Ricardo Mayorga- Some people might disagree but RM had an ugly clubbing style. How he was able to beat guys like Forrest, Vargas(fat & faded) and Lewis and have so much success being basically a tough man fighter. Could he actually box or was he a street fighter turned fighter?
Back when Pacquiao beat Ledwaba, he was just a flailing mess. Yet he still knocked him tf out. I'd never look at Gene Fullmer and see someone who would beat Sugar Ray Robinson, but that's what he did. Even if it's controversial.
I don't know if I would call Pacquio unskilled. I see your point. When Manny fought Ledwaba it was his first fight with Roach training at the wild card gym. So I can see how much of an influence Freddie had over Pacquios career after that fight. Even between the first and 2nd Morales fight he developed a right hand. Remember "Manila Ice" ? Jaja..yeah in that sense a much improved fighter. But if you look at his early years specially against Thai champ Sasakul you could see something special. I never saw that with guys like Mayorga. Pacquio is a 7 division champ and a generational fighter. It just doesn't seem like he belongs in the unskilled category. Just my take.
Pac was an excellent fighter when he beat Ledwaba. He wasn't the finished article yet, but he doesn't belong in a thread of unskilled fighters. The first fight that comes to mind for me is Carlos Maussa wrecking Vivian Harris. Mind you, Harris was far from a great, but at the time he was considered the #3 guy at 140 behind Tszyu and Floyd. He was considered on par with Cotto and better than Hatton. Maussa had no skill and ability whatsoever. He made Mayorga look like Wilfredo Gomez.
I liked Vivian Harris. he's one of those guys I thought never reached his full potential. He was considered the dark horse of the 140 lb division he was strong, athletic, tough and talented and had the great Manny Stewart in his corner. He had already lost to Olivera (who was no slouch himself ) but had strung a nice winning streak and was expected to fight Cotto or Mayweather if he beat the awkward Moussa. Harris just had a bad chin imo. That was his achilles heal. I remember that fight like it was yesterday. It was on my 30th birthday and I didnt want to order the ppv ( Gatti vs Mayweather)because I knew it was a mismatch but was hoping Gatti could catch Mayweather with a lucky punch. We drove over to a sports bar in Long Beach that was showing the fight and watched it with my dad. But after food, drinks and a cover charge I think it would have been cheaper to order the ppv . Didnt matter though we had a great time watching that card at the sports bar jajaja.
Jajajaja no but the sports bar had some really hot servers. I forgot the name but it was like a hooter's knock off. No bars were showing the fight in my city.
The Harris hype was big on Fightbeat pre-Maussa. A lot of guys were saying he would KO Tszyu and Floyd. Sounds hilarious in retrospect, but that's what it was. I never bought into it. I thought he was good, but I never rated him super high. Jake fuckin LOVED him! Well, he knew him personally, but he definitely let that relationship lead to him overrating the shit outta him.
Harris vs Maussa was actually my first thought as well. I believe Harris was one of those Herbie Hide types who had the physical talent to shine against mediocre opposition but lacked other crucial aspects of the game. Also, I think Jake was part trolling with his overblown Harris love
Jake seemed pretty legit about it. He used to take exception when I said Zab would beat Harris if they fought. He thought Harris would destroy Zab. While Zab was no all time great, he would have smoked Harris early.
Iran Barkley was the first to come to mind. Not “unskilled” but fairly crude, and 2-0 against Tommy He was playing craps with Warren G on 21 and Lewis.
