Just thinking about Eijiro Murata vs Lupe Pintor and Jeff Chandler I. He gives a great performance in both of these fights (not robberies) only to come up with a draw against IMO the 2 best bantam weights of his time. You can make a case that he won, lost or drew in either fight. I had Murata narrow against Pintor and scored the Chandler fight for Jeff once and a draw on 2nd watch. But he came so close to beating 2 top 15 ATG (20 at the worst IMO) bantamweights. got any memories of either one of these fights? Or another fighter who came so close to glory but it remained just beyond their grasp??? just in case you are interested in seeing either one. Eijiro Murata v Lupe Pintor (Google or go to Asian boxing won’t let me post the link)
Nice topic, Philly. Murata was indeed a hard luck guy. Chandler, to his credit, put things right in both rematch with Murata and the rubber match.
I agree it is probably the biggest disappointment I have over a fight not happening. Naturally I think Jeff would win, but both guys and the fans deserved to find out. Oh well
I lean toward Pintor's body attack wearing Chandler down, but it is one of the great what if matchups.
Jose Medel handed ATG Fighting Harada the first stoppage loss of his career and featured in an exciting fight with Eder Jofre before he won the title, but he couldn't get passed improved versions of Jofre and Harada in title rematches. Gil Turner is one of the best fighters at any weight to never win a title IMO. He was undefeated when he lost an epic title challenge vs. Kid Gavilan, then went on to hand Gene Fullmer and Johnny Saxton their first defeats each and also lost close, exciting fights with Fullmer, Joey Giardello, and Carmen Basilio, among others. After losing the shot at Gavilan, his team sent him up to MW to chase another title shot (and likely bigger paydays) there and that's what ruined him. Holly Mims was notorious for giving many great fighters and HoFers all they could handle, including Ray Robinson and Joey Giardello, and frequently came up short in close, sometimes controversial decisions. Joey Archer eeked out SDs (albeit perhaps debatably) over Dick Tiger and Hurricane Carter, soundly defeated Ray Robinson in the final fight of his career, lost 2 very competitive title challenges vs. Emile Griffith, and was never stopped in his career. If he could've just eeked out one of those title fights, he probably would've made the HoF by now.
Funny you mention him, as I've been watching a lot of welterweights from that era (just before my Paret-Scott DVDs arrive). He has some brilliant wins, over: Scott, Dykes, Bahama, Akins, Jack, Fusari, Ike Williams, Vic Cardell, Flanegan, Fullmer and Saxton. He was an extremely tough fighter. Very typical Phylly brawler. Very aggressive and entertainment, and strong as hell. He feared nobody, and was even out-muscling Fullmer at times. He showed a pretty good jab for getting inside, but he didn't really use it as much as he should. His lead right was nasty, but none of his punches were so much more spectacular than the others where they'd obscure the others. His basic straights, body shots and hooks were all good, but none great. He seemed to neglect the uppercut. Granite jaw, against a murderer's row of fighters, you only have him stopped four times - one on cuts, one vs an ATG at his peak, another in an all-out war and the forth seemingly being some anomalous result vs a non-puncher who caught Gil shortly after getting stopped vs Jones. Underrated defensive fighter to go along with his chin.He could use a unique adaptation of the cross-arm guard on the front-foot but that wasn't his main style of defence. He stood his with right hand high and turned out, ready to punch, and his lead hand low, in conjunction with a bob and weave and that Basilio/Duran/Qawi-esque jab and duck. He was also quite coherent with his back-hand parry. He got under shots quite well, and it helped set up his body work. His body shots with the right were brutal, and his left hook to the body was Mexican level. Great workrate to go along with it. I do really enjoy watching him, and find his record massively underrated, but I don't think he was even close to one of the best to ever win the title. There's a guy named Langford, another named McFarland, and then the entire Murderer's Row which make up that top ten. And even in his own time, I'd wager guys like Bratton, Mims, Lane, etc; were better.
Bratton and Lane won titles, though. I think Turner was likely every bit as good as half the Murderer’s Row. Wade, Chase, and Lytell don’t impress me any more on paper, if even as much.
I don't remember any title Lane picked up, and yeah, I didn't know Bratton briefly held the title. I thought it was similar to the interims we have today, I guess. I suppose I can see Wade not impressing you as much as Turner (although I go for it, myself) but Chase and Lytell? Damn, high standards man. Wins over, Burley, Basora, Williams, Cocoa and Marshall don't impress you as much Turner's? Or Chase's wins over Moore, Booker, Wade and Marshall?
