Best Swarming Performance on Film?

Lots of options if you think about it.

FOTC
Harada-Jofre I
Armstrong-Ross
Duran-[insert opponent]
Duran-Leonard I

So on and so forth.

 

Fenech-Callejas and Fenech-Payakaroon both come to mind.

Harada-Kingpetch I also comes to mind.

Also, Galindez-Kates 1.

 

I was actually gonna name all in the OP but decided against it coz I didn't wanna take up too many of the good ones.

I think Pac-Morales III deserves a shout

 

Do we think Chavez-Rosario qualifies? Chavez wasn't a swarmer so much as an aggressive boxer-puncher but he really stifled and suffocated Rosario at close range, took away his leverage and drove him back under a high volume of punches.

 

Even though Kid Pambele was ancient, Pryor-Cervantes deserves mention.

 

I would say it applies, yes.

 

Saldivar has loads.

 

Richie Sandoval's beatdown of Jeff Chandler deserves mention.

 

When you consider the historical significance of Armstrong-Ross, there's a strong case for it being the GOAT swarming performance, if not the GOAT performance in general.

I'd also argue that Armstrong-Garcia II deserves consideration, even if it didn't result in victory, given the significance of that fight and the disadvantage Armstrong was facing.

 

That fight is fairly insignificant IMO. Nobody really took it as a serious title fight at the time. Al Hostack was seen as the proper champ if I'm not mistaken.

 

I'd add to that with Pintor's vs Alberto Sandoval.

 

Moon vs Roman, and Moon vs Konadu II.

 

Marciano vs anybody

 

Chocolatito vs Yaegashi and Viloria

 

Whikw he didn't win the fight, maidana against pbf was an impressive swarming performance

 

Bryant Brannon against Roy Jones.

Oh wait. Best.

Never mind.

 

On a serious note though, Glen Johnson against Roy might at least belong in the discussion.

 

I was gonna say that one too but decided that Johnson's real success came at like mid-distance.

 

Hatton - Tszyu

 

Chang vs Zapata II

 

Margarito throwing 1600 shots in 12 rounds vs Clottey seems worthy of mention. And can you be a moving swarm? Because Tall Paul outswarmed Margarito's swarm and doubled his output in their fight, iirc.

 

Absolutely. Brilliant mention.

 

Best swarmers ever?

Duran is obviously number one, Armstrong is probably number two (maybe someone wants to argue for someone else?).

 

Hostak might've had a stronger/more widely recognized claim in a technical sense, but he was not regarded as a better fighter than Garcia. He received a lot of negative press coverage in his day for dropping his title in his first defense, for failing to accept an offer for a unification fight with Apostoli, and for his general reluctance to fight outside of the Seattle region.

I'd say the real significance of the Armstrong-Garcia fight is that Hank went toe-to-toe with a guy who was widely regarded as the top MW in the world.

 

I don't see how the argument could be made.

To me, Duran & Armstrong are pretty clearly the two GOAT swarmers.

 

Actually, Hostak wasn't the champion. Zale was. Zale was seen as much better than Garcia.

Armstrong's decision win over Garcia is more impressive than his draw with him IMO.

 

I agree, but I wanted to see if someone was willing to argue for Chavez maybe. Or Frazier.

I wouldn't class Chavez as a swarmer TBH.

 

When I think of a swarmer the first thing that comes to mind are hard nosed come forward volume punchers. And although some people felt Salido was a bit dirty at end the of the day he was effective and at least on paper he took Loma's undefeated record. Another example of swarmers are the diaz brothers Nick and Nate but thats more mma .

Mayorga vs Forrest comes to mind.

 

A good recent swarmer performance was Castano's "draw" with Lara. Classic example of how volume and energy (plus technique) can overcome even the best defenses.

 

Hostak didn't drop the title to Zale until several months after Armstrong-Garcia. However, he did drop a non-title fight to Zale about a month or so prior to the Armstrong fight, which would've damaged his already shaky rep even further.

Heading into 1940, Zale was regarded as just a fringe contender at best, and often described in contemporary reports along the lines of "a good journeyman." It wasn't until the 3rd Hostak and Georgie Abrams fights that he garnered the kind of acclaim that he has today.

For what it's worth, this is what The Ring's rankings looked like heading into 1940. Note that Garcia was rated higher than Hostak.

Title Vacant

1. Ceferino Garcia
2. Al Hostak
3. Ken Overlin
4. Ron Richards
5. Ben Brown
6. Lloyd Marshall
7. Ossie Stewart
8. Vic Dellicurti
9. Nate Bolden
10. Tony Zale