Name retired fighters, now considered greats, who managed not to face top competition during most or all of their careers.
Terry Norris never beat a single good fighter anywhere near their primes (or the weightclass where they experienced those primes) and even got knocked stupid by one of them His lone match against a guy his own size that was any good resulted in him face first on the canvas in about 5 minutes
What McDogg said isnt entirely true. Norris did outclass a prime Jorge Castro, who wasnt undersized. Also destroyed a prime Carl Daniels, who wasnt elite but solid. But yes, his three biggest wins were against a shot Leonard, shot Curry, and faded and undersized Taylor.
Jorge Castro and Carl Daniels? Those wouldn't even merit mention on the resume of an actual great fighter, they'd just be second tier padding... Jorge Castro has 100+ wins against anonymous Argentinian gauchos and like three wins over fighters anyone has heard of Carl Daniels? He's best known for going to high school with REED
I dunno what the argument is, I'm AGREEING with you that Norris wasnt great. He fits into the "very good" category for me. But he didnt beat JUST has beens and no hopers. But did he ever beat a true elite in their prime? No.
It was Actually Middle School (Normandy Jr. High in St. Louis), but Funny as Fuck Nonetheless, Bruh! REED Moved to Dallas for 2nd Semester of 8th Grade and All of High School... For Those Who Haven't "Heard"/Read REED's Carl Daniels Story, Normandy Jr. High was HARDCORE...Metal Detectors in 1984...Weekly Locker Searches, Drug Dogs were Randomly Brought In...Motherfuckers w/FULL Goatees and Shit, DRIVING to a 7th-8th Grade School...School was Sooooooo BAD, They Didn't Have Football, Basketball or Any Other Sports Because of Normandy's HISTORY of Fucked Up Behavior During Road Games...So By the Time REED Got There, Every Other School had Already Said "Fuck THAT and Fuck YA'LL"... Looking Back, it's CLEAR Why REED's Mother Got Him The Hell OUT of St. Louis Before it was Tooooo Late... Anyways, Since There were No Sports, Every Kid Had PE...REED was in the PE Class Prior to Carl Daniels...Despite Being on the SMALL Side Back Then, Daniels Had QUITE a Reputation via his Boxing Exploits...Not Citywide or Anything, but Schoolwide for Sure...REED Recalls 1 of the More Prominent Troublemakers, Some Bearded, 15-16 Year Old Motherfucker Calling Carl Out at Lunch...It was Broken Up, but by the Time they Met Up After School, Carl Showed Up w/WRAPPED HANDS and Beat the Living Shit Out of Dude, Who was a LOT Bigger than Him... Carl NEVER Started Shit or Flexed or Bragged About His Boxing, but After THAT Day, He was Untouchable @ Normandy Jr. High...Being a Boxing NERD from Birth, REED was in AWE, Especially Since REED was a Tad BIGGER than Dude, And Watched Him in Action... Looooong Story Short, 1 Day in PE, REED's Already Showered, Packing his Shit Up, About to Head to his Next Class...Carl Daniels Walks In, Goes to His Locker to Change and Get Ready for PE...Again, REED was in AWE of Dude, So REED Just Stared at him from a Distance...Unfortunately, Carl was Unbuttoning his Shirt at the Time and Noticed REED "Admiring" Him... Looking Back, it was Some GAY Ass Shit on REED's Behalf, But his Heart was in the Right Place @ Least...Soaking in a Middle School Boxing Badass, No More, No Less...Then Carl Says "You Got a PROBLEM or Something Man!?"... REED
Cool story, I always like hearing stories about assholes who try to start shit with boxers and pay the price. St. Louis is still fucked, highest murder rate among major cities in the US...and East St. Louis across the river is the worst among small cities.
REED Quickly DIFFUSED the Situation, DUH! This was Like 1983-Early 84...Soooo Hazily, REED Thinks his Response was Along the Lines of "Noooo, I Don't Have a Problem w/You. You're Carl, Right?!"... Probably Mixed in a Leon/Michael Spinks and Louis Howard (One of THE Few to Give Mark Breland a Test as an Amateur) Reference, Thinking (Hoping AND PRAYING) it Would Give Carl a Degree of Insight Into REED's Fandom, Thus SPARING REED a Middle School Beatdown... And it Did... REED
