A silly thread.....Which fighters do you think you could improve the most from history by fixing one relative weakness? The obvious two that spring to mind are of course giving Pernel whitaker one punch power and giving Tommy Hearns a granite chin. You'd doubtless have the greatest fighter who ever lived in either case. Any other good examples? Points for being more original than me and coming up with some interesting ones!
What if you gave Julian Jackson some Roy Jones/Hector Camacho Sr-esque speed? Jackson had some other weaknesses and wasn't slow to begin with, but just imagine facing someone with that sort of combination of freakish power and speed. Or how about Alexis Arguello with that sort of amazing speed?
That would be interesting, but if he had a Fenech like work rate Toney wouldn't even resemble the same guy stylewise.
I imagine him standing in the middle of the ring, slipping punches, countering, with 100+ punches a round.
Pretty much... he is practically the perfect fighter. Maybe a better chin, but honestly in his prime for one it wasn't that bad and plus it didn't get hit anyway.
Not that they were/ are weaknesses as such, but.. I'd give Ali Foremans punching power. PBF Ali's heart. Lewis McCall's chin
Sorry but Ali of all people for heart? there are tons of other people I would chose for heart rather than Ali, Ali had great heart but there are many times in a fight where he wanted to quit and his corner and to basically make him keep going. Fernando vargas's heart or Arturo gatti's or marciano's or Lamatta or something else would be better... Agree with everything else. And we dunno yet if PBF doesn't have heart or not yet...he hasn't been in a jam...only unless u count castillo or Judah in which he dug deep for...
I'd make Arthur Abraham hit so hard that even his glancing shot would knock anybody out. I think that would make him quite unbeatable
Ali often said he was scared, & he never carried on like a tough guy, but no fighter has showed more heart/ courage in the ring. I'm guessing by the many times you mean against liston..? Apparently he said "cut off the gloves..", his corner said no-he didn't argue, went the next round and fought one of the toughest HWY's ever at the age of 22 in his first title fight basically blind & stopped him a few rounds later. If you want to cite that as a counter-example, fine. Whatever gets you through the night. In reference to PBF, I guess I picked Ali as opposed to one of those traditional tough guys because talent-wise they are similar in terms of the freakish factor. However, Ali wanted to fight the best to prove he was the best. He said he was the greatest & he backed it up. Imagine if PBF had that mentality......
Terry Norris... well i guess everybody knows in what department he was lacking. Wladimir - recuperative abilities (his chin isn't that bad or he would have went down much faster from the flush shots Brewster was unleashing on him when he was already sleepwalking + his heart is also good or he would of given up in that fight or the Sanders/Puritty matches - heart just doesn't help when you're gassed beyond recognition) John Ruiz - an allergy against hugging people Arturo Gatti - a bicylcle.
Sorry but you have to also give Hearns more stamina. Hearns wasn't THAT elusive either. You have to give Whitaker more height and reach too. opcorn: Give Bernard Hopkins one punch power and he's unbeatable. Give Muhammad Ali one punch power and he's also unbeatable. Give a prime Roy Jones.....NOTHING. opcorn: Give Mayweather one punch power. Give Joe Louis a granite chin. Give Lennox Lewis a granite chin
Yeah coz Whitaker was constantly kept at arms length, unable to land in his prime, eh? :notallthere: I'd give Gatti some reflex' Judah 20 IQ points. Alexis Arguello some foot speed Riddick Bowe some discipline Hamed some fundamentals Mayweather some pride/machismo Foreman some co-ordination Cotto some luck De la Hoya a devastating right hand Khan some in fighting skills. Shoulda called this the wizzard of Oz thread ::
REED Would've Given Roy Jones FEROCITY or a KILLER INSTINCT...Imagine if Roy had the JOY for Fighting, like Manny Pac Does???...Imagine if Roy Derived PLEASURE from Hurting People, the Way Duran Did???.... REED:hammert:
I suspect you're right. Make it 30 then....after all we just need him to be able to box, not write sonnets. :kidcool:
Weird, I was just looking at a pic of Roberto Duran there: http://theselvedgeyard.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/06.jpg and that's exactly what I thought: look at the joy for fighting that dude had. Having that is something that could make any fighter better.
I'd actually do this the other way. I would give Mike Tyson Six Heads Lewis' chin and enjoy him getting knocked out numerous times in the 80s. That way boxing history would be much better
Well Fortunately, FIN, Tyson had the good chin because he brought much excitement back into the sport after the retirement of Ali..and single handily brought alot of fans into the game.
Oscar De La Hoya-stamina Shane Mosley-hard straight jab a la Hearns Mayweather-Power Foreman-Speed Hearns-Chin Trinidad-footspeed Winky Wright-Power, bodypunching Camacho-Power Tyson-clinching, an alive Cus D'amato Byrd-Power
agREED.... It's a SPECIAL Quality for Sure...REED Personally Knows btwn 50-100 Professional Boxers & Probably LESS than 5 of them have that JOY for Fighting that Pac & Duran Possess... REED:mj:
:: REED's Heard Trainers Say that JABBING is More about POSITIONING & TIMING than Sheer Arm Length...This would TEST that Theory for Sure... REED:kidcool: