This is kinda a slight modification of Sly's thread. Can we name fights where the inferior guy with just a 'punchers chance' won. Preferably against guys who were neither easy to hit or chinny. Mayorga-Forrest? Rahman-Lewis Shavers-Young I (in retrospect) Tackie-Garcia
I thought of that one, but I'm not sure Jackson would really be considered the inferior fighter. But it's a good example, yeah.
Well he was certainly the inferior fighter that night. It was all Graham, mismatch in fact, until the bomb. And based on your thread I'm not sure why you put Rahman Lewis on there either. Rahman was never considered a puncher in the true sense...and wasn't even given a puncher's chance. He was only given a "Lewis may be jet-lagged" chance.
Rahman's only chance of winning that fight going in was a 'punchers chance', in that he had no chance of winning a decision. That was the dynamic of the fight going in. That's what I meant by the thread.....I suck at explaining my thread premises this week, I should probably take a minute to think them through before pressing submit. :scared2: So yeah, Jackson-Graham is a good example, sorry.
That's not true at all. Rahman was more prepared for that fight than any other in his career, even going to South Africa well in advance just to properly acclimate himself. He was the underdog, no doubt, but even at that I don't know too many people who gave him just a puncher's chance since he was never known primarily as a puncher. If anything, the long running belief was that he underachieved for so many years, that was a far more capable boxer than what was being offered.
The two of them could fight 50 times and I don't think Rahman could get a legit decision against Lewis.
They could fight 50 times and that's probably the only night he ever wins. But it still doesn't make him a puncher. In fact, it's one of maybe two or three meaningful knockouts he's ever scored in his career. In fact, I'll even argue that McCall-Lewis is a better example than Rahman-Lewis.
It wasn't a thread of 'great punchers'. It was a thread about guys with only a 'puncher's chance' in the match up. Mosley for instance only has a 'punchers chance' against Manny, like he did against Floyd. Mosley isn't a great welterweight puncher perhaps, but that's the dynamic of those fights. Off to get a coffee.ray::TLC:
Hurricane Carter K01 Emile Griffith Carter could punch, but was average at best in most other ways. Griffith was a talented boxer who had never been stopped before and would only be one other time in his career (in the 14th round against one of the very best Middleweights ever and then went the full 15 in the rematch), despite facing a "who's who" of quality fighters of the time throughout his career.
Ingemar Johannson K01 Eddie Machen I know, I know, Ingo won the heavyweight title and is in the HOF (he wouldn't be in my HOF, but that's another discussion), but Machen was the better boxer and wasn't stopped by anyone else while he was still a contender, which included fights with Sonny Liston and Cleveland Williams. Ingo's big right hand was the equalizer that got him past a fighter who was better than him in most ways.
