52 fight challenge: Week 47 - Herol Graham vs Charles Brewer

[Horse]

Herol Graham vs Charles Brewer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INT4T7sa6Tk

Watch and discuss.

[Horse]

Recent weeks' fights:

Week 46 - Chris Eubank vs Ray Close I: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=206336

Week 45 - Tony Sibson vs Frank Tate: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=206093
Week 44 - Terry Marsh vs Joe Manley: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=205828
Week 43 - John H Stracey vs Dave 'Boy' Green: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=205700
Week 42 - Murray Sutherland vs Matthew Saad Muhammad: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=205427
Week 41 - Nigel Benn vs Gerald McClellan: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=205148

Week 40 - Chris Pyatt vs Sumbu Kalambay: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=204759
Week 39 - Jim McDonnell vs Azumah Nelson: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=204457
Week 38 - Glenn Catley vs Markus Beyer: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=204237
Week 37 - Billy Hardy vs Orlando Canizales I: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=204054
Week 36 - Paul Ingle vs Junior Jones: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=203594


British & Irish boxing 52 fight history knowledge challenge thread: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=197079

[Horse]

Supplementary fights.

Herol Graham vs Vinny Pazienza.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvDSXkMQaYk


Joe Calzaghe vs Charles Brewer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9_gXCjVak8

[stujones]

This is one of the fights, I simply cannot watch again.... heartbreaking.

People who have watched it again, what do you think of the stoppage.... if bias memory serves me it was the correct call but also unlucky in that Graham seemed to be more "stuck" than hurt on the ropes.

Graham vs Pazienza would be a nice supplementary fight, as I haven't seen that one in a while..... Graham vs Johnson was one of the masterclasses of the last 20 years in a British ring.

[Neil Gee]

Interesting that the James Cook fight is mentioned. He was well beaten by Herol and looked to be going nowhere with a 12-8 record, but for some reason best known to Cook himself that defeat sparked a resurgence that saw Cook win 6 straight and lift the British and European super-middle titles. Before the Graham fight Cook was 12-7, after it Cook's record ran out at 13-2.

[rab]

herol is one of my all time favourite boxers. i don't think anyone he ever got in the ring with had anywhere near the talent he had . i may be bias but i am very dubious about american boxers in general in that era. they always looked far bigger than any foreign opponent and appeared to have more stamina.
i know they were always at the leading edge of fighter preparation but i wonder how much of that was legal. i don't know if things like rehydration through the use of iv's were legal , or taking a couple of pints of blood (roughly 2.2 pounds) before the weigh in then sticking it back in, but they always seemed to have a big size advantage. this is without going into the various "supplements" that were just becoming available then.

brewer took a beating in that fight and did very well to come back and win by stoppage , he looked to apply a bit of the rope a dope tactics at the end to me. when a fighter has to do that i always think they know they have nothing to compete with ability wise and have to dig into the box of tricks. being able to do that shows a fighter still has his wits about him and being able to pull it off is no mean feat.

for all some people said herol was chinny he took plenty of good shots in his career and all the punches that stopped him in fights would have dropped anyone else in his weight class at the time.

[handsofstone]

Heartbreaking for Graham to loss a 3rd world title fight ,again he was in total control and in a handy lead on my card,scoring 2 knockdowns in the 3rd round although the 1st one was a push really,the 2nd was a lovely southpaw 1/2 though then Herol took a comfortable lead,Brewer did start to close the gap a little but then Graham stopped the tide shifting,gutting for him to get stopped though,he was hurt no doubt but maybe the ref couldve gave a count as the ropes were keeping him up as he crouched

[handsofstone]

Brewer put in a brave effort against Calzaghe,I had it 117-112 to Joe though,his workrate and lightning combinations keeping Brewer occupied, Brewer did look the stronger but Calzaghe was tough so Brewer's shots had no notable effect,Calzaghe landed some solid shots as well as plenty of the usual slaps,this was first time I'd seen this fight whole,decent fight

[davie]

Graham vs Brewer

1. 9 - 10 Brewer. Really good opening round, Graham starting the faster and having some success throughout, but Brewer came on strong
2. 10 - 9 Graham. Brewers aggression neutralized by Grahams elusiveness. Graham landing just enough in counters to nick it. Quieter round
3. 10 - 7 Graham. Barnstormer, soft first KD, good second one for Graham. Good work from both, Brewer will be disappointed to drop 3 points in a round he put plenty into
4. 10 - 9 Graham. Good round for Herol, Brewer looks like he doesn't know what to do to deal with his unorthodox style
5. 9 - 10 Brewer. better round from Brewer, few lapses in concentration from Graham, let him through with a few straight shots
6. 10 - 10. someone came in to blether to me during this round, when I was watching it looked fairly even
7. 10 - 9 Graham. Elusiveness, counter punching, feints, tricks, classic Herol Graham
8. 10 - 9 Graham a close round, Graham moving well and landing some clever shots, Brewer getting through with some solid looking rights
9. 10 - 10. Graham probably had the better of the round and landed more, but far more authority in Brewers work when he lands
10. TKO. Hard stoppage to watch because you had a good feeling Graham could have comfortably fought on. But with him not touching down and taking shots, he leaves the ref little choice but to step in. I had Graham just ahead in that round but there is no question Brewer hurts him before laying into him.
Brewer was behind and being out boxed in spells, but he got through with those right hands throughout and was never out of the fight, it was always a possibility he would land flush with one.

88-83 Graham on my card at the stoppage

You could tell Brewer was a solid boxer but Grahams style, like with so many of his opponents, was clearly very difficult to figure out.

One aspect I never mentioned in the rbr analysis was Grahams ability to maneuver Brewer into positions. manhandling him, laying a glove on his shoulder and spinning him, moving him where he wanted. It made space for Graham when he needed it and took Brewer off balance when on the attack.
An underused tactic I feel in boxing. I've seen Virgil Hunter coach it, Mayweather was particularly good at using it to get off the ropes and Lomachenko has it down to art form, but it's something you see so few boxers use effectively

Another thing that has you thinking is Grahams power punching. there's no doubt he had power when he chose to use it, but he seldom planted his feet and put everything into a shot. Of course the counter argument is that you can't be as elusive planting your feet and you can't be so unpredictable with your shots, when you load up and telegraph them. But there were a few lead left hands he got through clean with there, that I couldn't help thinking if there was a bit extra on them, Brewer might not have been there to stop him in the 10th

[Horse]

Graham - Brewer

1. 9 - 10
2. 9 - 10
3. 10 - 7
4. 10 - 9
5. 10 - 9
6. 10 - 9
7. 9 - 10
8. 10 - 9
9. 10 - 10
10. - - - TKO

87-83 Graham


The stoppage seemed to be very quick, but Graham didn't seem very upset about it.

Graham was a pretty unlucky guy.

[Autobarn]

Just wasn't meant to be.

Jackson obviously also got there before Brewer.

You can't avoid every shot in a world class fight.

Kalambay also wobbled him at a crucial point in their close first fight.

[Horse]

Calzaghe - Brewer

1. 10 - 9
2. 10 - 9
3. 10 - 9
4. 10 - 9
5. 10 - 9
6. 9 - 10
7. 10 - 9
8. 10 - 9
9. 10 - 9
10. 10 - 9
11. 10 - 9
12. 10 - 9

119-109 Calzaghe


More competitive than my scorecard suggests, but I preferred Calzaghe's work throughout.

-----------------------------------

Graham - Pazienza

1. 10 - 9
2. 10 - 9
3. 9 - 10
4. 9 - 10
5. 10 - 9
6. 9 - 10
7. 10 - 10
8. 9 - 10
9. 10 - 9
10. 9 - 10
11. 10 - 9
12. 10 - 9

115-114 Graham


Much more competitive than I expected. Graham seemed to hurt his left hand early in the fight, but I couldn't give him rounds just because he would have been capable of more otherwise.

[Autobarn]

Brewer put in a brave effort against Calzaghe,I had it 117-112 to Joe though,his workrate and lightning combinations keeping Brewer occupied, Brewer did look the stronger but Calzaghe was tough so Brewer's shots had no notable effect,Calzaghe landed some solid shots as well as plenty of the usual slaps,this was first time I'd seen this fight whole,decent fight

Yes one of Joe's top performances in the early days

[handsofstone]

I had Graham/Pazienza a draw,thought Herol's injured left hand might cost him,there's no doubt it would have been a lot wider and comfortable for him if he could throw the back hand with more purpose, there were a few rounds I had Pazienza nicking at the end with his bursts of action surpassing Graham's pot shotting jab and evasive skills,Graham just couldn't get his power punches off,Pazienza is like a tank can't believe he was ever a lightweight

[littlepug]

I watched grahams fight against that Johnson fella for the first time earlier on this year which was an eliminator for the brewer fight, it put a right smile on my face I can tell ya !