Max Schmeling overrated??

[dempseyfire]

Of that pretty solid list, I would remove the following candidates as favourites against a prime Schmeling...

Byrd
Cooney
Golota
Klitschko
Klitschko
Lyle
Norton
Page
Shavers
Spinks
Thomas
Tubbs
Witherspoon
Young

Schmeling-Norton would be just about even in the betting, IMO. It'd also be exceedingly difficult for me to pick a favourite were Schmeling to fight the likes of Byrd, Spinks, & Young, but I think I'd give The Black Uhlan Of The Rhine a slim edge.

Schmeling would beat Byrd, Spinks, and Young . . he was never outslicked. Counter-punching and smart pressure with stamina beats slick feather-punching.

I agree witht the removal of the rest of that list.

Page,Tubbs,Golota, Wlad beating Max . . . .I laugh

[Goodnight, Irene]

Of those, Dempsey, Schmeling-Norton jumps out at me as the most intriguing. How do you see this one playing out?

Both men can bang, & each doesn't get winded easily. Schmeling is the more precise puncher, but Norton's awkward approach gave many men problems in & of itself. He also had the better corner. Schmeling was the more durable of the two, IMO, & a more complete ring-technician. Norton appeared more active, & was not above roughing up a foe.

Close fight, IMO. I'd be interested to see if one man's power could change the other?

[dempseyfire]

Of those, Dempsey, Schmeling-Norton jumps out at me as the most intriguing. How do you see this one playing out?

Both men can bang, & each doesn't get winded easily. Schmeling is the more precise puncher, but Norton's awkward approach gave many men problems in & of itself. He also had the better corner. Schmeling was the more durable of the two, IMO, & a more complete ring-technician. Norton appeared more active, & was not above roughing up a foe.

Close fight, IMO. I'd be interested to see if one man's power could change the other?

We are on the same page . . .I think Norton of the above list would give Max the most problems, especially his jab, which I think is under-rated when discussing HW jabs.

However, I think Max at one point really nails him with the right, and I think after that the fight changes and Max as the aggressor takes charge and gets a late stoppage.

But hey, if Norton is on top form and Max isn't, I can def. see Norton winning a decision. He had the neccesary stamina that others on the list (Thomas, Shavers, Klits, Lyle etc.) didn't have.

[Robinson]

Like I said .. my opinion :)

I have only seen both Louis fights..
select rounds of both Sharkey fights, some of the Stribling fight,
a good chunk of the Baer fight,

what other fights of Max are available ?

[dempseyfire]

Like I said .. my opinion :)

I have only seen both Louis fights..
select rounds of both Sharkey fights, some of the Stribling fight,
a good chunk of the Baer fight,

what other fights of Max are available ?

There are also HLs available of his fights with Neusel, Foord, and his complete fight with Walker.

[Klee Gluckman]

No Max is not overrated he beat the best Heavyweight of all time. Schmelling would do well against most fighters and was a good boxer.

[Robinson]

He beat an up and coming Louis.

A damned good win for Max. But Max also lost to some
guys while he was in good form he did lose to some guys
that were not ATG worthy.

[Goodnight, Irene]

In fairness, so did a lot of genuinely great fighters, though. Fellows like Alexis Arguello, Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, & Carlos Monzon all lost fights they shouldn't have. While Louis would improve in time, he wasn't entirely green, either --- it wasn't the elite version of The Brown Bomber Schmeling faced, but it wasn't a long way short of him, either.

Schmeling, of course, was not in the same class as the above men --- but it does go to show anything can happen in that square