On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:08:55 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:21:43 GMT, Wizard of Woodstock
wrote:

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:54:20 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:



Ali was the best HW. But Larry Holmes was pretty close, and given his
title defenses should be a legend himself. Reason he never got much
respect is that birdbrain Howie Cosell was still calling fights, and
given his idolatry of Ali, he ran down Holmes every chance he got.
I haven't even watched a HW fight in years, given the quality now
compared to bygone eras.

Eh - I don't know about that. Homes was certainly a good fighter and
worthy of Hall of Fame inclusion, but you have to remember he spent a
lot of his time in the IBF fighting heavyweight chumps.

Politics. He would fight anybody.
And they ALL fought plenty of bums.
Should have kept his mouth shut about Marciano's jockstrap.
But he was one of the few fighters that would alert the ref to stop
the fight when his opponent had it.
And he had the best jab - bar none.


Absolutely, one of the best, certainly. Still say Ali/Frazier were
better.

In my opinion, the two greatest of our era had to be Ali and Frazier.

Everybody's got an opinion (-:
I have to look for that fight I saw live where Marvis Frazier got hit
directly on top of the head and was floored. One of the weirdest
things I saw, after Ali's phantom punch.
Can't remember the opponent. Maybe it's on youtube.

Bonecrusher Smith.

You know what Marvis's problem was? Smokin' Joe tried to change his
natural boxing ability into punching ability - completely unnatural
for him. Kid had style and finesse as a boxer and was never a natural
puncher. He could have been one of the best ever - he had Ali type
grace and speed to boot.

For the record, I gave up on professional boxing after Hagler got
hosed in his bout with Ray Leonard - who was a total fraud as a boxer.
I think Hagler, if he had won that fight, would have been recognized
at the greatest professional fighter of all time.

I agree that Hagler was hosed, but Leonard was a terrific fighter.
Hagler suffered from the Leonard idolatry.
I was skeptical early on, because nobody had tagged him.
My contention was until that happened he wasn't proven.
We watched the Leanord/Hearns bout live, and I remember jumping
up yelling when Hearns clipped Leanord's jaw with a long right and
Leonard's knees wobbled. I thought my "feet of clay" theory might be
right. Nope. Leonard came back. Heart of a lion.

Eh - I always thought Leonard was soft and I still think so. Never
was a fan of his.

Probably my favorite fight.
And despite his "no mas" disaster with Leonard, and getting absolutely
clocked by Hearns, Duran is probably my favorite fighter of all time.

I heard an interview Leonard did with Bob Costas a few weeks ago -
Leonard claims that Duran never said "no mas" - he just quit.

What a hard-ass that guy was.
To see him - really a natural lightweight - go the distance with
Hagler was amazing.

Duran's legacy was defined by "no mas" which was unfortunate because,
as you said, he was a natural lightweight, changed class and held his
own.

You know, I can't think of one fighter today who could hold a candle
for any of these guys we've been talking about.

--

Time flies when you are sick and psychotic.