Hypothetical Match-Up Game

[Robinson]

You forgot cooper vs qawi :P

Conn is KOd in 6 in my minds eye ;)

[Goodnight, Irene]

Indeed, I did. Qawi was a beast, Cooper would never be in it. I foresee a late stoppage in a fairly lopsided bout, & you know I have a healthy respect for Coops --- but DMQ, he was not.

[harrygreb]

mosley never quite convinced the whole world as a welterweight. for the most part he looked great but in my opinion he was trying too hard to be p4p no.1 through looking great and not getting down to the nitty gritty and proving his worth with awesome performances. benitez oozes class and is the more complete fighter. i think he takes shane out in about 7 rounds.

benitez KO 7

world middleweight title;
ALAN MINTER V AL TRIBUANI

[Goodnight, Irene]

Tribuani did more, he was in there with better people, & his class would shine through. I think he gets to Minter in an interesting, but not especially competitive, bout.

I'm sure we haven't seen this one, yet...

Bernard Hopkins (2006) vs. Jimmy Ellis (1965). Hopkins, still class, but past both his best years & weightclass. Good enough to completely dominate the likes of Tarver & Pavlik, & be quite competitive with Calzaghe. Ellis, a little green, though talented, & with Heavyweight credentials stamped in his future. Twelve rounds at Light-Heavyweight.

[Robinson]

Good match up GI,

I see Hopkins winning the Dec most likely a Majority one,
as one judge sits on the side and awards a few even rounds.

Ellis comes out fast and hard early, but Hopkins sets in and
uses defensive slickness to ride the blows. He is able to
counter well, and both men exchange single blows and
combinations as the fight even outs.

A good fight that really should see a rematch..though they
never do.

Scott Ledoux (1980) vs Nathan Mann (1938) 12 rounds.

[Goodnight, Irene]

That's an interesting one. I feel I'm familiar enough with Mann to comment.

He, of course, gave Louis little trouble. Frankly, I doubt LeDoux makes it even to the third against a 1938 Louis, so we can discount that. Likewise, though not the fighting machine (mentally) he had been prior to Zaire, Foreman would have made short work of Mann at any time post-Ali. LeDoux was no match for Holmes, but nor would Mann be, in truth. Mann fought the better opposition, easily, & I think this stands him in good stead. LeDoux was not a bad boxer, but I don't think he has the variety of tools necessary to win. I'm going with Mann on points, 7-4-1, through twelve.

Kenny Norton (1973) vs. Gerry Cooney (1981). Now we'll see if Cooney was the real deal or not...

[Robinson]

Cooney TKO 3.

I hate to say it but I feel that a towering hard hitting puncher
generally has the goods to stop Norton. Norton does his best
to land a hard right hand on Cooney's chin, but he is stunned
when the first left hook lands. Game as ever Norton looks horrible
as the third opens up as Cooney is all over him with body shots
and head hunting monsters.

Ken Norton (1973) vs Jerry Quarry (1969) 15 rounds.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Likeable fight. Quarry early, Norton late, IMO. I can see Quarry bouncing off the ropes & countering Norton successfully, as the bigger man pursues. Quarry was accurate enough to make him pay, but not to stop him. Norton's head shots late in the bout would mess Quarry's face, though. Norton was a harder puncher than credit as well, I feel.

Norton TKO (Cuts, between-rounds stoppage) through eleven rounds. Close on the cards at the time.

Holyfield (1991) vs. Tyson (1988). Did Commander 'Vander always have Iron Mike's number? Or, peak-for-peak, is Tyson just too strong a combination of power, speed & explosive offense?

[Robinson]

Hard mate.... your making it hard for me and I am suppose to be
here at work.....working :P

Can I flip a coin and see where it lands ?

To be honest I do not buy into the legendom that such and such
ALWAYS has another fighters number.

BUT....

The fast, slick, multiple punching Holy does well to fight Tyson,
who blasts, bombs and rocks his way inside where neither man
do anything.

Left hooks, elbows and head butts are the order of the day
as the crowd gets its money's worth come the final bell...
yes thats right..the final bell ;')

The judges award it MDraw over the 12 rounds

Leon Spinks (1981) vs John Mugabi (1985) 15 rounds.

[HomicideHenry]

No contest, Mugabi wins by a kayo inside eight rounds, inside six, depending if Leon wasnt detoxed.

Tom Sharkey (peak) vs Jack Johnson (pre-Burns), 20 rounds

[Goodnight, Irene]

There's one. I like Johnson on a close decision, providing it isn't a green Johnson. He was thirty by the time he faced Burns, so he wasn't a greenhorn for a while beforehand. I'd go with Johnson on points, thinking about it. Sharkey'd likely make it close & difficult, however.

This one has never been mentioned in this thread, but it's often been thrown up, over the years...

Quarry vs. Foreman, early 1971. Foreman has been pro just over a year & a half, with much learning ahead of him, but he's put together some frightening performances already. Quarry, in or near his peak, a capable counter-puncher, able to make wilder fighters miss (& pay!). I've often seen opinions divided. What say the next poster?

[HomicideHenry]

Quarry, of 1971, had just done lost to Ali but had a solid record, losing only to Chuvalo, Machen, Ellis and Frazier, with wins over such men as Patterson, British contender Tony Doyle, Brian London yet another perrenial title challenger from Britain, Thad Spencer and Buster Mathis, not to mention the undefeated Mac Foster....Foreman, on the other hand in 1971 was undefeated and all but three of his 31 outings didn't go the distance. He defeated Peralta twice, stopped Chuvalo, stopped Wepner, and guys like Boone Kirman, but much else wasn't proven.

Quarry, in the case of Foster and Shavers, known murderous punchers, could slug it out with them and stop them, but Quarry was prone to cuts...Foreman wasnt a gifted boxer, but could use his jab quite well and had a hell of a punch, but nobody knew then if he could have good enough stamina or a solid enough chin to be an elite heavyweight.

Call me crazy, Quarry's the favorite in this fight, though not by a wide margin. If he's to get Foreman he has to try and stop him early. Consider this one to go down like Foreman-Lyle did, but this time, with Foreman possibly being the man who cant get off the canvas.


How about.........


Sugar Ray Robinson (super middleweight), vs, Bernard Hopkins (Post Taylor-Pavlik), 12 rounds

[allworld80]

Clearly Robinson was best at 160, but even at 168 I think he takes a decision from a past it B-Hop. His speed, footwork, skill were all better, and apart from getting caught, this is UD Robinson.

Naseem Hamed vs Israel Vazquez at 122

[harrygreb]

a peak hamed eakes out a decision over vasquez in a fight few thought would go past the middle rounds. izzy almost stops the brit in the eighth but naz uses the ring well in the next and gradually imposes himself once more and takes a slim points win.

ernie roderick v duilio loi - vacant european welterweight title, wembley arena.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Loi, though no one's going down without a fight.

Vernon Forrest (2002) vs. Miguel Cotto (2007) at Welter. I'm having a tough time making a pick...

[harrygreb]

i cant blame you, this is tight. forrest the great nearly man wins a decision against cotto who went down - briefly - in the 10th. forrest wisely kept to his boxing despite ronnie shields giving him poor advice early on in the bout;
"i think we should mix it up with this guy - show him who's boss!"
vernon sacks shields immediately after the fight. (later reinstated for the upcoming mayorga fight!)

middleweight clash;
holley mims v charlie zivic

[Goodnight, Irene]

Mims, for mine, proves too cute & clever for Zivic, winning a decision, 8-4.

Dempsey vs. Jeffries. 20 Rounds, 6-Ounce Gloves.

[harrygreb]

and you called me a sadist!!!

jeffries forces the referee to call a halt in the 17th. dempsey has been fighting pretty much one handed since a torrent of punches had his opponent on the canvas in the 14th.

marcos villasana v ruben olivares - world featherweight title

[mhagler91490]

and you called me a sadist!!!

jeffries forces the referee to call a halt in the 17th. dempsey has been fighting pretty much one handed since a torrent of punches had his opponent on the canvas in the 14th.

marcos villasana v ruben olivares - world featherweight title

I got Olivares on this one, I think he would just be to tricky and woud stop Villasana in the late rounds.

Vito Antoufermo vs Holman Williams
10 rounds

[harrygreb]

Vito is an time tough guy with some good names on his resume. his best performances being the draw v hagler 1 and the tight loss to minter 1. aggresive, front foot battler with a granite chin he likes to get close and peg away at the body, roughing up his foe then uppercutting with real malice.
Williams, though, boxes his ears off all night with superior ring craft and a slow retreat plan to pick off vito as he comes in working well and then some.
at the final bell vito is cut to ribbons and a new york street behind the pensacola man.
UD holman williams

hogan "kid" bassey v barry mcguigan

[Goodnight, Irene]

Bassey is completely underrated! I wouldn't be surprised if he's not been mentioned in all this thread :(

He's two steps ahead of McGuigan, & that, on a slow day.

Curtis Cokes & Carmen Basilio do battle for the Welterweight crown...

[harrygreb]

brilliant fight and a split decision....cokes wins by the smallest margin. basilio beaten to the punch in the first 3 rounds, cokes clearly fancies the job but carmen catches him with hurtful shots and takes control of the middle rounds.
cokes gets a second wind in the 8th and the rounds become so close and tough to score - both men at the top of their game. curtis shades the last 2.
rematch demanded by the fans.

kid bassey easily duffs up mcguigan and i should have given hogan a real test. heres my chance. two fights to assess bassey's level;

hogan "kid" bassey v tony canzoneri

eusabio pedroza v hogan "kid" bassey

[Goodnight, Irene]

Narrow losses for Bassey in these two, IMO. He comes on late, especially against Canzoneri in a spirited affair throughout, but falls marginally short in each.

Oh, God...the building may be brought down for this one...Saddler vs. Chavez at 130lbs

[harrygreb]

saddler, a picture of cool, calm menace proves his greatness with a 4 round destruction of chavez. Many in the crowd thought the first KD was a slip but chavez got up looking shakey and three punches later - 2 tremendous digs to the mid section and a crashing right hand to the jaw - the matter was no longer in doubt.
Saddler KO 4

welterweight clash;

good news and bad news for welsh welter brian curvis; he gets another crack at the world title but his opponent is...mysterious billy smith. 20 rounds

[Goodnight, Irene]

I don't think Curvis can live with Smith, who stops him on his stool through eleven rounds. 6-4-1 on the cards at the time of the corner stoppage.

A tale of cast-iron jaws & thumping left hooks...

David Tua vs. Tony Galento. Fifteen rounds.