly innocuous, Newell would die from his injuries just over a week later, which may also explain why Starling would sometimes coast and not step on the gas in fights. This would go on to be a major issue in his first big test.

After compiling a 25-0 (16) record against journeyman opposition (including a points verdict over a post-injury Floyd Mayweather Sr), when he ran into a 21 year old amateur standout with a 14-0 (11) ledger. Known as 'The Lone Star Cobra', Don Curry would go on stamp his authority on the post-Leonard Welterweight era. _






_This was the first big test for both men, and Starling showcases his in-ring eccentricities here, with the '*Starling Stomp*' (quickly coined by the commentators) where he would bring his front foot up and down in an exaggerated fashion whilst slamming his gloves together. In a battle largely fought on the inside, Starlings ability to clown at mid-range and punch in close clearly frustrates the phenom Curry, who doesn't look the rounded sharpshooter we now know he would become. Ultimately, Starling didn't let his hands go enough down the stretch and allowed Curry to get back into the fight, and whilst I had it a draw, the decision rendered to the still undefeated Don Curry that night was more than fair. Don Curry would have to work on his inside game. Marlon Starling would have to go back to the drawing board and learn from his mistake.

Starling took on hard-punching Dominician prospect Jose 'The Threat' Baret soon after. Gil Clancy said beforehand that Baret was the 'most talked about fighter to come out of New York gyms in many a year' and that his 'punching power was becoming legend...wearing big gloves....hitting people in the chest and knocking them out'. 54-1 as an amateur and 16-0 as a pro', Clancy conceded Starling would be more experienced, and that is how the fight played out,with Starling predicting a knockout beforehand to make up for his loss to Curry and getting one, battering the slugger into the ground inside four rounds, cut over the eye and having no success, he refused to get up._






_In 1983, Starling moved another step closer into title contention, when he took on then-ranked Kevin Howard. Howard was a hard-working pro' who had a win over big-punching Bobby Joe Young, but was having trouble making the 147lb limit. He was no pushover going into this fight, but would have his biggest 'success' afterwards in a loss, convincing Ray Leonard his retirement was a good idea, scoring a flash knockdown over the great 'Sugar' Ray._






_Starling didn't fall for Howards fast bursts, clinically picking his shots and nearly sparking him early with a pair of stinging left hands that Howard barely recovers from. Lowering his punch output for a few rounds, Starling allowed Howard to snatch a few rounds, but in the 7th stepped into Howard and bombed him with both hands, rocking him and prompting Ray Leonard, on commentating duty as he was for many of Starlings fights, to say thrice: *'Kevin Howard is on queer street'*! Starling rarely got out of first gear, but pitched a near shutout to take him closer to a rematch with a man now riding the crest of an unimaginable wave of hype; Don Curry, now WBA & IBF Champion, and perceived by many to be the 2nd best P4P fighter at that time, behind only 'Marvelous' Marvin Hagler.

He followed up the Howard win with an impressive win over another touted prospect, undefeated Tommy Ayers. Starling would then get his shot at putting right his loss to Don Curry, as well as hoping to gain the recognition he desired as the best. Over 15 rounds, Curry took a clear points win, in another highly competitive and technical in-battle. Curry learned from the first fight, and was at his very best here, doing what, to my mind, no one else managed to do with Starling and comprehensively beat him on the inside, finally proving his superiority with a strong 15th round where he stunned Starling, outpunched him, and shoved a tired and hurt Starling halfway out of the ring, bullying him on the inside as Starling would go on to with the most of the Welterweights from after this fight in '84 until his retirement in '90. Curry solidified his reputation as one of the best Pound-for-pound fighters in the World.
















For Starling, he faced his first major setback in his chase for recognition as the best in the World. With Curry proving himself the better man, it seemed unclear as to how Starling would go about reaching the pinnacle of the game._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

*PART 2*

_He quickly bounced back with a win over Lupe Aquino, but shortly after that, Starling failed to progress again, losing a decision to to future Milton McCrory challenger Pedro Vilella, losing his NABF 147lb title in another fight where he simply didn't do enough._

_After this Starling had to work his way back up the ranks again, nullifying the sporadically flashy but ineffective Floyd Mayweather Sr in a rematch, and then unpointing an undefeated and always dangerous Simon Brown, who had extreme difficulty punching through Starlings defence.

Starling would then take on former 140lb titlist, the tall but vulnerable Johnny Bumphus. There was open scoring after every round, and with Bumphus getting the better of the first six in what looked to be an intriguing battle, the fight was stopped on a headclash which opens a horrendous gash on Bumphus' forehead, and Bumphus took the win on the scorecards, a 6-round technical decision. Starling had to wait, again, for his shot at becoming the man at 147. Bumphus would get a shot in his very next fight, which would also be his last, being bumrushed to a stoppage in two by Lloyd Honeyghan, cementing himself as the best Welterweight in the World.

Avenging his loss to Pedro Villela via ten-round decision in meaningless fashion (his former conquerer riding a 5-fight losing streak) from September '86 til August of '87 Starling notched four wins (3 inside distance) before being lined up to take on the 18-0 (12) super prospect Mark Breland, making the first defence of the vacant WBA title he had recently acquired.

An amateur superstar who compiled a record of 110-1 (he would avenge the lone loss via early K.O in the pro ranks), Breland was five time New York Golden Gloves champion, amassing a record of 21-0 (19, 14 in the 1st round) and had won the Welterweight Gold at the '84 Olympics, the undoubted star of a team that included Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor and Pernell Whitaker. He transitioned into the pro game with a massive amount of excitement around him, with one hyperbolic article of the time even touting him as a mix of Tommy Hearns and Ray Robinson! But whilst those comparisons would be proven to be way off, like the aforementioned two greats, Breland was a big Welterweight, scaling 6'2, and a big puncher as well.

His first 18 victims featured a few undefeated fighters and had a combined record of 280-66-16, but despite winning the vacant title, the tricky, skillful 28-year old (already) veteran Starling was to be his first real test. But just a test. For many, Breland was to follow in the footsteps of Ray Leonard, from Olympic Gold to pound-for-pound supremacy.

Marlon Starling hadn't read the script. _





















_Despite a number of fights against top-class opposition, this was only Starlings 2nd attempt at a 'World' title in 45 contests, and he wasn't prepared to let it go easily. Saying beforehand that if Breland tried to tie him up on the inside he would throw him down and would try and stop the confident puncher from settling into a rhythm, Starling does just that, with Breland falling to the mat many times throughout the bout, as first Starling imposes himself on him, and then Breland gets increasingly negative and frustrated and pulls Starling into him and throws himself to the floor.

Starling would go on to say Brelands jab was harder than most fighters right hands.Starlings was so hard to backup, punch or dissuade, it must've dawned on Brelands camp during the fight that whilst he needed a step up in opposition, Marlon Starling was just about the most infuriating and difficult opponent they could've picked. In an undoubtedly close fight (I would've had it even going into the 11th if not for the deduction) Starling keeps the pressure on, knowing full well Breland has never been past ten.

Swatting a tiring Breland on the inside with a right hand, Starling found his man in trouble and pounced on him, letting off an explosive and ferocious variety of punches that culminated in a massive left hook that detonated on the reeling Brelands jaw to send him crashing to the mat. It really is a tremendous display of calculated and efficient finishing. With his legs turned to jelly, Breland stumbled to his feet but was waved off.

Marlon Starling had overcome long odds to claim his first major title!

Starlings first defence was Japanese Welterweight Champion Fujio Ozaki. In an uneventful fight, Starling phoned in his performance to win a comfortable decision. He then re-matched Breland, with the fight controversially being ruled a draw. With Breland going into this fight with a completely negative mindset, Starling didn't get too much good work done towards the end of the fight, but he landed all the clean shots throughout and rocked Breland a few times. The powers-that-be were still hoping for Breland to be a success, but he had even less success with 'Moochy' this time around, seemingly content to last the distance. The 8th round typified how competitive this contest really was. Starling had enough of catching up to Breland only to be nullified by Brelands long arms and with Breland throwing little and constantly moving backwards not giving him much to counter, so tried a different approach, laying on the ropes and waiting for the challenger. Picking his punches, Breland tried to land a shot on Starling for most of the round, but found his defences too difficult to breach. Starling slipped and caught everything that Breland chucked at him, which wasn't that much. Breland, bamboozled by another chapter in Starlings shows of bravado, became even more gun shy with the opportunity to open up;. Starlings two counters, a left hook and an overhand right, landed cleanly. I felt Starling clearly got the better of the fight without really getting out of 1st gear._






_Starling kept his title nonetheless, and defended against 23-0 (20) Tomas Molinares, who had a built-up record. But, as I'm sure most boxing fans will know, unheralded South American punchers have sprung upsets against many experienced professionals. Underestimate one at your own peril.

Tomas Molinares, who came through the same gym as legendary Middleweight puncher Rodrigo Valdez, came into the fight with little fanfare, though it was felt he should be handled with care. In one of the most controversial endings of all time, the confident puncher showed Starling just why._











_Molinares was not the average crude banger, and that was evident straight away. He showed good punch variety, a hard jab and keeps moving, not staying straight on. In the 2nd, they threw hands after the bell; an ominous nod towards what is to come later. Starling went on to take control over the tiring challenger, landing beautiful combinations and counters on Molinares and beginning to boss the fight when he stupidly carried on punching after the bell had rang to signal the end of the 6th round._






_It all happened so fast.Starling, in supreme control, knowing the round was coming to an end, was sloppy, and threw a punch as the bell rang. Molinares reciprocated, although he threw a full blooded hay maker from Hell with bad intentions, and laid waste to Starling! _

_Did Starling relax at the sound of the bell and get caught with a shot he usually wouldn't have? Was he just not paying attention and paid for it? Molinares obviously had the punch to close this inside the distance, so feasibly could've sparked Starling at any time. Should Molinares have been DQ'd? Awarded a K.O victory? A no-contest? The officials didn't know how to deal with it either, giving Molinares a TKO victory on the night, later reversing it to a no-contest, but letting Molinares keep the title. Starling himself was so out of it and badly concussed he didn't even realise he'd been sparked, and thought he'd broken his leg (he did twist his ankle in the fall) It was down to Larry Merchant to break the bad news to the now ex-titlist._






_Starling had lost his belt, Molinares had lost his victory (and his marbles shortly after, suffering a nervous breakdown and never registering another win, finishing his career on 2 straight stoppage losses) but all in all, like a few times in his career, Marlon Starling had only person to blame: himself._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

*PART 3*

_In what for some fighters might cause a total rethink on their style of fighting, 'Magic Man' resumed business as usual. Inside the confines of a round, Marlon Starling had still never been dropped.

He quickly had the chance to show that he had suffered no ill-effects after the controversial knockout. He would face the linear champion and consensus number 1 Welterweight for the WBC title, 'The Ragamuffin Man' Lloyd Honeyghan._





















_These two did not like each other. Honeyghan had lost just once, a swiftly avenged technical decision loss to Joge Vaca. The Brit' had been on top of the 147lb stack since his shock win over Don Curry, and Starling was going to seize the biggest opportunity of his career with both hands.

Starling quickly nullified the offensive buzzsaw Honeyghan,and the champion got more and more weary as the contest went on, showing too much respect for Starling, who dismisses Honeyghans attempts to touch gloves, and proved the perfect stylistic foil to Honey', who tried to revert back to the skills that tool him to domestic and European honours. But Starling was too good in all departments, and overcame the odds once again, forcing a stoppage in 9 rounds to finally sit on the Welterweight throne! In the fight straight after one of the worst, and weirdest moments of his up-and-down career, Starling had achieved his greatest victory. He was, at last, the man.

Chasing a major payday caused Starling to take more risks, as he increasingly dropped his hands in the fights following this, and let his hands go more in the hope of landing a big pay day against the likes of Julio Cesar Chavez or Meldrick Taylor. Till regarded as a highly durable fighter despite the Molinares fiasco, Starling defended his title against Honeyghans former challenger Yung Kil-Chung, who took a full count against the legendary Brit' after taking a low shot. He goes the distance here, but is thoroughly outclassed by Starling, putting all of his experience together to put forth a display where he doesn't showboat, but picks off the game Korean contender with snappy single shots, blazing combinations, and picture perfect counters throughout to win a wide decision.

Starling, disgruntled he still hadn't graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, took on a new challenge. Like The Fabulous Four before him, and Jose Napoles, Emile Griffith and Luis Manuel Rodriguez before them, Starling jumped from Welterweight to middleweight, where he again took on an undefeated and very highly touted American titlist, Michael Nunn, for the IBF Middleweight title.

Nunn had wins over Iran Barkley, Juan Roldan and Frank Tate, as well as a sensational 1st round K.O of legendary Middleweight technician Sumbu Kalambay. Boasting an undefeated record of 34 wins, Nunn was a fast handed and skillful southpaw who was somewhat lackadaisical in the ring because of his natural talent and lifestyle outside of it, but washighly regarded at his peak.

Both men were coming off a year of inactivity. Starling weighed in at 158lbs, and even against a naturally bigger man possessed the slower and less fluid hands. Nunn was starting to lose his appetite for the game here, and whilst he won comfortably in rounds using his superior handspeed, lateral movement and big advantage in size, he tried to coast, and it was Starling who pressed the action and was still a very hard target for Nunn to land on cleanly. Earning a draw on one scorecard (not justifiable IMO), I gave Starling 4 rounds, and with the deck stacked against him, he gave a good account of himself, landing some good punches of his own and taking little damage against a still very talented fighter, despite losing the decision._


























_After the sterling effort he put in against Nunn but with mainstream success still eluding him, Starling returned to defend his linear title against tall and rangy boxer Maurice Blocker. Blocker, with only one decision loss on his record (in a challenge to former champion Honeyghan) was trained by Eddie Futch, who had left after disagreements with Starling. Starling remained with Futch's protege, Freddie Roach, who stayed with Starling even after his Master left._

_In a fast-paced and highly competitive bout that could've gone either way, Starling battled through a bad cut over the left eye, and with both men trying hard to do the better work, Maurice Blocker took a close majority decision (with 2x 115-113 and one 114-114)_





















_After the loss of his championship to Blocker, Starling rested for eight months, and after testing the waters with some sparring, he realised he had lost his love for the game and that his body couldn't keep up to the demands of the sport anymore. He retired in 1990 aged 31, having held a World title on two seperate occasions and at one point holding the lineal Welterweight championship. _

_To most sports fans, Marlon Starling is not the most recognisable name. But in retrospect, it is clear to see what a sublime fighter he was. He worked hard, picked himself up whenever he suffered a loss, and fought his way to the top of the Welterweight tree without ducking anyone, and is arguably the 3rd greatest Welterweight of the 80's behind just Ray Leonard and Don Curry.

Marlon 'The Magic Man' Starling, lived up to his ring moniker, of that there can be no doubt._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

I'll wait until the next page before posting the epic seven parter (forgot it was that long atsch how little did I have on that week??!?)


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Fuck it, had heavily edited Samart Payakroon and lost it all. FUCKS SAKE! :twisted


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Name: David Reid
Height: 5'9

Boxing record
Total fights 19
Wins 17
KO's 7
Losses 2 (1)

_There have been many fighters who looked for an opportune moment to make a 'smash'n'grab' and take some of Boxings riches for themselves with the minimum of effort. There have been Olympic Gold Medallists who have used their notoriety to climb the ladder of the Boxing World quickly, attracting lucrative deals and the 'push' of a major network to get them into positions some hard-working fighters could only dream to get into.

But for 1996 Olympic Gold medallist David Reid and his team, his quick ascension to the top of the game and minds of boxing fans and experts alike was based on necessity; a heavily drooping left eyelid made the usual drawn out 'prospect vs journeyman' matchups an unnecessary venture. The eyelid was damaged by future 154lb titlist Daniel Santos in the 1995 Pan-Am games, and made Reid's eyelid lose it's elasticity. Doctors told him they thought his vision would be impeded so drastically within a year, that he would have to cease boxing. Reid was going to be matched tough, quick, in order to get him the big fights before he found it impossible to carry on with his career. Ironically, the fight which cemented him as a top class talent was also the cause of his hopes of greatness to be derailed, when he stepped up to the plate against arguably the most dangerous P4P puncher of the last 20 years. _










_A former drug dealer and hoodlum, Reid turned to boxing to get him on the straight and narrow, and developed into quality amateur with both National (Golden Gloves) and International (Welterweight Gold; 1995 Pan-Am games, where he first suffered his eye injury) Reid blazed into the finals of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games with little difficulty, scrapping and boxing, and went into the final as the last American hope for a Boxing Gold in a team that included Floyd Mayweather Jr, Antonio Tarver and Fernando Vargas. However, hopefully outclassed by Cuban Alfredo Duvergal, who had won Gold at the same Pan American games as Reid in the division above, Reid was urged by his corner, the announcers, and probably all of his countrymen at home, to let it all go in the third and final round. He did, landing the big right hand that would see him highly touted as a pro', sensationally taking home the Olympic Gold at Junior Middleweight with a come-from-behind K.O!_
*2:55 Al Beristein with a classic bit of commentary*





_It was felt by a lot of the boxing press at the time, that Reid had as much potential to make a splash as the former Gold medal star, Oscar De La Hoya had. A rough and tough Philadelphia fighter, Reid moved away from his hometown to avoid the gym wars that so many of his heroes had seen shorten their ring career. Reid made his professional bow on HBO, the first fighter to do so, and received a lucrative fee of $200,000 for a four rounder. Reid demonstrated his crushing right hand power in his early fights, and some even touted him as a genuine P4P puncher. But Reid wasn't exactly knocking out stiffs. His first four opponents had a combined record of 44-2 and featured two undefeated fighters, and in his fifth pro bout he squashed faded former Welterweight champion Jorge Vaca inside a round._

_Simon Brown, coming off a stoppage loss to Bernard Hopkins up at Middleweight, was more remembered for the power he brought to the table at Welter and Junior Middleweight, scoring a stoppage over Terry Norris amongst others. Vulnerable but extremely dangerous, he was nonetheless chosen as the 10th opponent for the fledgling Reid. Here, Reid displays his offensive savagery. Dominating Brown and dropping him early, Reid doesn't allow his powerful foe to get a foot in, bombing him out in the fourth round with another big right hand and a truly highlight-reel finish!_





*K.O at 5:30; Brown down for a very long time, which I edited out*





_But as Reid stepped it up further, a worrying trend was being noted. Fading late and being dropped. HBO analysts quickly cottoned on to the fact that as Reid perspired more as the fight went on, his damaged eyelid would droop further down, impairing his vision further and leaving more prone to being hit with shots he didn't see coming. Nonetheless, in 1999 he recorded an impressive decision victory over solid titlist Laurent Boudouani (annoying taken off youtube :twisted who had made defences against a past-it Terry Norris, the very good Julio Cesar Vasquez, and solid Guillermo Jones, now a top ten Cruiserweight and was rated no.2 by The Ring going into the fight :nut_

_Two subsequent defences were not well-received. With his back against the wall, the 14-0 (7) WBA title holder was matched up with the most dangerous man in boxing at that point; 'Undefeated' Welterweight champion Felix 'Tito' Trinidad, jumping up to the 154lb weightclass directly after his controversial decision win over Oscar De La Hoya. 'Tito' was being primed for a super fight with the brash and popular Fernando Vargas, Reid's former team mate at Atlanta. Something strange happened. The rookie hit back._






_Reid takes the initiative from Trinidad in the second, and starts to find his range after some fairly cagey early rounds. Scoring a flash knockdown over Trinidad in the third round, Reid keeps it cool, with some success...until 'Tito' plants his feet and starts bombing at Reid._






_Reid displays his resilience, and gives a hint as to how good he'd be defensively without his injured eye. Taking heavy shots that had splattered most of Trinidad's opposition in pieces over the canvas, Reid shows incredible heart to keep rising, and uses swift upper body movement to avoid some scary looking shots and stay in the game. A big problem with Reid was that he wasn't too quick pulling out of exchanges. There are a few instances of him lazily backing straight out and getting a Trinidad wallop for his efforts._











_Not only was Reid taking a pummeling, his issues going into the later rounds resurfaced. With little clue as how to stop the man in front of him, Reid gets through to the end on sheer guts, displaying attributes that would've served him well in his future career as well as the experience gained from fighting a peak Felix Trinidad and living to tell the tale. Sadly, the amount of knockdowns he suffered rendered his good start null, and Trinidad won widely on points. Reid had gained new plaudits for his bravery and ability to keep coming back for more against the consensus hardest puncher P4P. It seemed David Reid had gained new fortune, despite losing a brutal decision and suffering the first blemish on his pro record. Unfortunately, he had also gained a detached retina for his problems; in his right eye!_

_Unfortunately for Reid, the shellacking he took from Felix Trinidad worsened his eye problems, and numerous operations to repair his eyelid was not successful. His longtime manager and trainer, who had taken him to Olympic and Pro' honours, stepped down as his still young charge stubbornly refused to retire. The twenty-seven year old Reid hoped for a clash with middleweight Don, the uber-skilled Bernard Hopkins, and tried to keep busy with lackluster decisions over club fighters. Stunningly upset by 'The Punching Policeman' Sam Hill, a part-time fighter, Reid faded into obscurity, embarrassed and physically unable to attain the heights he had previously scaled. Regardless of that, he still had a relatively impressive career in a short period of time, and is a staple in 'What If' debates amongst boxing fans. David Reid may not have reached his full potential, but he showed a glimpse of his awesome talent. And what an awesome talent he was._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

@Roe can I tweak the Starling one (take out some of the less literary stuff/emoticons) and get it on the front page. Less for me, more about exposing 'The Magic Man' to a few new people hopefully :good

I think the Arguello-Chacon-Limon-Navarette-Boza piece would be a decent one I could touch up and make work as well, let me know :good


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## Roe (Jun 1, 2012)

Flea Man said:


> @Roe can I tweak the Starling one (take out some of the less literary stuff/emoticons) and get it on the front page. Less for me, more about exposing 'The Magic Man' to a few new people hopefully :good
> 
> I think the Arguello-Chacon-Limon-Navarette-Boza piece would be a decent one I could touch up and make work as well, let me know :good


Yeah, course. Either edit it as a post on here or email me it - [email protected] and I'll get it up in the history section :thumbsup


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Sound mate :good


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## JamieC (Jun 2, 2012)

Coming along nicely, im calling dibs on froch and ill try work on a few more


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Come on next page


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

@JamieC bring Khaosai over :deal


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## DrMo (Jun 6, 2012)

Delete


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## DrMo (Jun 6, 2012)

nothing


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Name: Matthew Saad Muhammad (Matthew Franklin)

Height:: 5 ft. 11in (180cm)

Birth: 1954-06-16

Boxing record
Total fights 58
Wins 39 
KO's 29
Losses 16 (8 by stoppage)
Draws 3










_The term 'Comeback Kid' is one that has been used numerous times to describe a fighter who can come back from the brink of despair. Other fighters, Nigel Benn for instance, have been at their most dangerous when buzzed and seemingly on the way out. Some men have simply had good enough punch resistance that they can soak up their opponents onslaught until they punch themselves out. _

_Matthew Franklin was all of the above; his moniker was 'Miracle' Matthew, and it was not without reason. _

_After his Mother died, his Aunt sent Matthews older Brother to get rid of him. The story is that Saads brother left him by Philli's Franklin Parkway (hence the name he was given, supposedly he was born Maxwell Loach) and ran away. Found wandering the streets with no knowledge of his name, family or birth date, Matthew Franklin was taken in by Nuns and became the scrappiest of orphans, bred in the tough landscape of Philidelphia, one of the United States' premier breeding grounds for fighters. His rough upbringing has been well documented; I'm a boxing fan first and foremost so let's get onto the fights that make Gatti-Ward look like Klitschko-Ibragimov_

_As was the way back in the day, Saad fought in a division full of sharks, and had to fight them all from the get go. Saad, with a 6-1 record, defeated future Cruiserweight champion Marvin Camel over ten (taking his '0') just after he took the '0' of Olympic Gold medalist and future Light Heavyweight champion Mate Parlov over 8. That is an astounding level of competition for such an inexperienced competitor._

_Subsequent to this, Franklin underwent a change in his boxing DNA. After losing a return to Camel (Majority Decision) and drawing with Parlov, Saad was disappointed with a further loss to a fighter who would also go on to be regarded as one of the best light heavyweights of the era: Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (Gregory)_











_From there on in, anyone trying to outbox, outfight or outwork Matthew Franklin would be met with a tirade no man would want to face. Saad could spring out of nowhere, seemingly on the cusp of being sparked, only to land combinations and solid single shots that would detatch his opponents from his senses._

_In an NABF title fight over 12, Olympic medallist and future World champion Marvin Johnson was about to find out about this the hard way. Saad demonstrated his ability to throw bomb after bomb without relenting. His jab was a potent weapon as well, but he was renowned as a slow starter. The only way to wake him up, was to nearly put him to sleep._





















_Early deficits, inhuman absorbing of punishment and heroic, action-packed comebacks were about the become a staple of Matthew Franklin (now Saad Muhammad) fights. Three fights later he faced Richie Kates, a dangerous puncher and top class contender, who may've been considered unlucky to have been in one of the few era's he couldn't have claimed a strap in. Kates had pushed 175lb kingpin Victor Galindez very, very hard._






_5:57; Saad takes a MASSIVE right hand and goes down like he's been struck by Julian Jackson. Larry Holmes would be proud of his powers of recovery._






_'Miracle' Matthew came back to bludgeon Kates away from his senses. The first part is also on youtube, this is one of the great light heavyweight fights, and I'd suggest everyone with a passing interest in boxing to check it out._

_Saad then beat Yaqui Lopez, a top contender of the time, in 11 rounds, showing he could also boss a fight with his jab. Their rematch, with fights with Marvin Johnson and John Conteh sandwiched in between, was the Ring FOTY and a truly classic fight!_































_That fight was for the WBC title; a title Saad won in a rematch with Marvin Johnson, a shorter fight but with no less excitement! Both men had matured, but they put on no less of an effort, slugging it out 'til the end! Johnson had leapfrogged Saad with a TKO win over Mate Parlov, and would subsequently defeat ATG 175lber Victor Galindez for the WBA strap after this crushing defeat to Saad. Johnson bounced back after crushing defeats, the true mark of a top competitor._





















_Saad Muhammads first defence was against the English stylist John Conteh. Armed with a beautiful jab, inherant toughness and a high Boxing I.Q, Contehs progress was stunted by severe problems with his right hand and lifestyle between fights that shortened his career. In this fight however, which is arguably my personal favourite fight of all time, Contehs sporadic right is used to great effect. It takes, you guessed it, another jaw-dropping rally from Saad to snatch a points victory, in one of the great 15 round fights. The build-up gives a better gauge than I can of where both men were at going into this fight, it really gives you a perspective that not even hindsight can give. Conteh of course was a former champion himself, with solid wins over perenniel contender Yaqui Lopez (without a doubt a 'belt holder' in any other age), Len Hutchins, Chris Finnegan, Ruediger Schmidtke and Jorge Ahumada, known for a fantastic jab and varied assault despite an average reach and the aforementioned injured right hand. He had looked poor in his fight before against Jesse Burnett, but put in one last brilliant showing here against all odds._































_In the return, Conteh was shot. Grazing shots snatched his legs from underneath just as they had against Burnett, and I'd say it's a fight for completists only._

_Seven subsequent defences, all by stoppage, followed. The most impressive (aesthetically and the quality of opponent) was, in my opinion, Lotti Mwale. _

_Undefeated with a KO1 Tony Sibson and a points win over Marvin Johnson, the uppercut that Saad takes him out with is picture perfect and has to be seen to be believed._






_But Saad, for all his balls, knew his style was catching up with him. Trying to revert to his earlier jab-and-move style, he had sadly had his reflexes beaten out of him in his years of fighting Elite-level opposition. Dwight Muhammad Qawi, a 5'6 tank famous for his wars at Cruiser/Heavy as much as his awesome tenure as a Light Heavyweight, beat Saad emphatically to take his title, his prime, and his time at the top of the division away. Qawi (then Dwight Braxton) a tough ex-con with a Joe Frazier-esque bob and weave, was too tough, too wise, and too fresh for Saad to make another miraculous comeback against._






_Saad, like so many others, fell into the pattern of comebacks, losing to poor opponents and souring his record. He was tapped out in about ten seconds by a Japanese catch wrestler Tamura in an 'MMA' fight in the early 90's. Before it's time, it certainly delivered more than Ali-Inoki in terms of excitement. If I'm not wrong, the 'UWF' was Masakatsu Funaki's stable; a true pioneer of Mixed Martial Arts. Seems the 'wrestler vs boxer' debate was settled a long time before Dana White decided to shut James Toney up._






_Matthew Saad Muhammad remains however, one of the most exciting, hard-as-nails AND talented light heavyweights the sport has ever seen. Watching his fights can even leave a hardened veteran feeling humbled :good_

_As of July 2010, Muhammad was homeless and living in a shelter in Philadelphia._

Great article on it with some VERY interesting information about not only his current plight but his career

http://www.rhd.org/rhdstories/miraclematthew.aspx


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Starling updated with new fights, including against 16-0(15) Jose Baret. The build-up is quality, you see Baret decimating guys, and one of 'em is a highlight reel finish, _such_ heavy hands. Prime Sugar Ray Leonard then discusses what makes Starling great (and not so great)

Well worth a watch, as is the fight itself (an execution)


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## Roe (Jun 1, 2012)

Truly epic thread lads. :clap: Great work.

I've added a new section to the main site called Career Reviews and I'll try and get all these put up on there soon.

http://checkhookboxing.com/content.php?174-career-reviews

PS. this thread burns my laptop to the ground with all the videos posted :-( But it's still class.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Be better for you once they're in seperate sections in the 'Career Reviews' section :good


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## Chatty (Jun 6, 2012)

Billy Hardy










Born 15th September 1964 Billy Hardy started boxing at the age of ten at the Hylton Castle Boys Club. In a forty-eight fight career Hardy would fight for British, Commonwealth, European and World Titles at Bantamweight and Featherweight.

Hardy's amateur career saw him win the junior ABA title in 1981 as well as becoming North East Counties Bantamweight Champion in 1982-83 season, he would make the senior ABA quarter finals twice losing out to future pro opponents Ray Gilbody and John Hyland (the latter being his last fight as an amateur).

Billy commented: "I felt unduly done by in the Hyland fight and felt it was time to turn pro.

"I saw an advertisement in Boxing News and rang Lou Saughty who had his trainer's license and was at the time in the process of getting his managers license. I was managed by Harry Holland and had my first pro fight in November 1983 beating Kevin Downer convincingly on points over six two minute rounds.

"I had always been a come forward fighter as an amateur so my style suited the pro game but it was a big jump fighting more rounds, I was training for 8-10 in training and by my third fight I had moved up to six three minute rounds."

After winning thirteen of his first sixteen matches including a final eliminator with Keith Wallace for a chance at the British Bantamweight Championship.

It would be a long wait for Hardy to get his shot as the fight would suffer set-backs including Champion Ray Gilbody unsuccessfully challenging for the European championship and Hardy breaking his ribs.

"It had been cracked in the fight against Wallace the year before and I was training in Italy when I turned over in bed one morning and it popped out."

Despite the set-backs the he fight would finally take place on 19th February 1987 and Hardy would take the title with a brilliant display, knocking Gilbody down four times before the referee stopped the fight in the fourth round.

"I roughed him up from the first bell, he had been an amateur for so long he found it hard to change his ways as a pro, we took bus loads down to the fight and it was great to win the title.

"It was always my aim to become british champion and it was great to win the Lonsdale belt outright, winning the title stands you in good stead when you move on to European and world level and it also goes down in history."

Hardy would make four further defences (Ronnie Carroll x2, Brian Holmes and John Hyland avenging an amateur defeat) of this title winning the Lonsdale belt outright.

With the capture of the British title Hardy set his sights on winning the European Title and challenged Vincenzo Belcastro in Paola, Italy. Hardy would lose the fight by mixed decision, the fight being so close that they would go at it again the following year. Hardy's second shot at the title would again take place in Italy and although he would put on another great performance Billy would only get a moderately better result with the fight being declared a draw.

Hardy's good performances over this period earned him the chance to fight for the IBF World Bantamweight Championship held by Orlando Carnizales.

"I was top ten ranked in the world at the time, as high as No5 at one point and my management team got another good deal. Carnizales had never fought outside of America before and had made thirteen defences of his title, he'd obviously watched videos of me and thought I was going to be the next knock out on his record."

"I had been training in South Africa and met a guy named Richard Smith, I liked some of his ideas and we brought him over to work alongside myself and George Bowes."

The bout would take place in Sunderland's Crowtree Leisure Centre in front of Hardy's home crowd. The fight would see Hardy putting in one of the best performances of his career taking Carnizales to the wire and only losing by a split decision. The fight would be rated contest of the year in the Annual British Boxing Awards.

"He was tough and knew all the moves, he was a very good puncher and he thought he would knock me out. Ninety percent of the people in that arena thought I'd won the fight and it took me 18 months to get a re-match, he didn't want to fight me again.






When the rematch came it was to be in Carnizles hometown of Laredo, Texas. Billy trained hard for the fight but was put on the canvas in the third round, still undeterred Billy grafted on and seemed to be turning the fight his way in the middle rounds when he got caught with a stunning left hook in the eighth round which put Hardy down for the full count.

"It was very hot over there with temperatures reaching 140, we had tbeen training in South Africa and then had ten days preparation in Texas to acclimatise and get used to the different time zones etc.

"Having pure white skin, it wasn't perfect for the whether over there but I couldn't put it down to the heat as to why I lost. It was a funny fight, we had a game-plan but I never stuck to it, he put me down seven times in that fight and I can't remember one of them so that shows how good he was on the day."






Disappointed, Hardy would retire briefly before coming back as a featherweight:

"I took three months off and was training the amateurs at Hylton Castle ABC, in my last show I guided the lads to win all seven of their bouts on a show and brought the bug back", Billy commented.

Billy would win the Commonwealth title of Ricky Rayner, a belt he would defend five times beating Barrington Francis, Alan McKay, Stamford Ngcebeshe, Percy Commey and Michael Aldis. The defence over Alan McKay would also see Hardy win the vacant British Featherweight tile, a title he would vacate himself within a year.

Tragedy would strike in that time though, when his trainer Richard Smith was shot dead in a car-jacking on his return to South Africa. Billy would box in the country later that year (a twelve round points victory over Stamford Ngcebeshe) dedicating the bout to Smith and his family.

Hardy would again set his sights on becoming a European Champion, this time succeeding beating the Algerian Mehdi Labdouri over twelve rounds in France.

"There hadn't been many British lads boxed for titles abroad and won at the time so it was a good victory."

Billy would make successful defences of the European crown against Stefano Zoff (Twice) and former WBO World Featherweight Champion Steve Robinson.

The only level left for Hardy to conquer was World level and he would get his chance against the current undefeated champion, the charismatic Prince Naseem Hamed who would put his IBF and WBO World Championships on the line.

The fight would take place in Manchester and Billy would take a magnificent support with him only to for the bout to end in disaster. Hardy was caught early in the opening round (having his nose and cheekbone broken) and put on the canvas, Billy would get up and continue bravely but the damage had been done and after being floored again the referee stopped in to end the carnage.






Billy would only have two more fights, a points victory over Mehdi Labdouri and in his final fight would lose his European and Commonwealth titles to Paul Ingle.

Billy Hardy had had a long but successful fifteen year career which saw him fight some of the best boxers in the world at domestic and world title level. Although a World Title eluded Hardy he came very close to snatching the victory in his first fight with International Boxing Hall of Famer Orlando Carnizales.

Billys final record stands at an excellent 37 - 9 -2 making him one of the best boxers ever to hail from the North-East Region of England.


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## Roe (Jun 1, 2012)

Flea Man said:


> Be better for you once they're in seperate sections in the 'Career Reviews' section :good


Yeah definitely. I have a vision of one day having a write-up for every elite fighter in history plus plenty of others :lol: It'll help me and hopefully many more learn more about so many greats.

Just a note for anyone that's doing them career summaries. It might be a good idea to use the same kind of template for each one so they look neater together. I like the way Wallet's structured the ones on Joe Frazier and Sergio Martinez, for example.

But they're all great :good


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## Chatty (Jun 6, 2012)

Can't remember writing this article or where i got the info from - I may have to edit some bits later after I do some more research but for now here goes:

The London's

From West Hartlepool Father and son Jack and Brian London would both become British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Champions. Both men would come up against some of the best fighters of their era, Jack fighting the likes of Tommy Loughran and Freddie Mills whereas Brian would face of against some of the greatest Heavyweights of all time in Floyd Patterson and Muhammad Ali.

Jack London

Born John George Harper on the 23rd June 1913 George would take his ring name after the American Author and Boxing Journalist. Jack would have a career that would span over one hundred and forty bouts as a pro coming up against the best boxers locally, domestically and globally.

It would take London one hundred and twenty two fights before he was given his chance to become a British and Commonwealth Champion but in those fights London built up an impressive resume which included wins over quality local opposition such as Paul McGuire (Points Win), Charlie McDonald (a Points Win and Points Loss) and Jack Casey (a TKO Loss and a Points Win).

London also participated in a rivalry with the Canadian Heavyweight Larry Gains, a man who held a victory over the giant Primo Carnera (who would become World Champion). London and gains would go at it five times, Gains knocking out London in the Second round of their first fight. The second bout would be declared a no contest but London would have his revenge in the final three match-ups knocking gains out consecutively in the fourth, third and second rounds.

Other highlights of his pre-champion career would see London beating fighters such as the Canadian heavyweight Al Delaney and the quality Jewish-American fighter Roy Lazer (a quality boxer who would fight quality opponents such as Joe Louis, Tony Galento and beat Jersey Joe Walcott).

London also fought it out with ex Light Heavyweight Champion Tommy Loughran, an excellent boxer who had been in with legends such as Max Baer, James Braddock, Harry Greb, George Carpentier and Jack Sharkey to name just a few. London put in a hard shift in this ten round contest but Loughran showed his talent on route to a point's victory.

Another man to whom London would lose a points decision was Buddy Baer, a tough Heavyweight who was the brother of once World Heavyweight Champion Max Baer. Although London would lose there would be no shame as Buddy was a top fighter who would have two unsuccessful World Title bouts with Joe Louis.

London had been a pro for thirteen years when he finally earned himself a shot at the vacant British and Commonwealth Heavyweight championships. His opponent would be Freddie Mills, a man who already held a point's decision over London, Mills would enter the ring three stone lighter than London but he was considered that good that he was still the 3-1 favorite to win the fight. London however, would not let this chance get him by and over fifteen rounds at the Belle Vue, Manchester boxed his way to victory and finally the championships he deserved.

Jacks first defense would end in disaster getting knocked out by Bruce Woodcock in the sixth round of their title fight at White Hart Lane. Woodcock was the smaller man but used the ring and his evasiveness well to avoid London, in the sixth Woodcock caught London with a good left dropping him to the canvas. London got up but was dropped a further two times before being counted out.

This period would prove to be the high point of London's career and after two failed attempts at title eliminators and a first round knock out loss to American Aaron Wilson decided to call it a day. London would take up wrestling in retirement and own a nightclub; he would also help nurture his sons boxing careers. John (Jack London Jnr) would win no titles but end with a decent career record of 28-13-2 and Brian would follow his fathers footsteps in become a British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion. Jack London's final record stands at an excellent 95-40-5.

Brian London

Brian Sydney Harper would take his father ring name (London) when turning professional. London's career started with an excellent run of twelve straight victories's but was brought to an end in devastating fashion when Henry Cooper stopped him in the first round of their first fight. London would battle back from this by winning seven of his next five fights (losing only to Willie Pastrano and Heinz Neuhaus).

Because of London's fine form he was given the chance to fight for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight Championships against Welshman Joe Erskine. Brian would knock out Erskine in the eighth round and emulate his father after only twenty four career fights.

London would follow this victory by getting revenge on Willie Pastrano cutting him badly to force the stoppage in the fifth round. London's next bout would be the defense of his title against old foe Henry Cooper and although this time the two would battle over fifteen rounds it would be Cooper who again got his hand raised at the final bell.

Losing his British and Commonwealth titles was a blow for London but his next bout gave him the chance to become a World champion when he faced of against then youngest Heavyweight Champion of all time Floyd Patterson. London fought his heart out in this bout but Patterson showed why he was World Champion stopping London in the eleventh round.


















London's form would suffer inconsistency for the rest of his career mainly due to the fact that he was fighting with some great boxers in an excellent era. The next few years would see London beat opponents such as Pete Rademacher, Tom mcNeeley, Amos Johnson and the Golden Boy Billy Walker. London would in the same space of time also lose bouts to quality opponents such as Eddie Machen, Ingemar Johansson, Nino Valdes and another fifteen rounds point's decision against Henry Cooper.






Although his form was inconsistent London did enough to warrant himself another shot at the World heavyweight Championship, this time his opponent would be non other than the self proclaimed greatest Muhammad Ali. Ali would show in this fight why he is considered to be one of the greatest fighters of all time in one of the greatest showings of his early career when he knocked London out in the third round.






London would only win a further two fights against James J Woody and Zora Folley but would fail in a British title eliminator against Jack Bodwell and lose bouts against highly rated Jerry Quarry (twice) and his final fight against a young Joe Bugner.

London's final record stands at 37-20-1 and although at first sight this may not look exceptional it must be taken into consideration that London consistently fought with World class opponents including four World Champions in Muhammad Ali, Floyd Patterson, Ingemar Johansson and Willie Pastrano. London also fought with six World Championship contenders in Henry Cooper, Pete Rademacher, Jerry Quarry, Joe Bugner, Zora Folley and Eddie Machen. London's status as a top British Heavyweight was set when he was voted eighth greatest Heavyweight in post war Britain by a top British website.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

@DrMo I still ain't got round to it :lol:


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## Michael (Jun 8, 2012)

Has there been one on Stevie Johnston done yet lads, either on here or Eastside?

If not id like to attempt one sometime during the week, hes a fighter ive liked watching recently.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

@Sportofkings No mate there isn't.


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## Michael (Jun 8, 2012)

Right so thats sound, ill try it this week.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Name: Sam Langford

Height:: 5′ 6½″ / 169cm

Birth date 1883-03-04 
Death date 1956-01-12

Boxing record
Total fights 309
Wins 206
KO's 129
Losses 48 (9 by stoppage)
Draws 55










_Sam Langford was a true freak of boxing, fighting ATG opposition from Lightweight to Heavyweight. With wins over Dixie Kid, Harry Wills, 'Gunboat' Smith, Jim Johnson, Sam McVea, Kid Norfolk, Tiger Flowers, Joe Jeanette, Joe Gans, Young Peter Jackson, Jack Blackburn, 'Philadelphia' Jack O'Brien, George Godfrey and draws with reigning Welterweight champion and P4P ATG 'Barbados' Joe Walcott (15 rounds, highly competitive) and middleweight champion Stanley Ketchel (6 rounds, controversial) cement Langford as one of the greatest fighters of all time, who would take on any challenge no matter how great or big._

_Before the days of Floyd Vs Pac, there was Sam Vs Jack. A small middleweight, Langford was thoroughly beaten by Johnson when Jack was close to the Cruiserweight limit and chasing a fight with the consensous Heavyweight champion Tommy Burns, who had beaten most of the top opposition around the Globe following James J. Jeffries retirement as undefeated Heavyweight champion. _

_Langford participated in catchweight fights, fought around the globe for bogus titles (a fight with McVea was once stipulated as being for the 'British Heavyweight championship' and Sam was famously the holder of the 'Mexcian Heavyweight championship') and this is how it was before numerous weights and with consistent fighting. Langford would fight anyone, anywhere, sometimes taking little to no purse just to display his superiority over his opponent._

_When Johnson won the title, and Langford was destroying Heavyweights whilst weighing in around the Light Heavyweight limit, Johnson did his utmost to avoid Langford, claiming the money wasn't right or flat out declaring that Langford was too dangerous. It was known amongst fans and the media that whilst Johnson refused to face men of his own race (declaring the 'White Hopes'were much easier) that Langford, Joe Jeanette and Sam McVea were going the right way about proving who the best challenger was; by fighting each other. Langford, always outweighed and the much shorter man, went pretty much neck-and-neck with the bigger stylist in Jeanette, and definitely got the better of the much bigger jab-move style of McVea as they went through their series (watching McVea in action to study his style) being able to change from mid-range boxer-puncher, to a best swarming on the inside. _

_One of Langfords most awe inspiring wins is over ATG 135lber 'The Old Master' Joe Gans, at that time THE Lightweight champion of the World, as good a puncher as he was a master of 'The Sweet Science''. Langford, fighting at around the Light Weltwerweight limit, struggled mightily to make the 135lbs limit, but as he could only make 136, his dominant win over the top fighter P4P of the day was registered as a non-title win. Langford was starting to develop from a raw, hard-punching Welterweight into a cagey operator could would force his opponents to lead, and pounce on mistakes by walking them onto his stiff right cross, or his powerful left hook (his weapon of choice, mainly because his opponents feared the right, Langford often over-using it to make them less wary of the more powerful left swing)_

*Footage Of Joe Gans In Action*






*ATG Weltwerweight Champion 'Barbados' Joe Walcott*










_The original Joe Walcott had an impressive blowout of top Heavyweight Joe Choynski, flattening him in a few rounds and dropping him many, many times early on. Known for only being 5'2, Joe Walcott was the top Weltwerweight in the World, and used his experience at fighting out of a crouch (accounts have him leaping into explosive hooks) to earn a draw against Langford. Walcotts career at the top was cut short after a hand injury suffered by accidentally shooting himself in the hand with a Revolver he was showing to a friend._

_Whilst short, Langford was famous for his barrel-chest, long arms and super human strength and punch resistance. Against Bill Lang, a strong Australian Heavyweight who had beaten down a way past his best Bob Fitzsimmons, Langford demonstrated his massive punching power; a classic anecdote is that before the fight started, Langford had told Lang exactly where he was to drop him! Notice that the fighters are wearing white gloves; it was thought that Langs punches would show up better on Langfords skin. They had many fights; Langford beat him badly in many of them. _






*Lang overwhelming a past-prime Bob Fitzsimmons*






_Langford was renowned for his in-fighting ability, __and his deft movements allowing him to counter from inside the pocket. Against Joe Jeanette, a top HW contender of the time, his ability to close the distance was tested often. Jeanette was slick for his time, with a stiff long jab with which he could keep distance expertly. The below is an absolute war (they had many) and in the middle rounds, Langfords hooks and uppercuts are displayed to their fullest; knocking Jeanette, known for his amazing powers of recovery, around the ring and knocking him down numerous times. His parries, movement and ability to close the distance are also well demonstrated here, as are Jeanettes heart, speed and jab and move style. Essential viewing this._






_There is footage of his fight with perenniel contender 'Fireman' Jim Flynn amongst a highlight video online, poor quality though._

_Stanley Ketchel, an ATG puncher, came in under the Middleweight limit so he had an excuse would he be bettered by Langford (who was around the light heavyweight mark for their fight) and demanded a 6 round no-decision bout which meant Langford would have to knock him out within the six rounds to win the fight, and that the middleweight title would not be on the line. Again, Langford was having World Championship opportunities wrested from him, but he took the fight nonetheless. The fans in attendance felt Langford took it easy on the champion, but Langford claimed Ketchels unstoppable whirlwind style made it hard for him to find counter punching opportunities._

*Stanley Ketchel Defending His World Middleweight Championship*






_Langford had a hard-fought series with ATG HW Harry Wills, who bested him more often than not (for the 'Coloured Heavyweight Championship' that Langford had been deemed the holder of).Wills was not highly-regarded when Langford first started fighting him, but would get more and more recognition as arguably Jack Dempseys most viable HW contender (avoided due to 'the colour line). In one of their most competitive contests, Langford had been dropped numerous times, but rallied in the 14th round to spark Wills, who was going for the finish and caught by a big left hand. _

_*Harry Wills*_

_







_

_*Wills past his best against Joe Louis opponet Uzcudon*_

_



_
_George Godfrey was amongst those touted as Gene Tunneys successor when he retired as undefeated HW champion; the colour line barred him getting a shot (the likes of Sharkey and Carnera were felt more viable) but Langford defeated a green Godfrey a few times as well. _

*Godfrey vs Carnera; footage on youtube*

http://www.phillyboxinghistory.com/more/attendance/19300623_carnera_godfrey.jpg

*Wills Vs 'Battling' Jim Johnson*






_Langford bested both Wills and Johnson numerous times. Wills is never what I expected him to be. For a beast at 5'11, you'd expect him to be a Tyson-esque figure, but even his most loving fans in France saw him as a bit of a Dirrell-type figure; not a fan of pressure, and more likely to move and use his jab. Langford often beat him up, after figuring out his style after dropping a few fights to him. At one point Langford felt McVey was too big. Eventually winning Australian authorities round to his style of ín-fighting', which Police officials felt was dirty, Langford learned the close the gap and beat McVey up more often than not._

*Sam McVey*










*McVey Vs Langford*










_Battling against serious eye problems, Langford was known for 'feeling out'his opponents as his career went on, his sheer power allowing him to pick up victories amongst losses he never would've received in his prime. Renowned as one of the hardest hitters P4P in the history of gloved boxing, 'The Boston ********'was without a doubt one of the greatest fighters to have ever lived._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

_langford, cont'd;_

_Strangely, many of the white fighters of the time revered him. Tommy Burns, John L. Sullivan and James J. Jeffries all rated Langford as the best fighter of the time and a sure-fire bet to beat Jack Johnson. Langford, revered as a Gentleman, was classed by white pundits/fans/fighters as having 'a white heart', and as there were no viable white contenders around seen good enough to beat Johnson, Langford was seen as the lesser of two evils and as Johnsons closest adversary. By all accounts, Johnson did everything in his power to avoid rematching a much more experienced Langford, who against all the odds had gone the 15-round distance against Johnson being outweight by upwards of thirty pounds (Langford was between Welter-Middleweight at the time of their fight) and got through on sheer heart alone. _

_'Gunboat' Smith had easily bested Langford over the distance previously, and in the time between his first and second contest with Sam, had performed well against many top contenders (even battering Georges Carpentier to the deck before being DQ'd for an illegal blow whilst Carpentier was down) but in their rematch, Langford was better prepared. He dropped Smith four times in three rounds. Langford maintained Smith had beaten him fair and square first time around. Smith, touted as the'next 'White Hope' for Johnson, had his place taken by Jess Willard, Johnsons eventual successor who in no way wanted to harm his chances of getting a shot by fighting Langford. _

*'Gunboat' Smith*

[









_'Gunboat' Smith, who faced Willard, Fred Fulton, Jack Dempsey and Harry Wills, on Sam: _

_"...nobody ever came close to being as good as he was at his peak. Why, old Sam could do everything. He could punch from any position, and hit hard too. He was a master boxer, difficult to hit, but if you did land you might just as well try to make an impression upon the floor of the Garden. He would take all the hear out of you and then give you a finepasting. He ruined me. I was all through after that last fight with Langford in Boston....could punch with either hand and had a wallop every time he landed, no matter where he started the blow'._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Name: Paul Takeshi Fuji

Height: 5'6










Boxing record
Total fights 38
Wins 34
KO's 29
Losses 3 (2)
Draws 1

A Japanese-American Light Welterweight, and one of the hardest puncher of all time at the weight, Paul Fuji was a fairly unremarkable fighter who was technically woeful, but at one point was the undisputed 140lb king, and is rated by some to be the hardest puncher in the divisions history.

Losing to a Filipino journeyman early on (avenged) Fuji learned to implement constant upper body movement to create openings for his heavy handed barrages. One of the first to really experience the extent of Fujis assault was Sandro Lopopolo, the unified 140lb champ', and a tricky Italian who didn't go down easily (and had won the belts with a decision win over great 140lber Carlos Hernandez, admittedly in his Italian homeland), but Fuji just savaged him with wild, vicious punches, battering him to a 2nd round stoppage.






Now that is a brutal display! The Italian would only be finished one more time in his career, in the pentultimate bout of 77 contests.

Against German Willy Quatuor, you really see how Fuji made up for his lack of technical refinement. The aforementioned upper body movement, which admittedly doesn't stop him resorting to wild swings, as well as switching between southpaw and orthodox to try and draw space for his massive bombs.










And then it was for the fight that most remember him for; a drubbing at the hands of 'The Master' himself, Nicolino Locche, who put on one of the masterful displays boxing has ever seen, against the dangerous Jap'.










Unable to get anything going, missing all of his shots, and thoroughly bamboozled, Fuji, eyes closing and looking foolish, was not allowed to continue into the 10th round, and faced shame amongst Japanese fans for 'quitting'. He never returned to the big stage again, stopping a few journeyman before becoming a trainer in Japan


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Name: Kuniaki Shibata

Height:: 5 ft. 4in (163cm)

Birth: 1947-03-29

Boxing record
Total fights 56
Wins 47
KO's 25
Losses 6 (5)










_Kuniaki Shibata could be caught cold, and was quite a few times. In fact, at times his whiskers looked to fail him whenever he tried to get a foothold in a packed Featherweight division, but somehow, with perseverance and hard work, this hard-working Japanese managed to win belts in two divisions, and amassed some quality wins on his ring record.

He had a varied offence, was a respectable puncher to head and body, and complimented rounded style with fast hands in combination and bounced around the ring consistently, blending offence and defence seamlessly. When settled into a fight, he was a formidable fighter who could maintain a high pace well into the championship rounds. Catch him early and he was fairly easy to vanquish.

He was one of the best Featherweights in Japan in the late 60s, but had failed in his attempts to step up the ladder, being stopped in a challenge for the OBPF 126lb title, and also by fringe contender Dwight Hawkins.

But stepping up against a recently out of retirement legend for the WBC Featherweight championship, Shibata produced a career best performance: against legendary Mexican Vicente Saldivar. Saldivar, who had 'retired' as the undisputed champion, had returned with hard-fought decision wins over ATG Featherweight Jose Legra and solid champion Johnny Famechon, to jump back to the top of the division within two fights. Those were tough distance fights (10 and 15 respectively) and you can't help but imagine Shibata being seen as an easy defence for the ageing champion. Shibata however, took the game away from him, using his faster hands to wear down the lethargic, battle-won Saldivar.

Shibata showed his full repertoire; when warmed up and focused, he slipped Saldivars shots well, landed a stiff jab and picked his spots well with a nice straight right from mid-range, which with his bouncing in and out of range, he could pop frequently which made it hard for Saldivar to time his own solid counters. On the inside, Shibata let off fast combinations, throwing hooks to the body with both hands. Saldivar put up a strong effort late, but the damge had already been done.

Kuniaki Shibata was the best 126lber in the World, working hard to come through some rough moments against a fighter who was still a top-notch solid competitor, although undoubtedly removed from his very best days. _































_Shibata scored a brutal first round stoppage in defence of his WBC featherweight title against experienced Raul Cruz. Cruz had a deceptive record of 16-5 going into the bout, but had faced seriously tough competition, including Ricardo Arredondo (1-0), Rafael Herrera (1-0), Lionel Rose (1-0), Chuco Castillo, (1-1), Rodolfo Martinez (0-1) and Clemente Sanchez (0-1) all former or future World champions. Shibata came out quick and wiped him out with a fearsome two-fisted assault, knocking the first challenger to his featherweight title totally unconscious.
_





_The next defence of his title was against Panamanian stylist Ernesto Marcel. The fight was ruled a draw, but is regarded by anyone that has seen it as a robbery in the Japs favour. Marcel would have to wait to win a belt of his own, but Shibata was not going to hold onto his for much longer.

Six months later, he was spectacularly blown away by Mexican puncher Clemente Sanchez. Showing again he could be caught early, Shibata tries to recover but his vulnerabilities are clear to see: he's done, and slumps to the mat, losing his title by crushing K.O, and not for the last time. _






_Shibata moved up to Super Featherweight, and pulled off an incredible victory over ATG super featherweight Ben Villaflor of The Phillipines, with a wide decision win to claim the WBA version of the title. Shibata made a single defence, against dangerous Argie contender Victor Echegaray, who had pushed Villaflor to a close draw, before being matched up with Villaflor again.

The size difference here is immense. Villaflor was a strong, rugged fighter and a massive 130lber who was never stopped in sixty-six contests. Shibata, despite his vulnerability early in his fight, was never scared to mix it up, and tries to stamp his authority on the fight early, throwing fast combinations. The beastly Filipino shows his strength advantage, pushing Shibata out of the ring, before he regains the belt with a truly savage one punch K.O._






_In his next fight, Shibata claimed the WBC title with a 15-round decision win over Ricardo Arredondo, and defended the belt title three times against seemingly average opposition. To give an idea of his form at the time, United Press Int. said "Kuniaki Shibata of Japan successfully defended his WBC junior lightweight championship Thursday night by scoring a one-sided unanimous decision over Ould Makhloufi of Algeria in their 15 round match." He also defended his title by punching out a late stoppage against Ecuadorian journeyman contender Ramiro Bolanos, another big super feather who had mixed in good company. Here, you see Shibata landing his sharp counters, and then following up with aggression that showed he was undettered by his several heavy K.O losses. Going into the 12th, both champion and challenger are badly marked up, but Shibata demonstrates his counter punching ability here. Bolanos, badly damaged and desperately outclassed, is saved after another series of accurate shots from Shibata. Well worth a watch_ :good






_He lost his title again by early K.O to great Super Featherweight champion Alfredo Escalera, probably best known for his two wars with Alexis Arguello. Shibata rounded off his career with two wins over decent domestic opposition, and bowed out on a 3-fight winning streak

Kuniaki Shibata faced quality opposition, and won more fights at the top level than he lost. He showed you can bounce back from devastating stoppage losses if you have the desire, and fighting talent to overcome vulnerabilities in punch resistance. He was a two-weight World champion in a time where that still meant something, and was the first man to stop ATG Featherweight champion Vicente Saldivar. He was a very good operator who achieved a lot despite his tendency to get blown out early in important fights._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Name: Masahiko 'Fighting' Harada

Height:: 5 ft. 3 in. (160 cm.)

Birth: 1943-04-05

Boxing record
Total fights 62
Wins 55
KO's 22
Losses 7 (2)










_Fighting Harada fought in arguably the toughest Bantamweight division of all time, and is hard done by not be a genuine 3 Weight World Champion.

As a Flyweight, he held wins over the great Hiroyuki Ebihara and the very good Pone Kingpetch, and was the Champion in a time of one. He fought Kingpetch twice for *the*_ _World Flyweight title, dethroning him in the first with a dominating display of swarming, before a closer return which saw Harada robbed in Thailand,._

*Kingpetch I*


























_Masahiko (a notoriously bad weight cutter) took a few fights at featherweight. He then made the transition to 118lbs (in the days before super-fly) and aimed to face the seemingly unbeatable Brazilian, and, in many pundits opinions greatest Bantamweight ever, Eder Jofre. But his Bantamweight run got off to a bumpy start, walking into a trap set by one of the hardest punchers in 118lb history: Jose Medel._

*Medel I*




















_Harada didn't let the loss affect him, and quickly built back up to title contention, squaring off with the great Jofre for the World Bantamweight Championship in two unbelievable contests. Harada outpunched and out manouvered the textbook Jofre, who was renowned for his murderous punching puncher. In a particularly revered moment, Harada staggered Jofre for most of the fourth round of their first fight, stamping his authority on the division. (Rounds 4 & 5 are below) and although the second fight was closer, Harada came out of the fights as the better man._






_Harada defended his World title against some very, very good Bantams. He beat Bernando Caraballo in a very good fight where both hit the deck. Avenged the loss to Jose Medal, but one of his cloest bouts was a defence against top contender Alan Rudkin, of Liverpool. In a closely contested battle in Japan, Harada won a decision, after scoring a flash knockdown in the first round over the gritty and able Rudkin. Rudkin also pushed eventual Harada successor Lionel Rose very close as well, judged by many fans to be on the wrong end of hometown decisions (though both were closely-contested battles and not 'robberies' IMO) _











_However, his struggles with the weight started again; unable to make the 118lb limit safely, he was well beaten by ATG Australian Bantam Lionel Rose. Harada was done at Bantam. _





















_Solid Featherweight champ Johnny Famechon stood in Haradas way of winning three LEGITIMATE WORLD TITLES. Fighting in Famechons home turf of Australia, Harada found he was also fighting the greatest Featherweight of all time that night; Willie Pep was the referee and only Judge, and after being hassled by the pro-Famechon crowd he awarded the decision to the reigning champion, well renowned as one of the most controversial decisions in a World title fight._

_Harada was distraught, and never reached those heights again. He retired after losing the rematch to Famechon, stopped in the 14th round and down on all three cards. _

_Being able to switch between a frenetic Blietzkrieg assault and smooth mid-range boxing, Masahiko Harada had it all. A discerning fan reviewing his career must surely judge him as a legitimate 3-weight World champion, in the days of only one title. _

_Taking into context the lack of super-fly/super-bantamweight divisions, Haradas rise through the weights from fly to feather has to be seen as one of the most brilliant P4P achievments in boxing history, especially when you consider the depth of names and performances his CV contains. Fighting Harada was truly one of *THE GREATS, *and, despite Manny Pacquiao's recent achievments, still has a genuine claim to being the greatest Asian fighter of all time._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Name: Saensak Muangsurin
Height: 5'7

Boxing record
Total fights 20
Wins 14
KO's 11
Losses 6 (2)










_One truth about Boxing, is that Muay Thai fighters are used for warm-up fights for top talents looking to stay busy. Similarly-named Thais can be found on many fighters ring records, losing in auspicious fashion. Sometimes, they turn up with no reputation and quickly stake one as a hardcase, upsetting the odds on their favoured opponents and punishing them for underestimating them.

Saensak Muangsurin was no different. Former World title challenger Testuo 'Lion' Furuyama found this out the hard way, being battered by the unheralded Thai to a 7th round stoppage, the first of his career, and just two fights after going the distance with ATG Light Welterweight champ Antonio Cervantes for the WBA title.

Muangsurin had only one pro bout going into the fight. A 1st-round stoppage win against tough Filipino journeyman Rudy Barro. Barro, much more experienced, takes the fight to the awkward opponent in front of him, and for his troubles gets sparked brutally with a cold one-shot K.O. _






_In only his third pro bout, Muangsurin took on WBC title holder Perico Fernandez, who had won the vacant title in a fight with Furuyama after Bruno Acari had vacated the strap. A solid European champion well into the 1980s, Fernandez was stopped by his awkward opponent in the 8th round. Saensak Muangsurin remains the man to win a version of the World title in the fewest number of fights, and extended his run to 3-0 (3) with two wins over top 5 opposition.

A better prepared Lion Furuyama awaited him and was more eager than ever to claim his first 'World' title. They were to engage in a closely contested 15 round war of attrition in Furuyamas homeland._

*Muangsurin Vs Furuyama II (No Sound)*





















_This is the first fight where I really found myself capable of assessing Muangsurins qualities. In terms of technical ability: throw it out the window. Muangsurin shows little co-ordination, and gets by on a few key things: his awkward Muay Thai guard (hands up to parry/palms facing outwards); his solid chin and strong second wind; clubbing heavy handed shots. Putting all of them attributes together, he was a durable hardman who carried his power late into 15 round fights, and could really cause damage with single shots, often telegraphed but thrown with real conviction from a strong 140lber.

Furuyama outworks the champion throughout, as Muangsurin moves backwards and allows the challenger to come to him and throw, but it's Muangsurin who does more damage when he connects. As the fight goes on he lets his hands go more, having allowed the plucky Japanese to throw the kitchen sink at him. Muangsurin wings in hooks, and tries to hard to time his left cross, but his wild, heavy shots get through more and more as he goes into the Championship distance for the first time. Muangsurin W15 Furuyama in a real blood-and-guts scrap and closely fought battle._











_In a fight I can't find much out about, Muangsurin lost his title via decision to a Euro-level fighter in Miguel Velasquez. Muangsurin quickly avenged his loss with a 2nd round stoppage in his last fight of 1976.

In 1977, Muangsurin went on an amazing run of 6-0 (3) which included a 15th rnd stoppage win over top contender Monroe Brooks, and a stoppage of Guts Ishimatsu, one of the perennial contenders at 135lbs in the preceding decade.

Guts was a hot-and-cold fighter who could sometimes pull quality victories out of the bag, as he did against an unmotivated Ken Buchanan a few years earlier, but is arguably mostly known for being superbly picked part by a peak Lightweight Duran, which IMO is one of the best displays of his perfect ability to pick his punches.

Needless to say, Muangsurin is a far different obstacle. Guts starts off well here, but Muangsurin is too strong, absorbs the Jap' boxers early aggression and and clubs him down to a resounding 6th round stoppage._











_Muangsurin went the 15-round distance twice among these six defences; besting old foe Perico Fernandez, and supposedly being very, very lucky indeed to win a hometown decision over slick and durable Saoul Mamby, who would nonetheless go on to be title holder in his own right and a top Light Welterweight stylist. He went on to defend his title with two more championship rounds stoppages, including future title challenger Jo Kimpuani, an experienced fighter.

Muangsurins style was catching up to him though, and he lost his title via 13th round stoppage to Sang Hyun Kim. Kim, a gangly Korean, went on to lose by stoppage to Mamby and lose his title; the only time I've seen him is in a pitiful showing against a prime Aaron Pryor.

Moving up to Welterweight, the former 140lb title holder Muangsurin lost a lot of what made him a dangerous opponent. As if to solidify the problems he would have implementing his size and strength advantages further up the scale, he was pitted against a rising Welterweight star from Detroit with a stellar amateur career and freakish frame: 22-0 Thomas Hearns._

_Muangsurin has no chance here, but his effort is commendable. He tries his usual style of laying back and letting his opponent throw the kitchen sink at him, which is obviously a shocking gameplan against a young Tommy Hearns :lol: Muangsurin tries to fight fire with fire on more than one occasion, his wild Southpaw swings are no match for Hearns' footspeed, his superb hands sending heavy artillery Muangsurins way constantly._






_This is an amazing display of the sheer toughness that Muangsurin possessed. Being felled heavily numerous times, he is nearly decapitated in the final found by the famous Hearns right hand that sent so many to sleep. (7:24)

Incredibly, Muangsurin gets up and resumes fighting, swinging heavy single shots and refusing to lie down, taking some ferocious shots from Hearns including a precise uppercut. The brave (or should that be mental?) Thai is saved from further punishment by the Ref' after taking an incredible shellacking._

_Suffering from dementia in later life before passing away, Sansaek Muangsurin has kept his incredible achievement of winning a World title in only three professional fights for over 30 years, even with the influx of title straps that make it easier to win one than ever before. He was a teak tough, awkward slugger who defended his title nine times, despite having very little boxing seasoning and relying on his Muay Thai schooling to make the most of his vicious power._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Obviously I'll get round to tidying these up. If I was you lot I'd save as many of yours as you can.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

*PART ONE*: *The All-Time Great*

*Name*: Alexis Arguello
*Height*: 5'10

*Boxing record*
Total fights 85
Wins 77
KO's 62
Losses 8 (4)










_Alexis Arguello is rightly regarded as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of all time, one of the greatest punchers of all time, and one of the true Gentleman boxers. The Nicaraguan boxer-puncher was a tall man for the weights he fought at, and was a fan favourite revered for his charisma and manner outside of the ring as much as his brutal slayings and displays of machismo inside of it, retaining his qualities and ability to finish an opponent throughout the 15-round Championship distance, never losing in a title defence. _

_Arguello was a chilling finisher who threw every punch straight out of the textbook, and as well as being able to find room for ramrod singles or throw bone crunching combinations, he had devastating K.O power in either hand to both head and body, and made up for being slow on his feet by having excellent timing, accuracy and the knowledge of where to plant his feet whenever the opportunity to punch presented itself. Mainly revered for his pulverising straight right hand, Arguello was an expert at breaking an opponent down, had a superb jab and counter punched very well. He could pick off punches well with his gloves and had superb survival skills and powers of recovery, and could remain composed when under attack and would fire back when pressured. In short, he was one of the last fighters you'd want to get into a fire fight with, and the Matador to a number of aggresive Bulls. He was a Conquistador who fought in ten different countries (and some multiple times) and became a well-loved fan favourite in the United States._

_But turning pro' in 1968 as a boxing mad 16 year old, the man who would be known as 'El Flaco Explosivo' (The Explosive Thin Man) Arguello had a less than promising start to his career, going 3-2 in his first five fights, and suffering back to-back losses. Arguello did as he did in the ring. Recovered quickly, and embarked on a destructive path to the top of the Featherweight division.

Going 28-1 (24) between '70-'74, including a very impressive 1st round K.O against great Featherweight (and very experienced) Jose Legra, who had extended Eder Jofre the full 15 just 6 months earlier, Arguello received a shot at the WBA Championship, and lost a 15 round decision to the great Ernesto Marcel in his first shot at a World title in a fight where both men acquitted themselves well and Arguello got a whole lot of top-class experience from. 
Arguello rebounded with a dominant win over top contender Art Hafey (KO5) and got a shot against the great Ruben Olivares for the WBA title Marcel had relinquished after retiring after beating Arguello. Coming from behind, Arguello beat Olivares down in the 13th round to validate his position as one of the best punchers in the game. 
_





_Between '74 and '78 he proved himself a real road warrior, going 21-0 (18) with 4 defences including wins over slick and skilled Venezualan Leonel Hernandez (TKO8 in Venezuala) and Jap' contender Royal Kobayashi (KO5 in Tokyo), before moving up to 130lbs and travelling to his opponents homeland again to fight the awkward and disjointed Puerto Rican puncher Alfredo Escalera for the WBC Super Featherweight Championship. Escalera was making his 10th defence of his title, and had reclaimed his position as the no.1 in the division after the untimely death of Tyrone Everett, who was robbed in a challenge to Escalera two years before (WBA champ Samuel Serrano had a lengthy but only decent couple of stints and was not regarded as the top man in the division). In a great fight and absolute bloodbath, Arguello forced a 13th round stoppage on cuts to become a two-weight World Champion and enhance his reputation as one of the best P4P fighters in boxing. _

*Vs Hernandez*, very good styles clash between contrasting technicians, *recommended*




















*Vs Kobayashi*, Demolition job with body shots that lift the Jap' off the ground.










*Vs Escalera I*






























_After two defences, Arguello was outpointed by fleet-footed and evasive Vilomar Fernandez in a Lightweight contest, before making two more defences including another 13th TKO win against former champ' Escalera._

*Vs Rey Tam* (1st 130lb Defence for Arguello)










*Vs Vilomar Fernandez* (L10, later avenged)















_130lbs is held in popular regard as Arguellos prime fighting weight, and he was about to get some game and dangerous foes to challenge him for superiority of the division._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

*PART 2:* *'Schoolboy' Vs 'Bazooka'*

*Name*: Bobby Chacon
*Height*: 5'5

*Boxing record*
Total fights 67
Wins 59
KO's 47
Losses 7 (5)
Draws 1










_Turning professional whilst still studying, Bobby 'Schoolboy' Chacon was a prominent and popular fighter who competed in the 1970s and '80s, and who suffered extreme tragedy outside the ring and fought exclusively with his heart inside it. With only regional experience as an amateur, the 21 year old Chacon was persuaded to turn pro' by his Wife, and he quickly became a staple of the legendary nights at the Inglewood Forum in California as a young, inexperienced, but undoubtedly talented 126lber.

Compiling a 20-0 (17) between his debut in '71 and his fight with Ruben Olivares in '72, with wins over Arturo Pineda, Frankie Crawford and great Bantam Chucho Castillo, forcing the Mexican great to wilt in the 10th and final round. Against Olivares, Chacon was soundly beaten, stopped on his feet but out thought as well as out fought, and decked twice in the final round.

Bouncing back, Chacon proved his fighting spirit with (IMO) a career-best performance, using his speed, full set of skills, counter punching and finishing ability, and putting it all together in a brutal and action-packed bout with arguably the hardest puncher in Featherweight history, future Featherweight Champion Danny 'Little Red' Lopez, finishing off the stiff stalker early in the 9th round with a frightening array of punches. *A MUST SEE.*_
















_When Eder Jofre relinquished his WBC crown, the red-hot Chacon was given a chance to win the vacant strap against former 130lb Champion Alfredo Marcano. Despite being on the wrong end of the action in the 7th and 8th round, Chacon laid out a tiring Mercano out with a combination of uppercuts in the 10th, claiming his first belt.

Chacon struggled to maintain his love for fighting a few times as well as finding it hard to make the Featherweight limit due to cutting corners in training and a partying lifestyle, and he never sustained a fighting pace over 15 rounds until years later. In his second defence he looked completely lethargic, and was easily beaten again by ATG Olivares (another notorious party animal), this time inside two rounds.

Chacon was far happier when his opponent wanted to fight rather than chasing, and he relished fighting off the ropes, planting his feet, slipping (and taking) shots and firing back with both hands. He was about to meet a man who shared the same appreciation for taking two to land one, and they would embark on a savage journey together._

*Name:* Rafael Limon
*Height:* 5'6

*Boxing record*
Total fights 77
Wins 52
KO's 38
Losses 23 (11)
Draws 2










_More recognisable by his apt ring moniker 'Bazooka', supposedly lifted from his time in the Army, this Mexican was a nasty slugger with no care for defence who winged punches from his waist and sent every shot with the intent of causing the most pain he could on his opponent. A natural righty who learned to fight southpaw, he was a relentless pressure fighter armed only with a granite chin and gravel fists, and possesed a soul-destroying body attack, making up for his lack of handspeed and slowing his opponent down. A horrible fighter to share a ring with, his lack of refinement and brutal fighting style (encompassing hard low blows) made him an awkward and painful night for everyone he shared the ring with at his best.

Coming up the hard way in the Mexican domestic scene, Limon learned on the job as he got into his 20s, suffering losses but getting a good winning streak going that included Saul Montana, a shopworn Lionel Rose, and a 10 round decision win over Chicano rival Bobby Chacon in 1975, who had made the permanent move to 130lbs, where he would go on to gain a win over old rival Olivares, now inconsistent, via ten round decision. In 1979, both in good form (Limon #1; Chacon #4 ranked contenders), they fought again, in an eliminator for a shot at Arguellos Championship. After a spirited battle which acted as a dry run for two future battles between the two, a clash of heads stopped proceedings in the 7th, and the fight was ruled a technical draw._

*Chacon Vs Limon II*















_Despite Chacon looking every bit Limon's equal in their rematch, the tough Mexican retained his no.1 contendership and got his shot at Arguello, but only gave his chin a chance to shine, falling off after some competitive early rounds with some quality exchanges, and being stopped on cuts (caused by early head clashes between the lanky Nicaraguan and the aggresive Mexican southpaw) in the 11th after absorbing the great Champions full arsenal. _





















_Chacon received the next shot at Arguello, and had a chance to claim a title in a second weightclass. He made a concerted effort to box and throw in bursts, and it worked. Ahead on the cards and looking for more success, Chacon looked to bomb Arguello with a left hook, but was cracked with a picture perfect counter left by the Champion, which forced him to take a reprieve. Badly cut, Chacon absorbed a torrential beating for the rest of the 7th, and was pulled out by the Doctor before round 8. _






_Chacon seemed to have wilted in his last shot at the big time despite performing well early. He would get another chance to see how much he had left in a rubber match with Bazooka Limon. As for Arguello, he had aspirations of winning a title in a third weightclass. He would make just two more defences of his 130lb title. His final defence would be against a talented Filipino southpaw hailing from General Santos City with dynamite in his fists. Arguello was shutting up shop at the weight, but new owners were moving in already. _


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

*PART 3:* *'The Bad Boy' and Boza*

_1980 would be a busy year for Alexis Arguello, going 5-0 (3), defending his title two more times, and making a permanent move to 135lbs. Arguello made the penultimate defence of his belt against the class (and IMO underrated) Ruben Castillo in a good fight, and a highly competitive defence. Castillo, who went on to drop decisions to Salvador Sanchez and Juan Laporte for the WBC 126lb title, was 46-0 and gave a very good showing of his skills before Arguello cut him down late. _





















_Arguello would fight twice in the next 3 months, outpointing ridiculously matched trialhorse Gerald Hayes, and making the last defence of his title against an unheralded 23 year old Filipino who had already accumulated a 34-6-3 ring record._

*Name:* Rolando Navarette
*Height:* 5'6

*Boxing record*
Total fights 72
Wins 54
KO's 31
Losses 15 (8)
Draws 3










_Rolando Navarette turned pro' at 16, and worked his way up from journeyman to Champion status at 130lbs. Known as 'The Bad Boy from Dadiangas', he was a left-handed boxer puncher, who counter punched well and knew when to pick his spots. He had wins over Fernando Cabanella, Rey Tam and Frankie Duarkie, and drew with Thanomchit Sukhothai as part of 13-0-1 undefeated streak that saw him in the fringes of the top ten.

Navarette would be the last man to challenge Arguello at 130lbs. Arguello used his reach well, honing in on damage to Navarettes right eye with his jab and ripping the wound apart to force a stoppage in 5 rounds. The unheralded 23 year old from the Phillipines (but fighting out of Hawaii) had yet to put it all together. But in the next era for the weight, he would have a chance to. 
Having made 8 defences of his WBC title, Arguello was moving up. Arguello's first foray into the Lightweight division was, as aforementioned, disasterous, with the slippery Vilomar Fernandez outpointing him. For his second test at the weight, he took on an unknown proposition. A Ugandan Lightweight with British backing who came to fight. _

*Name:* Cornelius Boza Edwards
*Height:* 5'10

*Boxing record*
Total fights 53
Wins 45
KO's 34
Losses 7 (4)
Draws 1










_A well-schooled mid-range boxer puncher who was as tough as they come and who could dig deep in the trenches with a highly competent inside game, Cornelius Boza (he added Edwards in respect to the Englishman who helped him escape and took him in) was a softly-spoken and respectful boxer puncher who would become one of the most ballsy action fighters of the 1980s.

Sent away from his homeland of Uganda (where he was selected for the '76 Montreal Games) by his worried family after being beaten by dictator Idi Amin's thugs, he honed his trade under legendary trainer Mickey Duff in London, who himself had fled Poland from Hitlers Nazi regime during World War II. He brought Boza through the domestic and European Lightweight ranks, and when Boza got the call to take on Arguello, who, fearless as ever had scheduled to rematch Vilomar Fernandez, he saw his fighter put on one of the best showings of his career, and yet it was Duff who would have to save his brave young charge._





















_A highly intriguing mid-range battle from two of the nicest guys in Boxing, with hard shots landed from both throughout, Boza showed his class from the get-go, disciplined in mid-range in a way his legs would not allow him to be in the years following this fight. Arguello, at last, looked to have filled his frame perfectly, and Boza looked a big Lightweight by the standards of any era. They traded jabs and crosses tit-for-tat until Arguello found his range in the middle rounds and threw sickening shots that snapped back Boza's head and crunched him in the body to force Duff to stop the fight after the 8th round. To sum Boza Edwards up in this fight; he was the last man throwing before it was stopped.

Later that year, Arguello took a highly controversial decision win over hard-punching Mexican Jose Luis Ramirez, and was floored for the first time his career in a fun fight with lots of punches exchanged. Less than a year later, he would be World Lightweight Champion, travelling again, this time to London, where he took the WBC title from Scot' Jim Watt, probably more known today (to newer fans of the sport for sure) as a Sky Sports pundit, but who was a solid Lightweight. Arguello won a dominant 15 round decision. 
Vs Ramirez (I had it 6-4 to Ramirez + knockdown; bad decision IMO)_















Vs Watt for WBC Lightweight Championship































_With the looming spectre of Arguello no longer hanging over the Super Featherweight division, the brave contenders he had dealt with hoped to get in on Championship glory. Amazingly, another big guy would enter the picture.

Cornelius Boza Edwards was going to make the cut. 
_


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

*PART 4:* *The Ferocious Four*

_Whilst Arguello was finishing up at 130lbs and making the next natural progression in his career, running parallel the same year, it was business as usual for Bobby Chacon and Rafael Limon as they continued their heated and hateful Chicano-Mexicano rivalry. They had a rubber match, in which Chacon took a split decision win in a brawl._
















_Limon and Chacon were now 1-1-1 after their trilogy, but at the time it was felt Chacon had put in his last gutsy performance at the top level. Dropped and battered late, Chacon, already a veteran of battle, was under increasing pressure from his Wife to retire and focus on their three children. Chacon felt he still had unfinished business with the sport, and continued.

With Arguello gone, Limon picked up the vacant WBC title shortly after, and made his first defence against the (now) big Super Featherweight Cornelius Boza Edwards. Before the fight, Limon made a distasteful remark about British boxers fighting Mexicans, in a horrible dig at Johnny Owens death at the hands of Lupe Pintor. A fired up Boza looked to prove the Mexican savage wrong. In a cracking fight, Boza Edwards took a clear decision in rounds in a great back-and-forth fight and showed his full range of skills, dropping the iron-jawed Limon in the 5th with a left cross and surviving the Mexican Champs late round fury (the 14th is an ATG round!) whilst shelling Limon with his own varied offence as both men finish strong. *A MUST SEE.*_





















_Boza looked to cement himself in the no.1 spot at 130lbs with his first defence, against 'Schoolboy' Chacon, again hungry to re-claim a portion of the World title. _





















_You guessed it, another highly competitive and satisfying fight to watch, the 4th and 9th rounds in particular feature great back-and-forth action, and with Chacon pulling away with the fight going into the later rounds, it was up to Boza to impose his size, strength and engine on Chacon and he did, catching up to his faster foe, outpunching him and laying a beating on him. Chacon could not come out for the 14th round, and Cornelius Boza had retained his WBC title.

Bobby Chacons Wife could take no more. With her insistance that her beloved Husband retire for the sake of his health and for the good of their family falling on deaf ears, Valerie Chacon commited suicide. Way past his best and suffering immensely with grief, Chacon fought back from the brink the only way he knew how. He fought back.

With two impressive wins on the trot, Boza Edwards was looking to be a fighter of real quality, with skills, natural fighting ability, a fan friendly as well as technical style and a chin to boot. He was due to rematch Bazooka Limon in his 2nd defence, but Rolando Navarette stepped in as a late replacement for the ill Limon and got another chance to shine on the big stage._











_This time the Filipino didn't disappoint, putting in a career best performance and scoring a devastating knockout, taking the title in impressive fashion. Badly cut in the 3rd after some furious exchanges, Boza went for it in the 4th, only to be heavily dropped with a sweet and accurate right hook-left straight combo from his fellow southpaw. Just surviving the count, a groggy Boza was dropped with the same combo again, nigh on wiping him out, and this time beat the count in a way that would not be acceptable in this day and age. With Boza looking to get his legs under him by boxing in the 5th, Navarette remained patient, and caught Boza with a choppy right hand that convinced him not to get up again. The underdog Navarette had channeled all his experience into this all-southpaw clash, and destroyed a fighter who had previously looked very hard to finish (and would again) .Incredible!

But Navarette would not be able to relax after his amazing victory. Korean Olympian Chung-Il Choi was a straight punching swarmer with a heavy dig, and he nearly bested Navarette in a controversial and violent back-and-forth battle. With the challenger coming into his own, he stunned Navarette numerous times in the 5th with his thudding blows, and dropped him with a combo. Navarette groggily beat the count, but with Choi looking to follow up, the champ was given a reprieve when the bell rang ten seconds early. Navarette got his timing and range after that, and when Choi stunned him and tried to finish in the 10th, the Filipino countered him big and sent him sprawling to the floor. Barely making it into the 11th, the Korean still fired bursts of straight shots, but Navarette chopped into him with counter body shots, before finishing him with a thunderous overhand right counter from his southpaw stance, retaining his title in spectacular fashion.  Navarette would become a massive star in his native Phillipines after this, even having a comic book based on him!

With momentum behind him, Navarette had a chance to solidify himself as the no.1 in the division, when he defended his WBC title against another fellow southpaw who could be hit, former champ Bazooka Limon, who had trained hard and labelled Navarette a weak champion beforehand. _


























_Navarette was patient, and picked his spots. Limon kept pushing forward, wanting to make it a fight, and down on the scorecards he made it a brawl in an electrifying 8th round! Navarette continued to get the better of the action right into the 12th, but in the dieing seconds of that round, Limon tore into the champion with both hands, and the Filipino slumped to the mat, exhausted, and broken. Limon had reclaimed the WBC title he had lost to Boza Edwards!

Coming from behind on the cards in his first defence to batter the talented but vulnerable Chung-Il Choi to the body and force a stoppage, 1982 had been a great year for Rafael Limon.






In December, he would defend his title for the second time, a fourth encounter with the ever popular Bobby Chacon that would be their most violent meeting yet. _


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

*PART FIVE:* *Alexis Arguello & 'The Battle of the Champions'*

_Whilst his former challengers were beating their primes out of each other a weight below, Arguello was looking to make the rest of his really count.

After winning his 3rd title in his 3rd weightclass, Arguello took on more strong and aggressive fighters and proved himself equally adept at Lightweight, taking care of undefeated Ray Mancini in the 14th round of a gruelling fight. In a touching display of respect afterwards, Arguello told Mancini of his respect for him and his Father, who had to cut short his own boxing career after World War II. The full fight is on youtube, but this excerpt from 'Latin Legends' details the night in interesting fashion; Arguello, the master boxer, recalls his side of events and explains what tactics he had to use against the gutsy Mancini, and the clip features some highlights from the bout, including the crushing combination that finished the bout. _






_Following up with rugged contender Roberto Elizondo (KO 7), Arguello had to get off the deck again in the 5th and final defence of his WBC Lightweight Championship. Hard-punching Hawaiian Andy Ganigan had a flicking jab, and he used this to set up his left hand, catching Arguello backing up and dropping him in the opening stanza. Arguello came back, in a fast-paced and highly enjoyable fight, stopping Ganigan in the 5th round with killer blows to the body._
















_The fun fight with 'The Hawaiian Punch' would mark Arguellos last ever title defence, and the last time the great Champion would ever hold a title.
Arguello had been ousted from his homeland during the Civil War, where Arguello fought against the Sandinista! A massive star in his adopted homeland of the United States and at the peak of his recognition as the pound-for-pound best in the sport, Bob Arum had big plans in store for Arguello, and set upon pairing him up with 31-0 (29) WBA Light Welterweight champion Aaron Pryor in 1982.

No longer needing to move up because he was tight at the weight, Alexis was testing himself against yet another dangerous swarmer in a bid to win his fourth World Championship in four different weightclasses. Testing the waters at ten stone a few months before, Arguello scored a devastating shotgun blow right straight to the head of Mike Tysons future trainer and mentor Kevin Rooney, who was admittedly no great shakes as a fighter. A must see nonetheless, Arguello at his most deadly!_

*Arguello Vs Rooney* K.O at *11:35*





_The super fight was on! Aaron Pryor, a quality amateur, had yearned for a big name fight and mass recognition, and against a man revered as an all time great by his contemporaries, 'The Hawk' would have a chance to earn both.
Arguello and Pryor were a complete contrast. Arguello was humble, respectful and a hero to many, a fan favourite in the boxing World, and a national hero in the homeland he couldn't return to. Pryor was brash, cocky and came with a loud entourage.

Pryor had moved up to 140lbs after no big opportunities had presented themselves at his natural weight of 135lbs, and had quickly punched his way to the top of the division against two faded legends of the weight, getting off the floor to stop ATG Light Welterweight Antonio Cervantes, and ex-champion Peppermint Frazer. A capable boxer who preferred to unleash a whirlwind attack, Pryor was a tough guy from the streets who promised to bring fireworks against the classy ring general from Nicaragua.

They fought on the 12th of November, 1982, the Worlds best at 135lbs and 140lbs. What transpired that night is regarded now as one of the greatest fights of all time, with an opening round to rival Hagler-Hearns for the best of the '80s. Arguello adjusted to Pryors attack and got his distance and timing down, and Pryor adjusted to that and made Arguello lead. The fight also retains an air of controversy to this day, which will no doubt be touched upon in a future Encyclopedia entry, as Pryors trainer 'Panama' Lewis requested a bottle he 'mixed', which seemed to give a lagging Pryor, behind in a close and competitive back-and-forth battle, a second wind which he used to unload a barrage of punches on the great Arguello, who could offer no more resistance to his younger foe. An oft-telled story told cinematically in HBOs 'Legendary Nights' series, I'll instead focus on the great action that took place that night. A must see. Fast-paced, highly technical, awe-inspiring exchanges, both men stunned numerous times. Simply magnificent action fight!_

*Arguello Vs Pryor I*





_In any other year, the above war would be a shoo-in for the prestigious Ring Magazine 'Fight Of The Year' award, as I've already touched on, the first fight between Arguello and Pryor is revered to this day as one of the greatest contests of all time, and received 'Fight of the Decade' from The Ring years later.

But it's hard to argue with the eventual recipient of the honour was a deserved one. Exactly a month later, Bobby Chacon received what would surely be his last chance at a World title. As promised, Chacon met Bazooka Limon, his great rival, for a fourth and final time. Madness ensued._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

*PART 6:* *The Ring Magazine Fight(s) of the Year*

*1982*

_Chacon and Limons intense rivalry reached a brutal conclusion, with the always savage title holder Limon defending against the 31-year old veteran 'Schoolboy', his fighting heart replenished by the grief he suffered after his Wifes suicide. 8 years after his war with Danny Lopez, and 3 years after his hard-fought loss to Arguello, Chacon had another chance to put it all on the line for a shot at glory. For Limon, he was defending the championship he had claimed for the 2nd time, and looking to prove his superiority to Chacon.










The 4th meeting between Chacon and Limon features back-and-forth violence that would seem unbelievable in a Hollywood movie. In the only bout of their series contested for a World title (and the only one scheduled for the full Championship distance), it is also one of the best 15 round performances of Bobby Chacons career, with a more than capable wild man in front of him to trade for duration of the rounds!

In a close, hard-to-score bout that* has to be seen by any self-confessed boxing fan* that hasn't seen it already, Chacon won a close decision victory (143-141, 142-141, 141-140) in what is deemed by many to be one of the greatest fights in the history of the sport, and never fails to get a mention in any magazine article or forum thread concerning the matter. Numerous rounds from this could be nominated for 'Greatest Round Of All Time', with some of the wildest and most violent exchanges ever captured on film._






_Reminiscent of a tsunami washing over a spewing volcano, these men traded on iron wills and chins only for 15 rounds, with Limon knocking Chacon to the deck twice, and after withstanding ferocious beatings in many rounds where it looked like a gust of wind could knock him over, he somehow withstood countless punches from an unelievably revitalised 'Schoolboy'! Always game and trying to fire back, Limon finally wilted to a series of clean shots in the last 20 seconds of the final round. Limon, knowing no different, got up to last the distance, narrowly losing his championship to Chacon in one of the greatest slugfests ever witnessed by man.

Chacon claimed his first major title since 1975, and dedicated the win to his late Wife. In his first defence, just five months later, he would take on an old foe.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any madder, it did._

*1983*

_Cornelius Boza Edwards had rebuilt his career and confidence after being left in a heap against Rolando Navarette, the London-based boxer-puncher returned to 135lbs claimed the European Lightweight Championship, and looked strong at the weight in a hidden gem against former Arguello victim Roberto Elizondo, in an action-packed ten rounder. Stripping back to 130lbs for a shot at Chacon, the man Boza had overwhelmed late in defence of his old belt just over two years before, Boza clearly left some of his legs in the gym.










They fought in May 1983, in a classic war that was judged to have been 'The Fight of the Year'. With Boza winning the first two rounds, his hand briefly touched down in the first and Chacon caught him square on with a right hand and dropped him late in the second, again salvaging a point! In the 3rd, Boza continued with his good work, this time dropping Chacon with a sharp left hand. Chacon, ever the entertainer, jumped right back up and went to work, claiming a second straight 'Fight of the Year' accolade with the last great sho of heart in his long career. *A must see.*_






_With Boza seemingly in control throughout the middle rounds, he made Chacons long-punished face a mess, damaging his nose and causing blood to pour down his face from cuts around his right eye. In the 12th, Chacon fired back, letting fly with both hands and dropping a fatigued Boza. Boza manages to survive until the end, but, having seemingly controlled most of the bout, was on the wrong side of a Unanimous Decision, in the last great effort of both men that snatched any remaining semblance of 'prime' out of them._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

*PART 7:* *Past Prime*

*Alexis Arguello*

_Arguello fought a rematch with Aaron Pryor, and though he gave a valiant effort he was stopped in ten rounds and announced his retirement straight afterwards. Making a few comebacks, Arguello was never stopped again, and showed how his power would always travel with him with a 4th round K.O win up at Welterweight against once-beaten former Light Welterweight title holder Billy Costello, who had been a very solid performer just a year or so before, dominating Saoul Mamby, as well as defeating good contenders such as Ronnie Shields, Bruce Curry and Leroy Haley. Arguello had fought just once in the 3 years following the draining second defeat to Pryor, but managed to add another good victory to his ring record. Before the fight, Costello had opposed to the way Alexis' hands were wrapped, and the legend was incensed. He showed the younger man the true extent of his power, folding him with a *picture perfect straight right*, seen at *3:53* in the video below, and unleashing his conclusive finishing ability at a high level for the last time._






_Quite to the contrary to his public persona, outside of the ring Arguello battled with his personal demons, struggling with drug and alochol abuse and depression. Eventually becoming a politician in his homeland for the Sandinista regime he once opposed, Arguello died in 2009 from a gunshot wound, in what was ruled as suicide. He leaves an incredible legacy as one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport, chivalrous and dedicated, merciless but respectful. The quintessential boxer-puncher. _

*Bobby Chacon*

_Chacon moved out of the Super Featherweight division when he was stripped by the WBC by refusing to defend his title against Hector Camacho in Puerto Rico. Going for his third belt in 3 weight classes, 'Schoolboy' Chacon was clobbered inside 3 rounds by the much stronger Ray Mancini in a misjudged foray into the Lightweight division, but finished with a seven fight winning streak against journeyman contender types (including Freddie Roach).

Sadly, in later life Chacon paid for the all the great nights he gave Boxing fans, losing all of his money and properties, suffering with pugilistic dementia and living through the grief of his Son, Bobby Jr, being murdered. The extent of the damage done to this legendary hero of the sport can be seen in the video below, a retrospective interview with Larry Merchant revisiting the classic fight between Chacon and Danny Lopez. _






*Rafael Limon*

_After his brave and courageous display under heavy shelling in the 1982 FOTY, Bazooka Limon was given an instant chance to bounce back, by taking on the red-hot prospect Hector 'Macho' Camacho for the title that was stripped from Chacon after he couldn't come to an agreement to face the (then) ultra-confident and flamboyant Hector Camacho, who possesed some of the fastest hands of any era. _






_Ruthlessly drubbed by the highly regarded Camacho, Limon faded out of title contention after the loss, becoming an opponent for a 59-0 Julio Cesar Chavez and a young Sharmba Mitchell in a late 80s._

*Rolando Navarette*

_'The Bad Boy from Dadiangas' had the worst fall from grace out of these Warriors. In 1985 he was convicted of sexual assault and served 3 years in prison. Making a brief but insignificant comeback in the late 80s (though he did avenge his loss to Bazooka Limon via ten round decision) Navarette slipped further and further into decline, having to survive a knife attack in a domestic dispute and having been arrested numerous times, he now lives on the few dollars a day he makes selling fish on the street. Whilst perhaps not quite as durable as his peers, Navarette was a skilled counter puncher on his best day, have serious pop and played his part in some terrific battles. Despite his less than savoury actions outside of the ring, he should be commended for his boxing career, where he earned a strap in a highly competitive era._

*Cornelius Boza Edwards*

_After the disappointment of losing the decision against Bobby Chacon, Boza lost a decision to the very good Rocky Lockridge, before returning to Lightweight where he finished his career. He lost a 12 round decision to Hector Camacho (then WBC champ at 135lbs) where he constantly came forward to the already depleted 'Macho', who had lost all confidence after being rocked in a defence against rock fisted Edwin Rosario, and had turned to constantly moving out of punching range and being negative. In his final fight, he was punched out in five by one of the best Lightweights of the era, heavy handed Mexican Jose Luis Ramirez, unable to slip consistently enough and unable to stay strong in a battle of attrition. Boza Edwards moved to Las Vegas in the 80s, and now trains fighters there under head trainer Roger Mayweather, the WBA super featherweight champion in Boza's era who took the title from Samuel Serrano (who never fought any of 'em) and lost it to Lockridge via first round K.O.

These men guaranteed exciting fights and great nights. Whilst Arguellos challenger all fell short of 'greatness', they must be admired, applauded and rewarded for the efforts they gave in the ring, and for what they left between the ropes._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

A few things. To stop this page crashing I won't put the video tags around the countless links. Also, for an encyclopedia entry all about the fights, it seems Don King has had a few of those videos taken down since I put this together :-( Like, the _greatest_ fights atsch Also, I have added an incredible ten round punchfest between Cornelius Boza Edwards and Roberto Elizondo (quality) and the controversial title fight between the aggressive Chung-Il Choi and 'The Bad Boy From Dadiangas', which is very interesting and exciting.

Thanks to @Pabby and @Wallet for helping me see the light 

Anyway, this is my favourite one.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

*Name:* Luis Manuel Rodriguez

*Height:*: 5 ft. 8 in. 
*Birth*: 1937-06-17
*Death:* 1996-07-08

*Boxing record*
*Total fights 121*
*Wins 107 (49)*
*Losses 13 (3)*










_Like Harry Greb, Boxrec might just have saved Luis Manuel Rodriguez's reputation. Looking through his resume can be a real shock to those unaqainted with his work. _

_A Cuban who could use an upright and awkward style, could be fluid or, most impressively drop in uppercuts on the inside with startling precision, Rodriguez was always bouncing around on his toes, making him a very hard target to place for his opponents. LMR was truly an ATG all-rounder. With his long arms he could throw awkward punches that were hard to gauge. Fighting a wide range of quality contenders from Welterweight to Middleweight, he held the World Welterweight Championship, beating ATG P4Per Emile Griffith over 15 rounds, and his career at the top was ended with a loss to the legendary Nino Benevenuti via crushing knockout, in a fight contested over 15 for the unified Middleweight championship._






_A natural Welterweight/light-middle, two of Rodriguez's most impressive wins come up at 160; against two extremely dangerous competitors in Bennie Briscoe and Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, the latter who had decimated Emile Griffith inside a round. _

_And then on to Emile Griffith; losing two-out-of-three 15 rounders *for THE *__World Welterweight title (and one ten rounder earlier on) LMR is judged by many to have been on the end of some shocking decisions. Those who I have spoken to on the subject have judged the official decisions as very, very controversial, and the consensus is that Rodriguez got the better of their four fight series. _

_Their first fight (rodriguez in white shorts)_






_Their fourth fight. Rodriguez in white._
















_But still, Griffith was no slouch, an ATG of the highest order himself. Another great Welterweight that Rodriguez went tit-for-tat with was great Welterweight Curtis Cokes._

_*1st fight*_

*2nd fight*


_Future World Champ' Benny Paret (who was tragically killed by Griffith) was soundly beaten by LMR in two ten-rounders, as was former champion, and hard-puncher, Virgil Akins. Feared 50s Welterweight policeman Joe Miceli, veteran former title challenger Chico Vejar, contendder Isaac Logart, and the experienced Lightweight/Welterweight contender Johnny Gonsalves were amongst his best Welterweight scalps. _

_In between the two weights, Rodriguez stopped future Carlos Monzon challenger (and perenniel contender) Denny Moyer late, when Moyer was coming off two straight points losses to light-middleweight champion Benevenuti. _

_There are numerous wins over serious contenders at Middleweight, including Yama Bahama, tough and talented Wilbert 'Skeeter' McClure (x2), Holly Mims, Bennie Briscoe (by decision...in Philidelphia!), quality defensive fighter George Benton, Tony Mundine, Vicente Rondon (future Light Heavyweight belt holder),Tom Bethea and Joey Giambra. Coupled with his dazzling ability, Rodriguez cemented himself as one of the greatest Welters of all time. He was an equally competent middleweight as well, and ranked in the top ten of that division by The Ring for many years. _

vs very good Middleweight Joey Giambra
















vs. toughly matched talented 1960 Olympic Gold Medalist Wilbur McClure

1st fight






2nd fight






_There is no doubt in my mind that Luis Manuel Rodriguez is probably the most under appreciated P4P Legend of all time. I've literally only posted the names from his resume that I'm sure about, there are loads of other fighters on there that I've seen named notable wins as well, to the untrained eye, his ring record and achievements stand out as spectacular. To someone more knowldgable than myself, he's probably even more intimidating. _[/QUOTE]


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Name: Roy Jones Jr

Height:: 5 ft. 11in (180cm)

Birth: 1969-01-16

Boxing record
Total fights 61
Wins 54
KO's 40
Losses 7 (3)










_Blessed with arguably the most unbelievable physical attributes in the history of the sport, Roy Jones was an absolute freak during the 1990's. Mocking 'Elite' opposition with his speed and Alien-esque reflexes, Roy Jones Jr was literally untouchable for the best part of his career, spanning 160lbs to Heavyweight at the top. _

_Semi-Final; Olympics Vs Richie Woodhall_

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_Controversial Final _

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_Famously robbed of Olympic Gold in Seoul, Jones had a meteoric rise to the top. He blew away mid-level opposition before beating a fairly green Bernard Hopkins, largely with one hand. Hopkins however, was subsequently undefeated until meeting Jermain Taylor, cementing himself as an ATG middleweight whilst Jones continued his rise through the weights with similar success. _

_Wins over top contenders Malinga and Thomas Tate (who had given Julian Jackson a good argument) comprised the rest of his unremarkable Middleweight tenure; he did display unbelievable talent during this reign. _

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_
_Moving up in weight to challenge the arguable P4P no.1 James Toney (who had beaten Michael Nunn, who himself was seemingly on a Roy Jones-esque rise to the top based on unmeasurable talent) was little bother for Jones. Toney, struggling with the weight, was soundly beaten, his defensive radar bamboozled by Jones' lack of rhythm, handspeed, timing, and ability to land and disappear without leaving himself open to sharp counters._

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_Jones' most aesthetically pleasing performance arguably came against Vinny Pazienza, undoubtedly a tough cookie but no doubt a natural lightweight! An impressive victory in the manner Roy achieved it, but not a top-notch opponent IMO. Pazienza tried bullying Jones, but still found him hard to hit. Roys combination punching, speed and power were freakish, beating the naturally smaller around and terrorising him with sharp punching._

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_
_Jones then got an opportunity to face one of his heroes, Mike McCallum. Jones essentially carried the veteran and won a decision. Not even McCallums' unlimited ring smarts and savvy could see him make the fight that competitive. Jones was still on another level, his handspeed, combinations and ability to slip punches and counter were truly insurmountable even for the cleverest of technicians._

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_
_Montell Griffin, a top light heavyweight contender of the time, gave Jones serious problems until Roy 'turned it on'. Stressed and frustrated at his lack of success throughout the fight, Roy hit Griffin whilst he was still on the deck and was disqualified. He avenged this 'defeat' by decimating Griffin in the rematch, with terrifying ferocity._

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_Jones then beat an arguably ATG in Virgil Hill next, brutally laying waste to him with a single body shot, early on in the contest._

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_
_Reggie Johnson was more notable as a middleweight, but mixed with decent wins over top contenders Gonzalez, Woods and Eric Harding saw Roy round off a dominant reign at 175lbs (despite not facing Dariusz Michalewski, arguably the biggest threat to his supremacy but in the same position as say, Sergei Drinzsuruk was until recently, a European fighter staying at home and not chasing the big fights in the U.S) and in need of a bigger challenge to really force him to fight._

_He stepped up to Heavyweight, taking a while to figure out how his body would hold up at the weight. Sensing an easier stylistic matchup, he widely outpointed a game, but basic John Ruiz. _

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_
_It's after reaching these heights (in terms of acclaim as well as weight) that Jones started to lose his vaunted reflexes. Dragged back down two weight classes to face brash and cocky contender Antonio Tarver, Jones squeeked past him to win via controversial decision. Alarm bells were ringing for fans of Roy, as he didn't appear his old self. He found it harder to stay out of range against an essentially average fighter, the sort of which he was making fun of just a year earlier. In the rematch, Jones was sparked in the 2nd round, unable to move out of the way of a big left hand. Roy Jones the phenom, was over, after 11 years amongst the top P4P fighters in the sport. A crushing K.O loss against tough old-timer Glencoffe Johnson was the final nail in the coffin for Roy at the top of the game._

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_Since then, Jones has participated in glorified exhibitions, sometimes against 'Elite' opposition (Hopkins, Calzaghe) and losing on points, a 'super fight' exhibition with Felix Trinidad and sometimes in supposed 'warm-up' fights against Jeff Lacy (durable, Jones was the first man to stop him) and Danny Green (a light heavyweight, stopped Jones in a catchweight 'Cruiserweight' bout. Still having enough to beat lesser opponents with relative ease, but in survival mode against dangerous opposition. Jones' has always retained most of his handspeed, and it's his legs, for so long able to keep the fight where Roy wanted it to be, that failed him post-Ruiz._

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_Roy Jones still plies his trade as of the 17th March 2011. Most fans prefer to remember him in all his pomp as the best boxer in the game, and arguably the most naturally talented fighter of all time. Not even a steroid allegation could really ruin the mans reputation. Not even performance enhancing drugs could explain just how phenomenal Roy Jones Jr was at his peak._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Name: Ernesto Marcel
Height: 5'6

Boxing record
Total fights 46
Wins 40
KO's 23
Losses 4 (1)
Draws 2










_Ernesto Marcel was a stylish Featherweight champion who came late to boxing after failing to make the cut as a Basketball player in his native Panama. Turning pro quickly aged eighteen, he was forced to quickly develop his trade, coming up the ranks the hard way, and reaching his peak in the early 1970s, making four defences of the WBC championship and establishing himself as the no.1 Featherweight of his time.

His first notable win was over the talented Bantamweight Bernando Carabello, who had been in with the best of the era including Eder Jofre, Fighting Harada (both for the World Bantamweight Championship) and Chucho Castillo. Marcel stopped him in two rounds. Rising in the ranks at Featherweight, Marcel was touted as one of Panamas best boxing prospects, a smooth boxer who was on a roll. Just over the weight, Marcel, 22 years old with a 24-2-1 ledger, was matched up with another top prospect surging up the ranks, an 18-year old power puncher undefeated in 16 pro bouts called Roberto Duran._











_In a highly competitive contest, we see hints of what is to come from both men, Marcel picking his shots and chopping away, and Duran being both ferocious and rounded. Duran comes on strong late, but I personally think it could've went either way at the end of 10 rounds, if the Referee had not inexplicably waved off proceedings with Marcel not in a lot of trouble but coasting a bit. Madness, and a ridiculous stoppage. I had Duran head, just; he backed Marcel up for most of the contest, but the older man acquitted himself well and did some very good work.* Essential viewing*._






_Marcel quickly bounced back, with two wins over future Super Feather titlist Alfredo Marcano, and was matched with WBC Featherweight Champion Kuniaki Shibata, who was making his second defence after dethroning one of the greatest Featherweight champions of all time Vicente Saldivar, finally convincing all that the great Mexican was past his best.

In the Matsuyama Rugby Stadium in Japan, Marcel was robbed of cementing his claim to legitimate linear champion status. In rounds, Marcel clearly wins 10-5 IMO, keeping his tempo up throughout and managing to be more elusive and to apply pressure more intelligently against a highly-skilled Featherweight Champion like Shibata. There are some fireworks in the early going, and Shibata catches Marcel sweet with his sharp and quick left hook on a few occasions, but as they moved past the 10th round and into the Championship rounds, Marcel really lays it on and establishes his dominance. Even with a point deducted under the WBC ruling for clash of heads causing a cut, this fight reeks of a hometown decision, Shibata escaping with his belt and a 'Draw'. Everyone I know who has seen this fight will vouch for it as a robbery, and this should be recognised as the moment Marcel beat the man who beat the man and proved himself the no.1 126lber in the World._

_The WBA Champion was the very smooth and highly capable Venezuelan boxer Antonio Gomez, who had beaten longtime belt holder Shozo Saijo (which can be viewed on youtube, and Saijo was quality as well). Marcel absolutely drubs Gomez in their first encounter, and I could only give the 3rd and 4th rounds to the defending champion. Marcel doesn't allow Gomez much chance to elude the lanky shots he pops off by throwing in combination, and mixing up his shots to head and body expertly, battering him down the stretch.

Ernesto Marcel was very much a rhythm builder, and when settled was hard to sway off of his game, both awkward and slick. He could fight at any range, he could lead with hard-to-gauge looping shots that allowed him to come in and work the body or work in his hurtful right uppercut on the inside, or he could jab, slip and counter with smooth elusiveness and sharp timing, catching his opponents unawares and following up his onslaughts. His footwork was superb when in his rhythm, and allowed him to fire off shots from angles that could stun even the toughest and most fearsome featherweights around, and he beat some very good fighters in the Junior Lightweight division as well, including Samuel Serrano, who would go on to hold the WBA title at that weight for pretty much six years going into the '80s. Marcel won a close decision over him, and the toughly matched slugger Enrique Bolanos.

Marcel had defended his title against the man he took it from, this time stopping Gomez from coming out for the 12th round in a one-sided contest. He follows this up against Jap' contender Spider Nemoto with a 9th round K.O before fighting Serrano, and he would defend his title again against a tall unheralded Nicaraguan prospect with a 33-3 (26) record, who had stopped a faded former Featherweight champion Jose Legra inside a round.

In a very good and exciting contest, Alexis Arguello gave Ernesto Marcel all he could handle. Marcel backed the young man up early but Arguello, as we now know, was great at making adjustments to impose his bombs on his opponent. Arguello gets closer and closer, but Marcels defensive radar is still too sharp and he pulls back from Arguellos precise combinations with increasingly less room for comfort, but pops out shots that have the teak tough Arguello in distress. In the 7th round, the Referee asked Arguellos corner if they wanted their young charge to continue. Knowing he is in danger, Arguello starts to back Marcel up in the middle rounds, landing his vaunted right hand more than once, but the skilled champion manages to hold on and continue his good work, get Arguellos rhythm down, and got his second wind to re-establish his dominance and a take a competitive but clear 15 round decision. Below are some highlights where you get some of the tone of the fight, but I highly recommend hunting down the full contest, it's a great watch between two of the greatest Featherweights of all time._






_The Champion himself was suitably impressed with the young 'Thin Explosive Mans' challenge, and made a very sharp and accurate observation in his post-fight interview._

_For reasons I'm still no wiser about, Ernesto Marcel had promised to retire win, lose or draw after this bout, and he remained true to his word, retiring aged 26 as Champion.. Never legitimately stopped and a multi-faceted stylist who beat some very classy operators, and who is an absolute joy to watch. Ernesto Marcel is without a doubt one of the greatest Featherweights of all time, and one of the greatest Panamanian boxers of all time._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Name: Chang Jung-Koo

Height: 5'3 1/2 (161cm)

Boxing record
Total fights 42
Wins 38
KO's 17
Losses 4 (1)










_Legendary Mexican Strawweight Ricardo Lopez is often heralded as the greatest 'little guy' (below Flyweight) in history, but 'The Korean Hawk' Jung Koo Chang was equally formidable in style (whislt being a complete contrast) and running the gauntlet of a great light-flyweight era, amassing a ring record of some quality, and was one of the greatest P4P fighters of the 1980s._

_Turning pro at 17 years old (and having not taken up the art much longer before, being a street fighter part of a South Korean gang) Chang tore through the 80's with a hard-to-gauge 'freestyle', where feints set up whirlwind attacks, veteran tricks on the inside allowed him to tie his opponent up and work freely himself, as well as a way of getting himself some time and re-charg his gas tank to set up the next influx of punches. By the age of 19, he had faced ATG light-flyweight (and one of the greatest defensive fighters of all time) Hilario Zapata, losing a controversial decision. He then claimed the title in a rematch, frustrating Zapata with his assault, causing the lanky great to retire during the third round._ Zapata would go on to success in the Flyweight division.






_With wins over Sot Chitalada, German Torres, Hideyuki Ohashi, Hilario Zapata, Armado Ursua, Katsuo Tokashiki and Alfonso Lopez, Changs style knew no boundaries in terms of vanquishable foes. With good punch resistance, swift head movement, and the aforementioned crafty ways of gaining himself some respite, Chang could overwhelm and swarm his helpless opponent with a seemingly unstoppable tirade of punches, or use his seemingly lackadaisacal mid-range work to fire off shots and outbox his opponent, his unorthodox feints (almost humorous) and flicked out arm movements baffling his opponent into a baffled hysteria, with his switch-hitting he was a true nightmare for any style he came across._

*vs German Torres I*


























*vs former champ Alfonso Lopez* who had mixed at the highest level






Changs amazing fight with Tokashiki, who had been a long reigning WBA champ





















_A notorious party animal, Changs 'second career' (after a brief hiatus) was full of sporadic success, including a fairly one-sided loss to Humberto 'Chiquita' Gonzalez (known by many for his epic trilogy with another light-fly ATG, Michael Carbajal) but Jung-Koo Changs style (which fellow poster GPater once remarked of; 'he goes through styles') would be formidable in any era, and his resume is unmatched in the annals of 108lb fighters.

Chang then had a shot at beating the no.1 rated Flyweight for many years, a man who Chang had beaten years before at Light Fly; the formidable Thai, Sot Chitalada. In an amazing robbery, Chitalada kept his title via Majority Decision, though I felt Chang had nullified him early and outworked him for most of the contest. Chang should've bounced back from the first conclusive loss of his career against Chiquita to become the no.1 Flyweight in the World. Officially, he isn't. But his performance in this fight is worthy of big kudos from any discernible fight historian; Jung Koo Chang was The Man (again)_






_Six months after that disappointing result, Chang had another crack at gaining universal recognition as the no.1 and lineal Champion at Flyweight, against hard punching Thai Muangchai Kittikasem, who had stopped Chitalada to take his crown. Ahead on points in an entertaining affair, Chang aims to finish off his larger foe, but suffers heartbreak as he is stopped in the final round, ending his career._






_-World Champion aged nineteen

-Defeated eight former, present or future 'World' titlists

-Should've earned the no.1 spot in two weight classes

-Made 15 defences of WBC Light Flyweight Championship

-Inducted into IBHOF in 2010_


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Again, will polish all of these up.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

*Name:* Bob Fitzsimmons

*Height:: *5 ft. 11 1/2 in. (182cm.)

*Birth: *1863-05-26

*Death:* 1917-10-22

*Boxing record*Total fights 99
Wins 71
KO's 61
Losses 8 (7)
Draws 5 









_Bob Fitzsimmons was a true freak, and arguably the greatest practitioner of the Sweet Science to emerge from the early days of gloved boxing. A red-haired power-puncher born in Cornwall (but who made his name in Australia and New Zealand before conquering the U.S) it is hard not to find a source which doesn't proclaim him 'a master of the Sweet Science'. Built like an Ox at the torso but with slender legs, Fitz defied the odds regularly, rising from Heavyweight punches, and outspeeding the faster guys as well. _

_Using feints to lead much bigger foes onto precise and powerful counter blows, Fitz's resume reads like a who's who of late 19th Century pugilism. Weighing between 11 and 12 stone, Fitz fought (and beat) much larger opponents for fun. A controversial DQ loss to Tom Sharkey, in a matchup refereed by the bandit WYAT EARPP (!!!) was after Fitz had battered him around the ring, outmuscling, outpunching and outboxing the tough and heavier Heavyweight contender. He floored him with a head shot after a drubbing and Earp called foul, declaring a low blow. He then fled the ring. _

_ Fitz's most impressive run sees him most comfortable at around the modern super middleweight limit of 168lbs. Starting off with a win over ATG Middleweight champion 'Nonpareil' Jack Dempsey (when the limit was 11 stone) and going on to beat the likes of Peter Maher (one of the biggest hitters of the era; 180lbs from most sources), Joe Choynski (along with Fitz and Maher renowned as one of the most fearsome hitters of the era who stopped a young Jack Johnson), Jim Hall, 'Sailor' Tom Sharkey, and eventually claiming *THE* World Heavyweight title with a win over 'Gentleman' Jim Corbett, where, outweighed by about a stone and a heavy underdog, Fitzsimmons' cagey style allowed him to overcome a heavy knockdown and fell Corbett with a single body blow._

_Fitzsimmons also gave 200lb+ behemoth James J. Jeffries a very stern challenge, until the iron chinned 'Great White Hope' (as he would later come to be known) wore Fitz down and forced a stoppage, claiming his World Heayweight Championship. Well past his prime, Fitz was stopped by the great Jack Johnson inside a few rounds. However, well into his forties, Bob Fitzsimmons became the first ever *World Light Heavyweight Champion*._

_A personification of 'Pound-for-pound', 'all-time great' and 'puncher', Bob Fitzsimmons is arguably the greatest fighter born on English shores, and with 4oz gloves is arguably the hardest puncher from the early days, and any day. _

An interesting look and the ins-and-outs of the famous 'Bob Fitzsimmons Vs Jim Corbett' matchup, the first sporting event captured on film.






Fitz and bullish Heavyweight Champ Jim Jeffries


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

*by ScouseLeader hopefully he'll tidy these up himself when he gets back*

Name: Meldrick Taylor
Nickname: TNT
Born: 1966-10-19, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5′ 7½″ / 171cm
Reach: 66''

Record: 38 (20) - 8(4) - 1










_Born and raised in north Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home to great fighters such as 'Smokin' Joe Frazier, Matthew Saad Muhammad, Tommy Loughran, Sonny Liston, Bennie Briscoe and Jeff Chandler A city with a legendary fighting culture, Meldrick 'TNT' Taylor was enticed into the sport of boxing at an early age. Blessed with wonderous speed, of both hand and foot, the talented Taylor quickly built an excellent amateur record of 90-4, culminating with an Olympic gold medal in the Featherweight division at the age of just 17, during the 1984 games in Los Angeles. Besting Andrew Minsker to earn his place on the team (Lauded as one of the greatest in US history, with medals won in all but one division), Taylor comfortably beat every opponent put in front of him, remarkably without dropping a single round in the process. Meldrick outhustled the gifted Peter Konyegwachi in the final bout, displaying superb handspeed and movement in the process and earning the gold medal which would propel him into his much anticipated pro-career._






_Meldrick debuted in the pro ranks the very same year, in the Lightweight division. In his first pro bout, he won with ease, stopping trial horse Luke Lecce in the first round, on a card which featured the debuts of 5 of Taylor's Olympic team-mates. Taylor compiled a record of 11-0 (7KO) before facing his first true test in the form of tough veteran Harold Brazier. Brazier, having never touched the canvas in 41 fights, and coming off an impressive 20 fight win streak, was seen as a man who could give the 19 year old Philly fighter a difficult contest. Brazier lived up to his billing, providing Taylor with a stern test, particularly in the middle rounds of the fight, however Taylor's effective lateral movement won him the early rounds, and his sublime handspeed the late rounds, which was enough to secure him a Unanimous decision on the judges' scorecards. Meldrick did display some signs of inexperience in the fight, particularly issues with pacing, which preceded his fight with Howard Davis Jr, a decorated amateur who had won Lightweight gold at the 1976 Olympic Games. Meldrick Taylor and Howard Davis fought to a 10 round draw on 1986-08-16, in what proved to be a very tricky fight for young Taylor as he attempted - and at times struggled - to cope with Davis's excellent agility and movment. Despite the somewhat dissapointing result, Taylor showed signs of improvement as he pused the veteran fighter to the limit with his pace and blistering speed._

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_Taylor's next big fight came at the 140 pound weight class in 1988, against the 38-1-1 IBF champion James 'Buddy' McGirt. McGirt was coming off arguably the best 2 wins of his career, a 12th round TKO over the unbeaten Frankie ****** (consequently the same man who took Buddy's '0' 2 years earlier) and a first round KO over Howard Davis Jr, the man who had fought Taylor to a draw in 1996. Many pundits doubted that the aggressive minded Taylor could overcome the technically proficient and defensively crafty Mcgirt, who knew his trade far better than anyone Meldrick had faced before. To the surprise of many however, Taylor fought an almost flawless fight against McGirt, dominating the experienced champion with hard, fast, unanswered combinations, eventually stopping his foe in the final round, as Buddy's corner threw the towel in to save their exhausted and beaten fighter. It was a coming of age performance for Taylor, who at his young age had never shown such maturity, ability or temperment before in the ring. _
















_Taylor defended his IBF title twice, agaisnt skilled contenders John Meekins and Courtney Hooper, earning a 7th round stoppage and a hard fought UD over the pair respectively. Then, in 1990, came what was to be the biggest fight of Meldrick Taylor's career - A unification fight with unbeaten , 68-0 Mexican WBC Light Welterweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez, the man regarded as the best pound for pound fighter in the sport. Meldrick knew what he was up against, but was confident that he could best Chavez, a huge favourite pre-fight. The bout was seen as the biggest that could be made in boxing at the time, outside of the heavyweight division, and with neither fighter scared of a tear-up it was predicted to be a barnstormer._






_Taylor, a naturally quick starter, compared to the more methodical Chavez, started out very fast, throwing and landing combinations close up in high volume. Taylor would get close to Chavez, throw punches in bunches, most of which landed flush on the Mexican, then dart outwards before Julio could land a combination of his own. This worked a treat in the early and mid rounds, with Chavez losing almost every round handily before the ninth, being outlanded almost 5-1 with punches. It was starting to look like a masterclass from Taylor. He was effectively beating up the P4P number one and looking dominant in the process, landing many and taking few. However, it was the few shots that Taylor was taking which began to turn the tide of the fight. Though he was being outlanded to a massive degree, the few shots Chavez did land were hard ones, often hooks to the body or head which caught Meldrick coming in, causing the most damage they possibly could. For the majority of the fight, Taylor was able to ship the shots, but gradually as the match progressed, the young American began to wear down more and more, showing bad swelling around both eyes entering the championship rounds. By the time round 11 started, Chavez was in control of the fight. Taylor looked worn out, devoid of stamina, and physically damaged, despite appearing to land in significantly higher volume earlier in the fight. Chavez pressed his onslaught, chasing Taylor down and landing hard blows. Meldrick stood his ground, but couldn't keep up with the champions pressure and was beginning to wilt. Once the bell to end the round sounded, Taylor was so beaten he could barely make it back to his own corner, nearly going to Chavez's before being correctly directed by the referee. Beaten to a pulp, but still widely winning on the scorecards, Taylor only needed to make it to the end of round 12 to unify the titles and defeat the unbeaten Chavez. Strangely, his corner instructed him to go all out in the final round, instead of the seemingly smart option of moving about to reduce the risk of getting stopped. _

_What ensued was one of the most controversial incidents in the history of the sport. With around 15 seconds left in the 12th round, Chavez trapped Taylor in the corner and landed a hard right hand which dropped the IBF champ. Taylor, knowing that if he carried on he would win the fight, brought himself to his feet. Richard Steele, the referee, proceeded to ask Taylor if he was okay in order to judge whether he was ready to continue, and seemingly without answer from Taylor, waved the fight off with just 2 seconds remaining. This outraged both Taylor and his trainer Lou Duva, who both felt that the American was in a fit state to continue, they protested angrily, but to no avail, as Chavez was announced the unified champion and Taylor had lost his unbeaten record and IBF title._


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Meldrick Taylor continued.........






The 'Fight of the Decade'

_However, his record and belt was not the only thing Taylor lost that night, Meldrick was never the same after that loss. Both physically and mentally, he had been affected in unseen ways. The HBO legendary night feature on the fight explains it better than words ever could:_
















_Not to be deterred, as one would expect from a Philly fighter, little under 5 months after the Chavez defeat, Taylor was back. This time campaigning at Welterweight. Meldrick made his debut at 147 pounds with a comfortable 10 round decision over Primo Ramos. Not feeling the need to test the waters anymore, Taylor was immediately thrust into his first title bout at the weight versus the unbeaten Aaron Davis. Davis, 32-0 had won his WBA world title with a stoppage over Mark Breland (an Olympic team-mate of Taylor's) and was a quick, rangy fighter with a good jab and excellent stamina. If Taylor had lost anthing against Chavez, it wasn't his lighting fast hand and foot speed, which was key in his beating of the game Davis. Taylor consistently beat Davis to the punch, and out-fought his taller counterpart with flashy combinations up close. The champ had his successes, but couldn't frequent his jab on the smaller Taylor, therefore being unable to establish a rythm, he had little success in regularly finding his man, and had his title taken from him via Unanimous decision, winning no more than 4 rounds on any of the 3 scorecards. _





 








 




_In the first defence of his newly acquired title, Taylor locked horns with the unbeaten Luis Gabriel Garcia. Garcia, a well travelled 22-0 Venezuelan fighter proved a tricky customer, at times surprising the champion with his sharp reflexes and prodding jab. Both fighters however were largely innacurate, missing a significant number of punches between them in the bout as neither was able to really establish their rythm. Taylor was the more active fighter, and his domination of Garcia in the middle rounds of the fight was enough to secure him a fairly comfortable victory on the judges scorecards, one of which oddly had the fight 117-114 in Garcia's favour, despite the Venezuelan being outfought closely in most rounds._

_Taylor's next big defence followed almost a year later against Glenwood Brown. Brown, a hard puncher with a respectable 34-2 record, was coming off a close split decision loss in an IBF title fight with Maurice Blocker. Taylor defeated Brown by Unanimous decision, outspeeding him and outworking him over the course of the fight, but it was by no means an easy match for the defending champ, as Brown dropped Taylor twice in the opening four rounds, including a particularly hard left hook knockdown at the end of the 1st. Taylor recovered quickly to outfight Brown down the stretch and earn himself a hard fougth victory. It was the first time Meldrick Taylor's punch resistance was really brought into question during his career, though it would not be the last._





 








 




_The Brown victory would prove to be the final significant win of Meldrick Taylor's career. Shortly afterwards, Taylor (against his better judgement) moved up to the 154 pound division to face WBC light middleweight champion Terry Norris. In what was viewed as a strange move on Taylor's handlers part, considering the trouble Taylor had at Welterweight in regards to size, Taylor challenged the 31-3 speedster in May of 1992. In a one sided bout from start to finish, Taylor was battered in four painful rounds by the dominant Norris, ultimately answering the question of whether Taylor's punch resistance was under scrutiny as he made short work of the smaller fighter, handing Taylor his second professional loss in brutal fashion. _

_Though defeated, Taylor still had his WBA Welterweight title, and never one to back down from a challenge, he instantly tried to rebound from his loss with a big title defence against another unbeaten Venezuelan in Crisanto Espana. It was to be the last top level fight of Taylor's career, as he was stopped in Eight by the powerful challenger, subsequently losing his title. It was the second loss in a row for Taylor, and one that he simply could not bounce back from. He was a fighter deemed to be past his best, stoppage losses to the Chavez and Norris, as well as several hard, gruelling fights at Welterweight, had taken their toll on Taylor. He had neither the reflexes nor punch resistance to compete at the top level anymore, and his career slid into obscurity._





 




_Taylor went on to compile a record of 9-5 following the Espana defeat. His only notable fight being a second stoppage loss to Julio Cesar Chavez, this time coming via 8th round beat down. He finally retired in 2002. Fondly remembered as one of the fastest and most exciting fighters of all time, a talented and qualified combatant at both amateur and professional level, and a fighter who had not an ounce of 'quit' in him, to phrase a certain commentator. A true Philadelphia fighter, who embodied everything a man who steps into the squared circle should be._

Please watch this highlight vid if you haven't seen it:


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Possibly my favourite article. @VicJofreBrasil to edit :good

*Eder Jofre*

Name: Eder Jofre
Alias: Golden Bantam / O Galo Do Ouro
Birth Name: Éder Zumbano Jofre
Born: 1936-03-26
Birthplace: Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Nationality: Brazilian
Hometown: Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5′ 4″ / 163cm
Reach: 66″ / 168cm

Managers: Abraham Katzenelson and Marcos Laza
Trainer: Aristides Jofre

*Bouts: 78
Won: 72
Lost: 2
Draw: 4
KOs: 50
*

*Eder never have been knocked out.
 Only dropped two times, against Jose Smecca and Jose Legra (the ref didn´t call as a KD)

Eder Jofre was born in São Paulo, Brazil, grew up in a big Family of boxers, his dad "Kid" Jofre was his trainer.

He represented Brazil in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games in the Bantamweight.
He lost in the quarterfinals.









His first tough opponent was Ernesto Miranda, by all accounts a fast-handed boxer with good footwork.
The Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo says the draw was a fair result (in the first fight, 1957-08-16), in a violent and skillful fight&#8230;..

Also, the newspaper says:
_"Eder was almost dropped in round 9, when Miranda landed a great right on his chin&#8230;..in the same round the Brazilian landed a left counter on the jaw and stunned the platino fighter"_
The last round was dominated by Jofre, who almost gets the knockout, but was too tired.

Few days later they fought again....with a same result, a draw.

His first notable win was over the talented Leo Espinosa, a highly ranked philipino fighter with wins over Pone Kingpech and Sadao Yaoita&#8230;..









_Eder Jofre vs Leo Espinosa_
Eder won a decision in the famous Ginásio do Ibirapuera.

After some good wins, against Ruben Caceres and Gianni Zuddas&#8230;.Eder fought with another good, ranked philipino&#8230;Danny Kid.
In a great display of head movement, body punching and an awesome left hook, Eder won by UD, dropping Kid three times. 
Everyone was very surprised by the heart of the philipino fighter.
_Jofre vs Kid_




_Check out the let hooks....._

Jofre´s first title shot came after this important win.

The South American Bantamweight Title.

Eder faced his previous rival, the argentinian Ernesto Miranda, a good rivalry between Brazil and Argentina.
And this time Eder beat him convincingly two times, one by decision when Eder gave a masterful performance, and another, some months later&#8230; by KO in 3 rounds.

Then came probably the most important fight of his career. A defining moment for Eder Jofre.
The first fight against Medel, a very good fighter, very skilled one. Make no mistake because of his record, Medel was capable of great things (beat Harada by knockout ! Beat Walter McGowan, Jesus Pimentel&#8230, as you can see in this fight below.....





















A masterful performance by Eder, brutal display, not only a skilled performance, but it is also a huge show of toughness and heart, by both&#8230;.

Eder himself confessed later that he was almost knocked out by a left hook to the body landed by Medel, one of his specialities&#8230;..

*Jofre´s first World Title *

The NBA BW championship was on the line, in Los Angeles. 
Against Eloy Sanchez, an unknown fighter with a great upset win over the Mexican and former BW champion of the world, Jose Becerra.
In another great performance, Eder won by knockout in 6. 
Check out the beautiful knockout:






Great Right hand as always !

Eder then defeated such fighters as Billy Peacock, Piero Rollo(good fighter), Sadao Yaoita, Ramon Arias. Beating all of them before the limit.
He was already a hero in Brazil at this point. A famous person, and probably only less famous than Pelé.










_Eder Jofre and Pelé._

*01-18-1962: Eder Jofre vs Johnny Caldweel- World Bantamweight Title*

1962, in one of his best performances (his best performance in the opinion of many people who saw the fight), Eder beat Caldwell.






Caldwell was a very talented fighter. Very underrated today.

Jofre´s speed was very good here, probably the faster version of him ever ( in my opinion)&#8230;.. and his accuracy is outstanding in this performance&#8230;&#8230;
Check out the right hands Jofre throws&#8230;.Isn´t this special ??

Caldwell´s manager jumped into the ring to stop the bout. Jofre won by TKO, in a impressive night.
Willie Pep, referee of the bout, said Caldwell was a very tough guy with tons of heart. He was impressed and said Jofre was definitely the best BW of the world.

After the fight, Caldwell said: "The best man won".

Some good wins, against ranked fighters like Marques, Aoki, a rematch with Medel and the very good Colombian Caraballo.






_Eder vs Caraballo_

And then Eder faced the ATG Fighting Harada, a truly great fighter, one of the most skilled ever.































_Amazing fight !_

In two of the most skillful efforts by two fighter ever, Harada get the wins. In Japan.































Eder never accepted the results, and until today says he won both fights. And blame Harada for head butts, and for not accept to fight him in Brazil, since he was the champion, not Harada.

In the rematch Eder was very drained, he simply couldn´t make the weight anymore. A little frustrated, Jofre retired.

*1969*: Jofre make a comeback

In 1969, with 33 years old, he decided to make a comeback. 
Now, at Featherweight.

He won everyone he faced, including a rematch with Manny Elias, and a great fight against the Japanese Shig Fukuyama, a great war and one of the hardest fights fo Eder´s career. He put on a body punching clinic here.






_Brutal fight....._

1973 - Eder Jofre VS José Legra - Featherweight championship of the world.

A huge event in Brazil, that fight was for the WBC title, against the highly skilled Cuban-spanish José Legra.
Eder disadvantages are many, he was slower, older, and shorter.
Legra started faster, and dropped Eder (the ref didn´t call a KD). 
However&#8230;.after the round 4 Eder start to win more rounds. And even the Spanish Press didn´t called a robbery.

As you can see in this clip Eder landing many good right hans, one of those stunned Legra a bit.






After this, he knocked out a past prime Saldivar in the same year. Didn´t fought in 74 and later....

Jofre won 6 fights in 1976 and then retired for real&#8230;..
If you have never seen him in action at FW you really have to watch some of the footage below:


























Today he is underrated in his own country. Most of the people know who he is, but they don´t know exactly how great he was. 
He is a member of IBHOF since 1992.

-------------------------------------------


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## Chatty (Jun 6, 2012)

Damn, you gone to town tonight @Flea Man, gonna have to wait till tomorrow to read all that. Good work


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Another @ScouseLeader piece ready to edit when he gets here :thumbsup

Name: Mike Tyson
Nickname: Iron/Kid Dynamite/The Baddest Man on the Planet
Born: 1966-06-30, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5′ 10″ / 178cm
Reach: 71''

Record: 50 (44) - 6 (5) - 0










An enigma, one of the most fearsome fighters of all time, and arguably the most recognisable character in the history of boxing, Mike Tyson is a name synonymous with the sport, and one furthermore known almost universally throughout the world. From his ruthless tear through the Heavyweight division in the late 1980's, to his criminal conviction and subsequent comeback attempts, Mike Tyson constantly remained one of the faces of the sport. A born fighter - from the first day he stepped foot in the gym - he was taken under the wing of mentor and highly esteemed boxing trainer Cus D'Amato, the man who had guided Floyd Patterson and Jose Torres to world title glory. This relationship would eventually blossom into the cultivation of one of the most dynamic and compelling fighters in the history of the Heavyweight division.

After amassing a 23-1 amateur record under the guidance of D'Amato, Tyson's most significant amateur fight came in 1984 against the wily and able Henry Tillman. A close contest ensued, in which despite a first round KD, Tillman came back to triumph over Tyson by controversial unanimous decision. Just 2 weeks later, the two engaged again at the Olympic box-offs to determine who would represent the USA in the Heavyweight division at the 1984 Atlanta Olympics. Despite being more closely contested than their first encounter, Tyson yet again came up short on the judges scorecards as the Unanimous Decision was awarded to the future Gold Medallist Tillman. The understandably dissapointed Tyson turned his eye to the professional ranks the very same year.....





 




After 19 straight knockout victories for Tyson (A DQ win over Jesse Ferguson was later overturned) he participated in what would be his sternest test in his short professional career, against former world title challenger James 'Quick' Tillis. The experienced Tillis lived up to his name, using his legs to stay out of harms way from the increasingly frustrated Tyson, who in turn tried to chase down his agile opponent, but outside of a 4th round left-hook knockdown, enjoyed minimal success. Still, Tyson landed more than enough punches - compared to the few that the tentative Tillis actually managed - to incontestably win the Unanimous verdict.






Another Unanimous decision followed for Tyson, this time against the rugged Mitch 'Blood' Green. Similarly to Tillis, Green fought timidly, contending in a defensive and apprehensive manner for much of the fight. Tyson battered the overmatched Green over the course of the fight, knocking his mouth guard out several times and winning almost every round in a dominant victory in which only Green's rock-solid chin kept him in for the duration. 6 straight KO wins followed for 'Iron Mike', most notably a 10th round win over the resilient Jose Ribalta, where Tyson demonstrated his fantastic right uppercut/right hook to the body combination which would serve him well throughout his career.

At 27-0 (25KO's) and at just 20 years of age, Tyson challenged for the WBC Heavyweight title against champion Trevor Berbick in 1986. In spectacular fashion, Tyson decimated the champion in just 2 rounds, wobbling him in the first before brutally stopping him a round later. In smashing Berbick, Tyson had fulfilled the prophecy Cus D'Amato had laid out before him: He had become the Heavyweight champion of the world. Now it was time for Tyson to unify the belts....






Tyson immediately sought a unification fight with WBA Champ James 'Bonecrusher' Smith. In 1987, they met in Las Vegas. Tyson defeated Smith by wide unanimous decision, in an uncharacteristically dull fight for Mike, where his fellow champion held and spoiled like a number of Tyson opponents had attempted before. Smith managed to finish on his feet, but in the process lost almost every round, and subsequently his WBA title. Tyson had added another belt to his collection, and only IBF champion Tony Tucker stood in his way of becoming the undisputed Heavyweight champion of the world.





 




After dusting off the tough Pinklon Thomas in 6 rounds, Tyson stepped up to challenge the IBF champion. He and Tucker met in 1987, with Tyson winning a wide Unanimous decision in a somewhat gruelling bout. After being staggered by a huge uppercut in the first round courtesy of the bigger Tucker, Tyson stormed back furiously to dominate the remainder of the fight, smashing Tucker with big lead hooks, whilst displaying a hard, piston-like jab throughout. There was no doubt who the victor would be when the final bell sounded, and at just 21 years of age Tyson had become the unified, undisputed Heavyweight champion of the world.






In the first defence of his championship, Tyson decimated skilled Olympic Gold medallist Tyrell Biggs via 7th round TKO. He preceeded to take on former reigning Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, beating the past-prime legend to a pulp before stopping him viciously in 4 rounds, thus becoming the only fighter ever to stop the 'Easton Assasin'. After dusting off Tony Tubbs in 2, it was time for Tyson to fight another former champion, the undefeated future hall of famer, Michael Spinks.

In shocking and devastating fashion, Tyson wiped out his highly regarded foe in 1 quick round, knocking the challenger down twice (the second time for the count), despite the fact that Spinks had never even touched the canvas before in a long and illustrious 31 fight career. The brutal demolition of the superbly skilled Spinks sent a devastating message to the other Heavyweight contenders vying for a shot at the champion.






Things began to fall apart for Mike Tyson shortly afterwards. His marriage to Robin Givens began to fall apart. Then, the huge pressure exerted by the US media onto him, led to Tyson crashing his car into a tree, knocking himself out in the process. Shortly afterwards, his long-time manager Jim Jacobs passed away, leaving Tyson to the mercy of the greedy Don King, who 'ambushed' Tyson on an LA flight, convinving him to sign promotional contracts. King also goaded Tyson into firing his long-time trainer Kevin Rooney, the man who had guided Tyson through his career after Cus D'Amato had passed away in 1985. Without the right people around to help him, and with exlpoitative, money-thirsty vultures everyhwere he turned, Tyson was left in a position where he was more vulnerable than ever before. And it showed in his subsequent fights. This documentary details the events very well:






Tyson's next bout was schedules against Englishman Frank Bruno. Without Rooney is his corner, Tyson showed signs of vulnerability never displayed before before in his career. In the first round, despite knocking the challenger down, Tyson himself was staggered by a left hook from Bruno, appearing shaken for the remainder of the round. Despite recovering to stretch Bruno in the 5th, Tyson had looked worryingly penetrable. Questions regarding his dedication began to surface as the turmoil of his personal life began to impace upon his career.





 




After controversially stopping Carl 'The Truth' Williams inside 2 rounds, in February 1990 Tyson would fight 29-4-1 James 'Buster' Douglas in a title defence in Tokyo, Japan. Douglas, a 42-1 underdog, was given no chance to topple the dominant favourite. Shockingly however, in what is regarded by many as the single greatest upset in the history of boxing, Douglas dominated and knocked out the undefeated champion in 10 rounds, shaking the entire sporting world to it's core. Despite rallying in the 8th and knocking Doulgas down for what seemed like a long count, the poorly prepared Tyson himself was hurt just a round later, and finally taken out in the 10th with huge swelling around both eyes (which his disgracefully inept team failed to deal with). Tyson had been subject to an upset of epic proportions and had lost both his unbeaten record and undisputed championship to the more motivated, dedicated and prepared underdog.





 




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KNuAVivQkU


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Mike Tyson part 2.

After his shocking upset defeat at the hands of Buster Douglas, Tyson made it his perogative to bounce back as quickly and as devastatingly as possible. Iron Mike returned to the ring just 4 months after the Douglas loss, with his comeback bout scheduled against former Olympic rival Henry Tillman. Tillman, a fighter who's fine amateur skills had failed to translate into sustainable professional success, was brutally knocked out with a concussive right hand to the temple in the first round by the returning Tyson. Next on the comeback trail for Tyson was Alex Stewart, a durable contender who's sole loss had come at the hands of Evander Holyfield (7th round cut stoppage). Despite his reputation, the terrified Stewart was knocked down 3 times and subsequently stopped in the first by a mercilless Tyson. Mike was back.

Not feeling the need to participate in any more 'tune-up' fights, Tyson immediately thrust himself into a bouth with the highly rated and dangerous contender Donovan 'Razor' Ruddock, a rock hard puncher who had recently disposed of both Michael Dokes and Bonecrusher Smith with consumate ease. The 2 met in 1991, in a controversial encounter, where Ruddock was adjudged to have been dropped three times (1 was a slip) before being controversially stopped in the 7th round after being wobbled by a hard Tyson combination. Razor protested the stoppage, and a riot in the ring ensued. The controvery surrounding the abrupt ending of the bout meant an immediate rematch was on the cards






The return was scheduled for March of 1991. In a very gruelling encounter, Tyson emerged with the hard fought unanimous verdict. The fight was intensely fought, with neither fighter willing to give an inch as both shipped hard punches in an attempt to outlast the other. Ruddock was dropped twice in the bout, but this was almost cancelled out by Tyson having 2 points deducted for low blows. Tyson was victorious by a comfortable margin on the scorecards, having outlanded and outfought his highly competitive foe. The fight, to this day is regarded as one the hardest and most fiery encounters fought in the modern Heavyweight division.





 








 








 




After his defeat of Ruddock, Tyson looked set to challenge undisputed champion Evander Holyfield for the Heavyweight championship. It was a mouth-watering match up in the eyes of boxing fans. After a brief cancellation due to an injury sustained by Tyson, it looked like the figth was on. However, in a shocking turn of events, Tyson was arrested in July 1991 for the rape of Desiree Washington. Despite protesting his innocence, in February 1992 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and promptly incarcerated.






After serving just 3 years of his sentence, Tyson was released in March of 1995 and returned to the ring without hesitation. Hungrier than ever before, and looking bigger, stronger and more fearsome, despite aging and putting on a small amount of weight, Tyson returned with a bang when he stopped the horribly overmatched Peter Mcneeley in one round. A third round stoppage over the awkward but ultimately petrified Buster Mathis Jr put Tyson back on the Heavyweight map. Iron Mikes quest to regain the Heavyweight championship had began.

Tyson reclaimed the WBC title with a third round stoppage over old foe Frank Bruno. Bruno, who had asked questions of Tyson in their first bout served as little more than cannon fodder this time around as Tyson beat him to a pulp and took his title in 3 quick, non-competitive rounds. 6 months later, Tyson contested for the WBA title, owned by Bruce Seldon. In one of the most pathetic performances by a defending champion in Heavyweight title history, Seldon succumbed to Tyson inside the first round, hitting the canvas on 2 occasions without appearing taking clean punches. Seldon was deemed an embarrassment for his peformance, but Tyson cared little however, as the WBA title was his yet again and a Heavyweight superfight against Evander Holyfield was on the horizon





 




Tyson and Holyfield finally met in November 1996. And in Ring Magazines 'Fight of the Year', Holyfield stopped Tyson in the 11th round of a savage encounter, taking his title and handing Mike his second professional defeat. In a fight fought largely on the inside, where both fighters toiled and grappled in an attempt to gain the upper hand, Holyfield emerged the victor as his athleticism, class and ability shone through against the suprisingly one-geared Tyson. After appearing to gain the upper hand on Tyson in the later rounds of the fight, Holyfield had a lead entering the championship length. After hurting a tired Mike with a pair of hard left hooks and an uppercut in the 11th, Holyfield drove Tyson to the ropes and preceeded to batter him with punches, where the referee promptly jumped in to bring an end to the fight. It was such a closely contested and entertaining encounter, that both fighters sought a rematch.






Tyson and Holyfield met again in 1997, in a fight that is to this day regarded as one of the most shocking and controversial encounters of all time. After a couple of close rounds including a good 3rd for the challenger, Tyson had 2 points by referee Mills Lane for attempting to bite Holyfields ear. The deduction did little to deter Tyson however, as he attacked Holyfield again, this time biting with enough force to remove a portion of the champions ear. Tyson was immediately disqualified, and an altercation ensued in the ring, with a riot nearly breaking out. Tyson blamed Holyfields reckless use of the head as motive for his actions, but this did not change the fact that Tyson's actions had disgraced the sport of boxing and further marred his already rocky reputation, and he had slipped further in the estimations of fans and critics around the world. The bout is known as 'The Bite fight', for obvious reasons.






After being subsequently banned from the sport for 1 year, following the biting debacle, Tyson returned in 1999 against a string of sub-par opponents. Tyson had appeared to lose his edge a bit and looked nowhere near as dynamic as he had in past bouts. Age, combined with wear and tear from a number of hard fights had appeared to catch up with Tyson. However he soldiered on and in his first fight since his ban, he took on contender Frans Botha. Botha appeared to outbox Tyson clearly over the first 4 rounds of their bout, but his lead did not last as Tyson knocked him out with an enourmous straight right hand in the 5th. After remaining unbeaten over the course of his next 5 fights, which included 3 wins and 2 no contests over several fringe contenders, Tyson was primed for yet another shot at the Heavyweight title, this time against reigning champion Lennox Lewis.

Despite Lewis being the older man, Tyson was much further detached from his prime than the late bloomer Lennox, and was consequently beaten to a pulp and knocked out cold by the bigger, stronger champion. Tyson's aggression appeared to give Lewis some problems early on in the fight, but he quickly acclimitised to Tyson and preceeded to find his range and punish Tyson with huge right hands over the course of the bout. The exhausted, swollen and beaten Tyson was finally put out for the count in the 8th round. It appeared as though the Mike Tyson express train had finally come to a halt.





 









Never to be deterred, Tyson again returned to the ring just a year later, this time defeating Clifford Etienne in 1 swift round. If nothing else, Tyson had appeared to hold on to the devastating power which had carried him throughout the late portion of his career. However his comeback attempts were quickly silenced by Englishman Danny Williams, who upset Tyson knocked him out in 5 hard-fought rounds. Despite the defeat, Tyson, still clamouring for another shot at the Heavyweight crown, decided to give it one last hurrah, in this instance against Irish journeyman Kevin McBride. McBride brought Tyson's career to an end in 6 rounds, stopping him and finally retiring the man who had kept the entire boxing world on it's toes for the last 20 years.

To this day, the name 'Mike Tyson' is known known globally. Everybody and their mother knows who Mike Tyson is, and it is this kind of household recognition that allowed Tyson to act as the catalyst as the sport of boxing accelerated into the mainstream. It's a name that resonates power, aggresion, drive, and the primal instinct that has kept boxing fans around the world in awe of 'The Baddest man on the planet'. Through the highs and the lows, the controversy and the successes, Tyson has emerged as a household figure who embodies both the good and bad side of the sport. At the end of the day, even if Tyson did underachieve in some aspects, he is an all time great heavyweight figher with a body of wins rivalled by very few in the divisions history.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Veeraphol Sahaprom

Height: 5'3

Boxing record
Total fights 72
Wins 66
KO's 47
Losses 4 (3)
Draws 2










_Veeraphol Sahaprom was a well-organised and patient ring general with an accurate right hand who methodically broke his opponents down with accurate straight punches and could let fly with a variety of hurtful punches when he had his man hurt. Given the moniker 'Deathmask' for his stone-faced expression in the ring, this clinical Thai held a version of the World Bantamweight title twice in his career, but was most known for his reign as WBC Champion, where he made 14 defences._

_Like many Thai fighters, Sahaprom started out as a hungry and vicious Muay Thai fighter, and achieved a high level of success as a 3 time Rajdamnern stadium champion (the other major stadium in Bangkok outside of Lumpini) and purportedly had over 180 fights. _

_He fought fellow Thai Samson Dutchboy Gym, who would go on to have a flawless professional boxing record of 43-0 (36) (against below average opposition at best) and made 38 defences of the meaningless WBU Super-Fly weight title. As young Nak Muay, Samson and Veeraphol went 1-1 with each other, with Samson brutally wasting Sahaprom the first time and Sahaprom getting off the deck in a very exciting matchup to savage Samson in the second round in their rematch. Both fights can be seen in the video below, and are highly recommended._






_Sahaprom also fought the very good Silapathai Jockygym in defence of his 115lb Championship. This is an absolutely terrific and brutal finish, a one punch K.O from Hell (5:40) _






_Turning over to 'International' Boxing at the age of 29 in search of new challenges, Sahaprom made his debut in 1994 against Joel Junio, who any conoisseur of the lower weights will have seen against many top fighters from this era. Winning his first 3 fights inside the distance and like many Thai fighters pushed into first class opposition quickly, Sahaprom then took on another quality Thai fighter, and another smart and dangerous fighter, the southpaw Daorung Chuvatana, for the WBA Bantamweight title. Sahaprom won the title in only his 4th bout with a 12 round decision, and would have little time to relish his victory. In 1996 he would defend against the brilliant lower weight fighter, and former titlist, Nana Konadu, in a fight that would shape the rest of the Thai's career._






_Despite scoring an early knockdown, the aggressive and free-throwing Sahaprom was blasted in the 2nd, and couldn't recover. Within five fights, Veeraphol Sahaprom had claimed, and lost a 'World' title._

_After this fight, he would develop his mid-range game further, not letting his hands go unless he knew his had his opponent on the verge of going. _

_Between '96 and '98, Sahaprom built his confidence back up, scoring little wins of note but defeating future ranked Featherweight (and cult hero) Choi Tsevenpureev and faded former WBC light Flyweight champ' Rolando Pascua. sahaprom then got a chance to reclaim 118lb Gold, when he took on Japanese hero Joichiro Tatsuyoshi. _

_The Jap' was plagued with eye problems throughout his career, but was a capable operator. Sahaprom really displayed his efficient style here, patiently finding his range before dispalying his dealy finishing skills, destroying the brave Japanese and taking his WBC title. _*Sahaprom, with surgical precision, finishes Tatsuyoshi to claim his 2nd title*






_In '99, the Jap' tried hard to reclaim his title, but was stopped again, victim of another efficient performance from a 'Champion' who was looking increasingly impressive._






_In the year 2000, Sahaprom would meet another Japanese fighter in defence of his 118lb title, Toshiaki Nishioka, who is far more highly regarded today as the WBC Super Bantamweight Champion. Over the next four years these two would meet four times, with the Thai retaining his title via decision in two of the encounters, and two fights being ruled a draw (all contested in Japan.) _

_By the time the fourth fight came around, Sahaprom had figured his man out and Nishioka was struggling with the weight. The Thai displayed his superiority over his challenger and drubbed Nishioka over the 12 round distance. Sahaprom really displays how consistent and useful a tool his right hand was, especially against a bigger and faster southpaw opponent._

*1st Meeting*





*2nd Meeting*





*3rd Meeting*





*4th Meeting*





_Despite being a consistent title holder and a highly capable operator, Sahaprom was never regarded as the no.1 Bantamweight in the World, his reign coming in the times of highly regarded Bantams including Orlando Canizales and Johnny Tapia. _

_In 2005, the Thai finally lost his WBC title after nearly 7 years of wearing the belt. Defending against another Japanese southpaw of some quality in Hozumi Hasegawa, Sahaprom found himself down on the cards going into the middle rounds, and despite finding his range and dictating the pace, a late rounds surge by Hasegawa won the Jap' a deserved decision, building on the gameplan Nishioka had started but wasn't talented enough to implement. _






_Sahaprom rebuilt with a 5-0(4) run, but was stopped for the first time in a decade by a peaking Hasegawa who had sorted out his balance and was hitting with real authority. In the 9th, Hasegawa walked Sahaprom onto a big right hand (6:40 of Part III) and laid him out._
















_Sahaproms prime was over, although he was still dangerous against average opposition and would go 14-1 (11) before he retired, his only loss to decent contender Vusi Malinga, who would go on to be starched inside a round by Hasegawa. _

*One of Sahaproms post-Hasegawa II fights* 










_Whilst falling short of greatness, all in all Sahaprom was an astute boxer-puncher who made an easy transition rom Muay Thai into Boxing, and was one of the best Bantamweights of the last 20 years, and one of the most successful boxers from Thailand in it's history_


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

@ScouseLeader again; class this!

Name: Larry Holmes
Nickname: The Easton Assassin 
Born: 1949-11-03, Cuthbert, Georgia USA
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 6′ 3″/190cm
Reach: 81''

Record: 69 (44) - 6(1)










Regarded by many critics to be amongst the best 5 Heavyweight boxers of all time, possesing wonderful athletic ability and a legendary left jab, Larry Holmes emerged from relative obscurity in the late 1970's Heavyweight scene to embark on one of the most fruitful title reigns in the history of the division. A character outside of the ropes, and a calculated beast within them, Holmes never quite captured the imagination of the American spectators - who craved another Muhammad Ali-esque superstar - but in his own right lay down a legacy matched by very few, to establish himself as one of _the_ great fighters, in one of _the _most decorated divisions in the sport of boxing.

After dropping out of school as a teenager in search of work to provide money for his family, Holmes turned to boxing at an advanced age - 19. His amateur career was short and decidely un-profilic. He compiled a mediocre record of 19-2 before stepping out of nowhere to face the heralded American amatuer Dwayne Bobick in the Olympic trials in 1972. The inexperienced and unrefined Holmes was dropped hard in the first, prompting him to hold on excessively until he was eventually disqualified in the 3rd. Dissapointed, and growing discontent with the amatuer scene, realising that it was doing him no favours in terms of development, or on a financial level, Holmes set his sights on the professional ranks. He made his pro debut in 1993.






Holmes' early professional career was as barren as his amatuer days, as he spent the first 26 fights of his career in ambiguity, fighting lowly regarded fighters and - according to commentator Howard Cossell - not looking great in the process. Despite a TKO win over Rodney Bobick, brother of Holmes's Amateur foe Duane, most of Holmes' early opponents were unheralded stiffs who provided him with little recognition and failed to further his development as a fighter. However, amidst fighting these low calibre opponents in the ring, outside of the professional ropes Holmes had been sparring with some of the best Heavyweight fighters on the planet, including his idol; Muhammad Ali, as well as the likes of Joe Frazier, Ken Norton and Earnie Shavers. It was testing himself in the gym against these top class fighters that really gave Homes the opportunity to hone his skills, and gear himself up for the shot at the Heavyweight title which he so craved.

It wasn't until 1978, at the age of 29, that Holmes was able to truly announce himself on the world stage. The bout was a title eliminator against the dangerous Earnie Shavers, a concussive puncher in every sense of the word who had just recently fallen short in a competitive affair against Ali for the Heavyweight title. The enigmatic Holmes was seen as an outside bet to beat Shavers and earn a title shot against Ken Norton. Despite this, Holmes dramatically announced himself as a potential future Heavyweight star by boxing circles round Shavers and comfortably winning a wide unanimous decision. Holmes nimbly danced around his befuddled foe, taking the odd shot Shavers did land without issue whilst relentlessly slamming Earnie with a cultured left jab which his seasoned adversary had no answer. Holmes nearly capped off a scintillating performance by stopping Shavers in the final seconds of the fight, rocking him badly against the ropes. Though it wasn't to be, Holmes had broadcast his arrival on the Heavyweight scene with a terrific performance and had added the first quality name to his resume.






Holmes was primed to challenge the experienced Ken Norton for the WBC championship the very same year. The awkward Norton was seen as a potential stylistic nightmare for Holmes, who had designed his own style on the fighter Norton had posed such difficulties to - Muhammad Ali. Unsurprisingly, Norton did prove a nuisance for Holmes, fighting from an awkward crouch and holding his hands in a position Holmes had not before encountered in his professional career. However, by alternating his style between fighting up close and dancing away on his tiptoes, flicking out the jab, Holmes was able to get the better of Norton in most rounds of the fight, even badly rocking the champion with some hard rights in the 9th. The final round was an all out war, among the best 3 minutes in Heavyweight history, where both tired warriors went all out in an attempt to leave the ring with the belt around their waist. Ultimately it was Holmes' speed, agility and superior jab which proved the difference, as he wrested the title from Kenny's hands via Split decision, becoming World Heavyweight champion for the first time at the age of 29. Holmes' reign had began.





 








 








 




The first defence of Holmes' belt came against the overmatched Uruguyan fringe contender Alfredo Evangelista, who Holmes toyed with for 6 easy rounds before dispatching with a crushing right hand to the temple in the 7th. The first real threat to Holmes' belt appeared in the form of Ossie Ocasio, an awkward, agile contender from Puerto Rico who had risen to promince with 2 close wins over Jimmy Young. The unorthodox style of Ocasio, which incorporated rapid head movement and nimble fotwoork was mooted to be potentially challenging for the slightly less mobile Holmes. However that reality failed to materialise as Holmes dominated the action for 6 rounds before displaying his slept-on power in pernicious fashion by dropping the young challenger 4 times in the 7th, each time with a different punch. After a left uppercut put the brave Ocasio down yet again, the fight was brought to a merciful halt.





 




Holmes next task would not be so straightforward; a defence against another awkward customer in Mike Weaver, a fighter who boasted a deceptively ugly record. Holmes went into the fight believing he had an easy assignment ahead of him, as his sights were already set on a lucrative rematch with Earnie Shavers, mooted for later on in the year. After a bright start, Holmes appeared comfortable prior hurting Weaver in the fourth, but the challenger shocked spectators, and the champion, by roaring back and badly rocking Holmes at the tail end of the same round. Holmes regained relative control of the bout, but never looked wholly comfortable and remained weary of Weaver's power. Holmes was right in his caution, as Weaver hurt Larry again in the 10th, nearly stopping the astonished champion. In a real test for Holmes, he displayed his lauded recuperative powers as he engaged Weaver in the 11th in a toe-to-toe battle, culminating with Holmes dropping his foe with massive right uppercut just before the bell. Weaver was exhausted, and Holmes superior class and conditioning told as he put away his tormentor in the 12th. Holmes metal had been put to the test for the first time in his career, and though hardly looking stellar in the process, he had passed. Despite Weaver's poor record, he would go on to prove himself by beating some of the most able Heavyweights around in the form of John Tate, Gerrie Coetzee and James 'Quick' Tillis.






Holmes would bring an end to the year with a victory over Earnie Shavers, the man he had beaten over a year earlier to announce himself on the world stage. This time, the win would not be so simple for Holmes, as the motivated Shavers pressured from the start and, despite trailing widely on the cards, maintained his pressure to drop Holmes with a monstrous right hand in the 11th. From the offset, it looked like Holmes would not get up - not many did from a flush Shavers bomb - though Holmes miraculously picked himself up and proceeded to resume dominating with his jab, eventually bringing an end to Shavers challenge in the 11th. Holmes had again appeared vulnerable, but his recuperative skills and superior ability were the telling factors as he held on to his title.





 




3 routine title defences followed in 1980 for Holmes, most notably a victory over the unbeaten Leroy Jones, who had risen to prominence after decisioning Mike Weaver in '88. Holmes stopped Jones on the ropes in the 8th, a beating which would eventually terminally halt Jones' career due to a detached retina. Holmes' next assignment would be his most publicised to date; a fight with his idol, and face of American heavyweight boxing; Muhammad Ali. To the causal fans, it was Holmes' chance to really establish himself as the number one Heavyweight in the eyes of the American public, though more seasoned spectators knew Ali, in his diminished state had no right to share the ring with the younger champion. An unsurprisingly one-sided beat down ensued, with Holmes dominating every second of the action against his past-prime opponent before Ali's corner called a halt to the action after 10. The fight offered Holmes some publicity but did little in terms of enhancing his legacy or getting his many critics to side with him.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

Next in line for Holmes was Trevor Berbick, another unconventional fighter who had modelled his style on that of Ken Norton, the man who had given fits to Holmes in '78. There was much animosity between Holmes and Berbick in the build up to the fight, resulting in a street brawl which boiled over when Holmes leapt at Berbick from the top of a car like a Cheetah on PCP. The antagonism between the 2 transcended to the ring, which was furthered by Holmes frustration with Berbick's low crouch and Peek-a-boo style. This was evident after a bad tempered first round, where Berbick mocked Holmes for his stylistic imitation of Ali, resulting in the champion shoving the challenger at the bell, which in turn prompted Berbick to throw the referee to the ground when he tried to arbitrate. Things cooled down to a degree afterwards, and despite a close contest, Holmes's superior speed and jab prevailed over the somewhat inactive Berbick, earning the champion a fairly comfortable decision win.






In June of 81, Holmes decimated the overmatched former champ Leon Spinks in 3 rounds preceding a bout against Renaldo Snipes. Snipes, unbeaten at 22-0 was a quick, agile fighter with good head movement who was seen as a bright spark in the division. Holmes began the fight as he did most others; dominating with the jab, keeping his opponent at bay and following up with smashing straight right hands. However Larry couldn't establish a rhythm against the unorthodox Snipes who refused to remain a moving target, but led nonetheless going into the late rounds of the fight. Snipes was behind, but stayed largely out of harms way until the 9th, where he hurt Holmes possibly worse than ever before in the champions career, rocking him hard and turning his legs to jelly after dropping him to the canvas. Holmes, yet again recovered to stop his opponent, with the referee controversially waving off a hurt Snipes against the ropes in the 11th. Snipes contested, but to no avail.





 








 




Holmes next fight would prove to be the biggest of his career thus far, a bout against unbeaten and highly regarded American contender Gerry Cooney. The massive Cooney was a big fan favourite and considered by many to potentially be the man who could end Holmes' reign at the top. In a hugely publicised fight on HBO, Holmes stopped Cooney in the 13th after an entertaining and dramatic encounter. Cooney displayed his best qualities; his tremendous strength, heart, coupled with his great jab and snappy left hook which allowed him to win around 4-5 rounds on the judges cards. It was his lack of true power and questionable punch resistance that let the challenger down though; as it transpired he could be hurt without possessing the ability to hurt the champion. Cooney was downed in the first and hurt again in the 6th before his corner pulled him out in the 13th after he was reduced to a stagger by another Holmes barrage.






2 whitewash unanimous decisions followed for Holmes against the ridiculously overmatched Randall 'Tex' Cobb and Lucien Rodriguez. Midway through 1983 Holmes took on the unbeaten Philadelphia Heavyweight Tim Witherspoon, who despite his relative inexperience was considered one of the most highly skilled young contenders in the division. 'Spoon lived up to his billing, proving extremely difficult for Holmes to establish a rhythm against as Terrible Tim sported a cross armed guard with his right hand tucked under the left side of his chin, meaning Holmes could not land his jab or straight right with regularity. Witherspoon's cute head movement, quick feet, sneaky jab and nice, sharp left hand meant he won a significant number of rounds, enough to make the fight very close on most scorecards. Holmes was given the split decision, and held onto his title by a whisker.






(The fights not on YT, so the decision announcement will have to do )

Holmes rattled off 2 fairly straightforward KO victories over the undefeated but unheralded Scott Frank and Marvis Frazier prior to defending his belt against James 'Bonecrusher' Smith, who had made up for a loss in his pro debut by ascending the ranks and stopping British prospect Frank Bruno in 10 rounds. He was outclassed against Holmes, with his open-ness to the counter right hand allowing Holmes to outland him significantly and dominate the action from the offset with his jab, eventually leading to a stoppage in the 12th courtesy of a nasty cut over Smith's eye.






A dominant performance, ending with a stoppage in the final seconds of the 10th against a game but outclassed David Bey followed. Holmes would then take on another undefeated challenger, this time in the form of Carl 'The Truth' Williams. What transpired was a very close and controversial fight, which Holmes won by razor thin unanimous decision. The massive Williams refused to give Holmes an inch and fought toe to toe with the champion for the duration, giving and taking hard shots. Holmes better work in the late rounds of the fight, where Williams appeared to take his foot off the gas allowed him to establish a thin lead on the cards, and the champion prevailed by close Unanimous decision.






In the 20th defence of Holmes title, the champion would face the unbeaten, pound for pound ranked Light heavyweight champion Michael Spinks, who was making his Heavyweight debut by stepping up to challenge the champion. In 1985's upset of the year, Spinks defeated Holmes by unanimous decision, ending Holmes title reign after 7 years, and taking Larry's unbeaten record. The highly skilled and awkward Spinks didn't allow Holmes any time to establish any rhythm, peppering him from the outside with a sharp jab whilst slamming the champion with hard combinations from awkward angles on the inside. Holmes could not stick his normally pinpoint jab on the constantly moving head of Spinks in any sort of regular pattern, meaning he struggled to win rounds in succession. Holmes pressed the fight late on, hurting Spinks in the championship rounds, but he could not out-do the work Spinks had done earlier on in the fight, and despite the bout being incredibly close, the smaller man prevailed with the Unanimous decision, ruining Holmes chances of matching or eventually surpassing Rocky Marciano's 48-0 record, a milestone which he had his sites set on since winning the title.






Craving redemption, for his bitter loss, Holmes squared up to Spinks a year later, but again fell short on the cards as Spinks was awarded a very controversial unanimous decision. The scorecards were disputed, as Holmes himself along with many observers felt that he had deserved to win the fight in close but clear fashion. However, the judges again favoured the work of the unorthodox Spinks, despite him being unable to befuddle a more determined Holmes like he had in their previous encounter. Holmes jabbed with more authority, pushed back Spinks and tied him up on the inside to negate his better work and despite falling short in some rounds, appeared to better Spinks over the distance. Disgusted with the decision, and disillusioned with the way boxing had treated him, Holmes entered a temporary retirement in which would not return to the ring for almost 2 years. It appeared as though the better days of Larry Holmes career were over.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

After the longest absense from the ring in his entire professional career, Holmes returned to the Heavyweight division in 1988 to challenge recently crowned undisputed champion Mike Tyson. Tyson, a beast of a fighter who boasted a combination of speed, power and ferocity not witnessed in the division since the days of Sonny Liston, was a massive favourite to stop Holmes, despite the veteran fighter never being KO'd before. This was exactly what transpired, as Holmes was stopped in truly brutal fashion in the 4th round after 3 heavy knockdowns at the hands of the relentless champion. Holmes's plan off jabbing off the back foot proved futile against the aggressive Tyson who walked Holmes down before wiping the brave challenger out with consumate ease. It was the first truly conclusive loss of Holmes career, and it was a devastating one indeed.





 




Holmes spent a further 3 years out of the ring following his crushing loss at the hands of Tyson, eventually choosing to again return to the ring in 1991, against a string of Journeyman and novices. After regaining his confidence and re-ad******g himself to the ring, Holmes stepped up to challenge the unbeaten prospect Ray Mercer, a highly touted fighter who was coming off 2 career high knockout victories over Francesco Damiani and Tommy Morrison. His devastating KO of the unbeaten Morrison had led many to believe that Mercer could be a force in the division, and Holmes was seen as the perfect catalyst for Mercer's rise to the top. Not if Larry had anything to say about it: In a scintillating performance, Holmes turned back the years to dominate the lackadaisical Mercer, dominating him with the jab whilst peppering him with hard combinations when his back against the ropes. The lazy Mercer allowed himself to be outworked by the more hungry and determined Holmes, and lost his unbeaten record via a comfortable UD to the veteran. Holmes was a shadow of his prime self, but was still, with the guile and skill he retained from his prime days, capable of testing any top fighter.






The victory over Mercer spurred Holmes on to challenge current undisputed champion Evander Holyfield. The younger, fresher and more capable Holyfield was able to defeat the game, but ultimately outgunned Holmes by Unanimous decision over 12, winning comfortably on all 3 cards. Holmes posed a few problems to the younger champion with his legendary jab and ability but was no match for the sharpness or combination punching of the quicker Holyfield. Holmes could take pride however in going the distance with the very capable champion as well as nicking several rounds along the way. Holmes courageous effort was epitomized by him vomiting at the sound of the final bell, showing that he could give his all regardless of age related handicapps.





 








 




The defeat sent Holmes down the road to facing a number of journeyman over the next 3 years until 1995, when Holmes saw possibly his final opportunity to regain the Heavyweight championship against the decidedly weak belt holder Oliver McCall. The fairly unskilled, but otherwise iron chinned McCall, who had won the belt with a shock KO over Lennox Lewis was viewed as one of the less stellar Heavyweight champions, and Holmes saw his chance to return to the limelight. It wasn't to be however, as despite performing valiantly Holmes fell just short and lost out by unanimous decision to the more active and aggressive. Despite winning a number of rounds boxing off the back foot and sticking his jab in the face of McCall, Holmes was simply too old to really get out of 1st gear, meaning he could not get his shots off, which allowed the younger MCcall to simply outwork the older challenger, particularly in the later rounds of the bout. Holmes again could take some pride in pushing the champion to the limit.






Refusing to be deterred, Holmes strung together 4 more wins before travelling to Denmark to test unbeaten Heavyweight contender Brian Nielsen. Nielsen, nothing short of a pudding with one of the most padded records in the sport, was nearly embarrassingly upset by Holmes, who at times schooled the unbeaten home town fighter but could not keep up with the pace set by Nielsen, who prevailed by a controversial split decision. It appeared Holmes last chance saloon at returning to prominence had passed.






Seeing that the end of his long career was on the horizon, Holmes brought a close to his career with 4 wins, including 2 over old, past-prime foe's Bonecrusher Smith and Mike Weaver. In the final fight of his career, at the age of 50, an almost geriatric Holmes took on well known novelty fighter Eric 'Butterbean' Esch, in a sideshow bout seen as a jovial last hurrah for Holmes. Larry won by easy unanimous decision against his obese opponent, sticking him with his jab whilst keeping on his toes to dish out a boxing lesson to the Bean. Holmes even put his showmanship on display when he feigned being hurt in the 12th round to spice up and otherwise boring encounter. It would be the final time Holmes would ever step between the ropes, and he was satisfied to go out with a victory, regardless of the opponent.






It brought and end to a career which had spanned nearly 30 years, a career which had seen the emergence of one of the most skilled and most qualified Heavyweight champions of all time. Holmes boasts one of the best resumes the division has been afforded to bear witness too, which includes countless wins over unbeaten fighters as Holmes cleaned out his era with aplomb. Though he was never a fan favourite, with his mild personality and irritable mannerisms often preventing the public from warming too him, Holmes is nevertheless regarded as one of the greatest fighters his country has ever produced and can proudly sport a legacy which will go down amongst the very best in history.


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

@ScouseLeader :happy


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## ScouseLeader (May 31, 2012)

Flea Man said:


> @ScouseLeader :happy


Didn't know you had brought these over for me, Flea Man, I appreciate that alot :good

How do you reckon I should go about tweaking them?


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## Flea Man (Jun 2, 2012)

@ScouseLeader Just quote 'em, take off the quote marks, pit [video] tags around the vids, let me know and I'll delete all my posts with your posts in :good


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## ScouseLeader (May 31, 2012)

Flea Man said:


> @ScouseLeader Just quote 'em, take off the quote marks, pit [video] tags around the vids, let me know and I'll delete all my posts with your posts in :good


Oh I see, I'll get on it :good


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## Mandanda (Jun 2, 2012)

*Name: Tommy Farr
Nickname: Tonypandy Terror
Height: 6'1
Weight: Light Heavyweight/Heavyweight

From:Clydach Vale, Wales

Born:1914-03-12
Death:1986-03-01

Record:
Total fights: 129 
Won 83 (24 KO's) 
Lost 31
Drawn 15
*










Fighting Style: Aggressive Orthodox fighter who liked to work fighters onto overhand right and worked his way in close where he would unload to body and head. He carried fair amount of pomp on punches as well as a decent jab.

Tommy Farr was born in Blaen Clydach, a mining community that overlooked the town of Tonypandy, in the Rhonda Valley. He was the son of a Irish Miner called George. George was a bare knuckle fighter who was a family man and like his father Tommy followed him into mining and fighting.

George was a grafter and got the money together to move the Farr family into a 3 bedroom house but before to long his wife sadly passed on and he became Bedridden with Paralysis.

So Tommy and the other 7 members of the family took working different jobs and Tommy chose making deliveries from a hand cart for local shopkeepers. It wasn't long till Tommy took up the mantle of man of the house and with that bore the responseability of being able to defend his family and Tommy took the local gyms in his area and started to fall in love with the sport. His hero was Frank Moody, from Pontypridd, who became British light heavy and middleweight champion.

At the tender age of 12 years old Tommy took to the ring to fight Jack Jones who was also making his debut and was a youngster himself. Tommy won via a 6 rounds points decision and on the Boxing day of that year he faced the brilliantly named ''Young Snowball'' real name Ted Broadrib who he would later cross paths with again but on a much more formal level. He defeated Broaddrib on points and made some progress before understandably losing to grown men and his record started to become inconsistent.

With the Miners strike happening Tommy had to box to bring home money for his family and 25p was his worth as a fighter at that time but it meant he could feed his family whilst grown men couldn't because of the strike. He then returned to the mines at the age of 14 a job he hated but had to do and within a month he was scared for life when an explosion of flying slivers of coal to scar his face and body, marks which he would carry for the rest of his life. He took a 3 month break before returning to the sport. Farr trained at the Dewinton Hotel, Tonypandy, where some of his contests were held.

Promoters billed him in a variety of ways; Battling Farr,, Kid Farr, Young Tommy Farr and combinations of these. In 1927, calling himself Young Farr, Tommy soon put out a challenge in The South Wales Echo to any 84lb youngster in Wales, and he named five. He fought most of them, although not always successfully. One Treorchy lad, Evan Lane beat him three times.

Farr then went to Job Churchill who trained Tom Thomas, British middleweight champion 1906-09. Like many relationships in boxing between young fighter and elder trainer they build a strong bond and Tommy looked upon Job as a father figure. Tommy believed he could make it big in the sport and feared no man and his style belied that belief. By the tine Farr was 18 he had a staggering 78 contests, winning 29 and losing 21. When Tommy had a row with his foreman he ended up leaving his job and joining Joe Gess boxing booth and was handed a job as a handyman but soon become a fighter for Gess when he swiftly dealt with a intruder.

Tommy soon become fed up with life in Wales and had enough of the poverty and hit the big smoke of London to become a star but it didn't quite turn out that way, Tommy went around the London gyms to no avail. He was so short on money that he walked there to try live the dream. Tommy did have one fight in London getting stopped in seven rounds at Selhurst Park against Eddie Steele in which he was punched in throat in 7th and the gumshield got lodged in throat and caused the fight to be stopped.










He made his way back home and after a brief stint as a laborer father figure Churchill persuaded him to go back to boxing and him and Gess worked hard to get him the bouts he desired.

Tommy started to put some wins together and built a steady run of wins before facing Randy Jones for the vacant Light Heavyweight title of Wales. He won the title after 15 rounds and put pay to all the hard work he went through but this was only the beginning. In that year 1933 Farr had 28 bouts only losing 3 bouts.

Farr would then after a string of wins including beating Jim Winters in a British title Eliminator fight Eddie Phillips who would provide a arch nemesis for Tommy. Losing to him on points on the first occasion before meeting him in a Final British Title eliminator where he was Disqualified. He would then move onto the Welsh title again recapturing it by beating Charlie Bundy.

He would then work way into a title contention but to again face Phillips his bogey man. Phillips seemed to have Farr's number but Tommy had a fantastic chance of capturing the vacant crown but within days of the bout he badly injured his hand and was facing a £100 forfeit but him and his camp vowed to continue with bout and proceed to use cocaine injections to numb the pain.

Farr also found he was five pounds over the limit on the eve of the fight, so he had to get rid of this by weigh-in at lunchtime the next day. Not surprisingly Farr faded badly in the fight, particularly after getting cut in the fifth round, and Phillips took the 15 round decision.

He decided to ask Ted Broadrib to manage all his affairs. Broadrib agreed, but only to an American style contract, which would tie him to Farr for five years. Broadib soon moved Farr to Slough in Berkshire and within a short space of time Farr was winning and winning well and in a film like plot he met Hero Frank Moody and won via KO against his boyhood hero. Farr was on a hot streak of form in with improved purses he beat Manuel Abrew at White City, and Eddie Wenstob at Holborn. Farr was operating at Heavyweight around this point.










In 1936 far stepped up in levels fighting Tommy Loughran and Bob Olin. He won both bouts although Olin had Tommy down twice and Olin's manager protested the verdict. Farr by then was having issues with his manager and wasn't happy being tied to the contract but he moved on to fighting the legendary Jimmy Wilde in there first bout they drew.

This scuppered Tommy's plans for a new life in America but he KO'd Wilde in there rematch and booked himself a trip to the bigtime! or so he thought he ended up winning some more domestic battles (including British/Commonwealth title against Ben Foord) before meeting Max Baer in which Farr won a points decision and beat Walter Neusel via KO in which he tore up the script and showed by far and away that he really was developing into a fighter to be reckoned with and backed his confident talk.

Then destiny came calling and a date with the Brown Bomber Joe Louis to good an opportunity to turn down and a chance to live the dream that he longed for. Louis was a formidable champion who just regained his title after beating Braddock. Farr rightfully deserved his shot at a world title but was unknown to many outside Europe. He made his way to America with full belief that he could bomb the bomber out and bring home the Heavyweight world title.

At the weigh in it's believed that Louis noticed the scars on Farr's back at the weigh in and asked him how he had got them, Tommy is said to have replied, " Oh,they're nothing,I got those from fighting with tigers!".










Tommy was nothing more then a warm up in Louis mind but before to long he soon realized that this was Farr from a routine defence. Before a crowd of 32,000 in New York, Tommy Farr gave the Brown Bomber the fight - and fright - of his life. Back in Wales it is said that almost every house in the land was listening to the fight on the radio that night. Farr ploughed forward looking to unload his artillery against one of biggest punchers in the sport.










Although the fight was entertaining and competitive Louis did enough to earn a solid points win it was Farr who won the hearts of the people and off the back of that brave display he stayed in U.S for 4 more bouts in which he lost every bout including a rematch with Baer but for this lad from a mining town he lived the fairytale and fought in magnificent arena's because of his crowd pleasing style.

His lack of speed was probably his downfall but his heart and ability to land his overhand right and dig got him far as well as a solid jab and ability to work in close but it was his lack of one punch power at world level that cost him sadly. He would like to crouch on way in and prod jab low and land right hand over to then get close and work away with bad intentions.

He came back home to domestic scene and had a 10 year lay off before Don Cockell finally ended the magical and heroic career of Tommy Farr and at end of the Cockell bout he took to the microphone to sing the Welsh National Anthem.


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## Mandanda (Jun 2, 2012)

Mods could you move back into the British Forum please :good.


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## Mandanda (Jun 2, 2012)

Bump.

Seeing as this thread is a few years old and we have plenty of new users and not a lot of Boxing to get our teeth into outside of the Olympics i thought i'd bump it. Some may find it good reading, some may fancy adding some of their own additions. 

A little bit of background, I made this thread initially on ESB and it was incredible how good the posts where from the lads on there. Sadly most of us left and joined here and it snagged a little and looking back through seems some posts need some editing. 

Anyways i will bump just in case someone will find it of interest. I may do a piece on Gerald McClellan. Just watching some of his stuff after seeing that post yesterday of 'fallen soldier' and my word what a fighter to watch!.


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## RB1987 (May 18, 2016)

Mandanda said:


> *Name: Tommy Farr
> Nickname: Tonypandy Terror
> Height: 6'1
> Weight: Light Heavyweight/Heavyweight
> ...


Quality post fella interesting here about his career as I'm from the same area always used to hear my father and grandfather talk about him I knew a little if his background but never really looked into him in depth!


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## Mandanda (Jun 2, 2012)

RB1987 said:


> Quality post fella interesting here about his career as I'm from the same area always used to hear my father and grandfather talk about him I knew a little if his background but never really looked into him in depth!


Thanks for taking the time to read mate :good.

Lads if anyone wants to add another fighter piece just fire away. Please keep it like the format before or at least similar to.


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## Slimtrae (Aug 10, 2015)

doug.ie said:


> so...can we post paragraphs along the lines of 'did you know that....' or does it have to be full articles ??....i.e. can it just be interesting snippets too ??
> 
> example of what i mean....if i posted this...
> 
> ...


You beat me to this fight by oh only four years.


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