I agree with all of this. With Johnson, it's tough to speculate about how he would have done against more modern fighters. I mean, more modern fighters starting with Sonny Liston and Clay/Ali.* He matched up physically with Ali, but the analysis sort of stops there, because, as you mentioned, the limited footage we have of him mostly just shows him toying around with his opponent and exerting the minimum amount of energy necessary to win the fight so that he could have more energy to bang white women later on in the evening. So based on what I can see of both pre-ban Ali and Johnson, pre-ban Ali would have won, but it's tough to say that conclusively because Johnson only rarely showed glimpses of what he was actually capable of doing. This just popped in my head, but I think that Johnson was actually probably similar in a lot of ways to the mid-70s version of Ali. The Ali from the Rumble in the Jungle and the subsequent title defenses in '75 and '76. I make that comparison because they were both technically skilled defensively in the way they used their hands and arms to sort of pseudo-grapple by deflecting blows and smartly throw their weight around (as opposed to pre-ban Ali who was just so [dadgum] fast on his feet that nobody could hit him). I'll stick with this until I can come up with something better. *He would have beaten the dogshit out of Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, and Floyd Patterson. He outweighed all those guys by 20-25 pounds, moved better than all of them, and was better technically than all of them.
I'm no boxing expert by any means. I really don't know all that much about the sport or its history, I just know quite a bit about Johnson. I remember reading that his style was mostly defensive and that he would often decide which round he wanted to knock his opponent out in before the match. He would use the rounds up until then to both screw with the opponent and practice his defensive technique. For anyone who doesn't know much about him, I definitely recommend giving him a look. It is a very interesting story.
No doubt. Jack Johnson hasn't been completely forgotten by history, but I would like to see him better remembered.
Good undercard in the Hopkins/Dawson fight introduced the world to Seth Mitchell. Mitchell is a guy who started boxing at the age of 22 and is a former Michigan State linebacker. Mitchell is the talk of the heavyweight division right now. He can punch. Boy can he punch. Anyway, keep an eye on this guy. He also has a great nickname: Mayhem.
Excellent piece on Paco Rodriguez. E:60 -- Paco Rodriguez will always be a hero to the people who received a gift of life from the Golden Gloves champion - ESPN Chicago
this mayweather article is pretty awesome: Boxer Floyd Mayweather is sports' biggest financial control freak - ESPN The Magazine - ESPN any chance he goes down this sat?
There is always a chance, but PBF is just so good. He is imho one of the very best pound-for-pound of all time
I was a kid during Ali's heyday. Going back and watching clips from old fights, it's awesome to watch his hand speed. I'm sure some lighter fighters had speed approaching his, but I don't remember seeing it in fighters even as quick as Sugar Ray Leonard. Who would you all think would be closest to Ali in hand speed? If you hear from him, let us know what's going on. One of my fav posters too. :sadbanana:
No other heavyweight has had his hand speed. Mayweather has Ali's hand speed. Roy Jones Jr. had some pretty sick hand speed in his day as well. It would have been even more effective if he had ever thrown straight punches.
Cotto gave Money May an admirable fight. But Money May prevails. People hate on Money May but he is legitimately great.
I could post several others, but check out the youtube clip I posted earlier in this thread. It is pretty impressive how he hits Williams twice as he is falling down. For maybe the best display of foot speed I've ever seen, I'm gonna go with round of the first Liston fight. [video=youtube;Z14X844RrUU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z14X844RrUU[/video]
That's certainly an interesting way of putting it. And by "interesting", I mean "not actually true". How long did it take Pacquiao to agree to take a drug test? Like a year? Or has he even agreed? Why shouldn't Mayweather get 60% of the purse. He's the bigger draw of the two. If I'm Pacquiao, or anybody else, I don't give a rat's ass what percentage 40 million dollars comes out to. I take the 40 million dollars because it is 40 million dollars. If there is a chicken shit among us, it is Pacquiao. Why wouldn't he take a drug test? Why wouldn't he fight for 40 million dollars? Also, if they fight I will bet anybody on this board real actual legal tender on the outcome of the fight. Those that think Manny Pacquiao can beat Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match are...well...they're just simply wrong. But god bless them if it happens. Y'all are gonna be the ones keeping the odds reasonable and allowing me to toss down about 5 large on Money May.
mayweather said flat out he was worried about being hurt by pacquiao. i do think mayweather is worried about his legacy. he desperately wants to finish his career undefeated. he's slowing down so he better fight pacquiao soon
Agree completely, and he shouldn't be criticized for standing firm on this. A 50/50 split is unreasonable. Mayweather is the draw.
I think his point was that he's not comfortable going into a fight with someone on performance enhancing drugs, and shouldn't be expected to do so. Could be wrong, but that was my interpretation. If he's clean, it's not fair for him to put his body on the line against someone who's not.
