Hypothetical Match-Up Game

[Goodnight, Irene]

Nelson on an 8-4, 8-4, 7-5 decision. Very few men are beating ole Prof in the 126-130lb. range, IMO. Under-sold fighter, despite his relatively high-profile. What he did against Sanchez, with only fourteen pro bouts under his belt, cannot be overstated.

Now, for someone to address Floyd Patterson-Cleveland Williams (1959) & its undercard, Shannon Briggs (1997) vs. Hasim Rahman (2001)...

[allworld80]

Patterson outquicks and outboxes Williams en route to a wide UD.

Briggs and Rahman take turns getting off the canvas, until the 7th round when a massive overhand right crumples The Rock to the floor. Briggs KO7.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Salvador Sanchez @ 130

[Goodnight, Irene]

Great, great fight. Sanchez pulls out the narrowest of decisions, & only then, if he's at the top of his game. First two rounds to Sanchez, but Mayweather enjoyed a dominant stretch from the third-through-eighth, before Sanchez, ever-cool under pressure, recovered, & finished especially strong in the later rounds --- not that Mayweather made it easy, pulling out all the stops (check left hook, included) to win it. Sanchez on a split in an epic.

Main Event: Alexis Arguello vs. Meldrick Taylor. 12 rounds at 140lbs.

Undercard: Alan Minter vs. Kelly Pavlik. 12 rounds at 160lbs.

[Counter-puncher]

Great, great fight. Sanchez pulls out the narrowest of decisions, & only then, if he's at the top of his game. First two rounds to Sanchez, but Mayweather enjoyed a dominant stretch from the third-through-eighth, before Sanchez, ever-cool under pressure, recovered, & finished especially strong in the later rounds --- not that Mayweather made it easy, pulling out all the stops (check left hook, included) to win it. Sanchez on a split in an epic.

Main Event: Alexis Arguello vs. Meldrick Taylor. 12 rounds at 140lbs.

Undercard: Alan Minter vs. Kelly Pavlik. 12 rounds at 160lbs.

2 great matches

Taylor- Arguello, looks somewhat like either Pryor-Arguello, or Taylor - Chavez. Taylor is emboldened early by his clear athletic advantage, and slides his chunky frame in and out of range to land 3 and 4 punch combinations with hooks and uppercuts. mostly, he manages to keep himself either out of range, underneath or to the side of Arguello's straight right, and he counters AA's left hook with his own more explosive hook. Taylor pretty much sweeps the first 5 rounds, other than the 2nd in which he gets pushed back having taken a a big right hand on the way in.

almost imperceptibly, though, AA's subtle inside work and especially his thudding uppercuts to the body start to take their toll on Taylor, which becomes apparent not in his face or demeanour but by way of his diminishing punch output and his backing off more. this gives Arguello the chance to establish his jabbing offensive rhythm from rds 6 thru 8. rd 9 and Taylor, feeling the fight's momentum going away from him and having been screamed at by Lou Duva to up his workrate, throws a big flurry, and once more his fast hands steal the round, and indeed rd 10, although now it is seeming clear that the efforts to win these rounds, and the punches he is taking in them, are telling on Taylor, whose chin doesn't match up nearly as well with Arguello as his other undisputed assets, and whose 'tissues are breaking down' (c Pacheco) around his eyes.

Taylor slumps on his stool at the end of the 11th to be told by Duva that it all rides on the last round. He goes out early and has Arguello backed against the ropes before a hard right hand to the body, left uppercut, straight right all connect with stunning force, wobbling Taylor who hasn't got the nous to hold on and stumbles back across the ring. Arguello takes him to the ropes and bombards him with right hands, digging to the body as Taylor's hands form a shell around his battered face. the finishing right uppercut/left hook from Arguello has Taylor slumped between the middle ropes and the ref steps in with 40 seconds remaining in the fight. both men are bruised and bloodied and the crowd have yelled themselves hoarse 8)

FOTY, judges cards show Taylor was 1, 2 and 3 points ahead ATOS. Duva is forever reviled for sending Taylor out to fight for a round he didn't have to win

Minter outboxes the living shit out of Pavlik, Minter is a stylistic nightmare for Kelly- southpaw, fluid mover, great counterpuncher. Kelly starts off trying to get on the front foot and dominate but can't set himself because of the jabs and right hooks that slash into his face from outside his left foot, jabs and hooks just keep flowing over his left shoulder. Pav's left eye is swollen by rd 3 and cut by rd 7. Minter starts upping the tempo and driving lead left hands through Pavlik's guard, driving Pavlik onto the back foot and stepping round him to commence another attack.

Minter walks this one on a u/d

Next up a triple header:

Middleweight: Dick Tiger vs Marvin Hagler

Welterweight: Emile Griffith vs Felix Trinidad

Lightweight: Ike Williams vs Esteban Dejesus

[Goodnight, Irene]

Good fights, to be sure.

Hagler on a close UD against Tiger, in a commanding spectacle.

Griffith is far, far too good for the less-versatile Trinidad, winning a comfortable UD, in spite of two or three genuinely hairy moments.

Williams, like Griffith above, has too much class across the board to ever be seriously troubled, & decisions DeJesus fairly convincingly.

Gene Tunney, fresh off his second victory over Jack Dempsey, & at the height of his career, steps back in time to face peaking versions of Jim Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons & Jack Johnson. All fifteen-rounders...

[allworld80]

Tunney destroys Corbett inside of 5 rounds. Far superior in skill and speed, he flattens Corbett for good in the 4th, after using his head as a speed bag.

Fitzsimmons suffers the same fate, only he puts up a terrific battle, and even manages to win 3 or 4 rounds off of Tunney. Both men are fading down the stretch when a crippling hook to the body drops old Fitzie to the deck. The referee counts him out. Tunney KO13.

Jack Johnson turns in his best performance, and decisions Tunney over 15 grueling rounds. Gene has Jack down in the 4th, but the favor is returned in the 7th and 11th rounds. Johnson bullies Tunney around the ring to offset his clear boxing disadvantage, and tires Tunney out down the stretch. UD Johnson.

Mustafa Hamsho and Julian Jackson square off at 160

[Goodnight, Irene]

Tough fight to call. I like Jackson to pull it off, while behind on the cards. TKO7.

Main Event: Ingemar Johansson vs. Cleveland Williams, 1959. 15 rounds...

Undercard: Trevor Berbick (1981) vs. Bert Cooper (1991). 12 rounds...

[harrygreb]

i take big cat to find a big clump to KO the big swede in a big upset.

williams KO 4

berbick overwhelms cooper to a TKO win in round 7

lightheavy clash

mathed saaaaad muhammad v joe calzaghe (oh, and it was stated in another thread, not by me, that "no lightheavy is dropping the welshman let alone decisioning him")

[Goodnight, Irene]

Muhammad on a close decision. Very tight fight --- a lot of swing rounds. Muhammad's great final round effort to close was crucial, & Calzaghe earned respect from all for keeping with the hustle right throughout, even in the last round.

Main Event: 2002 Roy RJJ Jones Jr. vs. 1999 Ike The President Ibeabuchi. 12 Rounds...

Undercard: 1968 Oscar Ringo Bonavena vs. 1991 Smokin' Bert Cooper. 12 Rounds...

[Robinson]

Good match ups.....

Ike vs RJJ...tough call. RJJ manages to run and hide for
most the fight...when Ike lands it is telling. RJJ manages
to surprise all with a close MD12.

Cooper and Bonavena go to war, both are in top shape.
Cooper is floored but manages to hang in their and make
a come back.
A close and exciting fight.
Cooper SD.

Hasim Rahman (2001) Vs Tony Tucker (1991) 12 rounds...

[Goodnight, Irene]

Tucker has too much of everything for the perennially-overrated Rahman, who loses a UD.

Main Event: Pascual Perez vs. Eder Jofre. 15 Rounds...

Undercard: Ron Lyle vs. Carl Williams. 15 Rounds...

[Robinson]

I shall do the HW -

Williams and Lyle go to war. Williams manages to out box
and looks slick for most of the fight. Lyle catches him with
a savage right hand and sends him down.

Lyle TKO 9

Henry Cooper (1964) 188lbs v Joe Calzaghe (2008) 173lbs, 12 rounds

[harrygreb]

joe wins by stoppage in round 8. he is a country mile ahead on all cards due to the amount of leather thrown but henry is cut and a little dispirited and doesnt argue when the ref calls a halt.

two rubber match bouts - lets make them at welter - with the two winners to face each other;

billy graham v kid gavilan - no mob influence this time

ray robinson v carmen basilio

who will contest the final?

[Goodnight, Irene]

Perez & Jofre require addressing, first.

[harrygreb]

perez nearly causes an upset against his slightly bigger opponent and all time boxing wizard jofre. he tags his man in the 3rd that wakes jofre up and it becomes a supreme battle of ring genius. perez is behind going into the last round but again has jofre in trouble as the bell ends a real classic

jofre UD 15

back to the rubber match bouts

[Goodnight, Irene]

Gavilan lands a close --- but clear --- decision.

Robinson endures a terrific effort from Basilio to stop his man on cuts, circa the fourteenth.

Robinson with a UD over Gavilan, suffering a flash knockdown along the way.

Main Event: Pascual Perez & Fighting Harada take aim at one another. 15 rounds at Flyweight...

Undercard: Henry & Bert Cooper. 15 rounds...

[harrygreb]

perez has his hands full with harada and his right eye is closed by the marauding jap by round 7. perez though has enough power to keep those attacks in check while he does his best work to haradas body. round 10 is a real torrid affair and will go down in fistic lore as a great round showing extraordinary guts from both men to keep themselves from wilting under successive periods of brutal punishment. perez closes the deal in the 13th with 12 unanswered vicious shots to head and body.

perez TKO 13

bert cooper wins a MD against henry cooper who puts up a near career best performance. the brit winning the early exchanges (and putting bert down for a count of 8 in the 9th round) bert though takes control from the middle onwards and might have stopped henry with a little more effort in the last couple of rounds.

bert cooper MD

heavyweight contest
duane bobick v roy jones

[allworld80]

Roy takes Bobick to school over 12 masterful rounds. His speed and accuracy are astounding, as Bobick flails and clinches to no avail. Roy Jones by a dominant UD.

A couple of big hitters square off...

Edwin Rosario vs Acelino Freitas @ 130

[Datsue]

A couple of big hitters square off...

Edwin Rosario vs Acelino Freitas @ 130

Did Rosario fight at super-feather? He might've, I don't know. Whatever:

Freitas decided he was a mover when he knew the other guy could hurt him. Weight-weakened though he is, Rosario makes Freitas do that bouncy thing Popo did before collapsing in the Chico fight, scoring with heavy rights after the technically inferior but more athletic Freitas misses. Rosario's counters have Popo bounding away from El Chapo for long periods of time; Edwin can't quite close the gap enough to finish & settles for winning the rounds.

Surprisingly dull fight, with Freitas tiring & going down in the eleventh & twelfth to make it wide.

Rosario W UD12 Freitas

Shannon Briggs (Lennox Lewis fight vintage) vs David Haye.

[allworld80]

Did Rosario fight at super-feather?

3 or 4 times I think.

[hitman09]

Haye KO 5
Too fast for "The Cannon", Haye has Briggs troubled from the 3rd on, knocking him down twice in the 4th but Briggs is saved by the bell. Briggs comes out for the 5th with nothing left in the tank and is KO'd in the first flurry of punches from Haye.

Barry McGuigan vs Manny Pacquiao(2004) 12 rds featherweight

[Datsue]

Did Rosario fight at super-feather?

3 or 4 times I think.

Ah, fair play. Never knew that.

[harrygreb]

the pre-world champ version of mcguigan gives the pac-man fits as he never stops coming forward and throwing great combos from all angles. manny knows after a couple of rounds that he is in for a tuff nite. round 5 barry comes forward then crouches, moves to his left and delivers a body shot that nearly cuts manny in half but instead of wilting he steps in and cuffs the irishman with a hard left hook and a left uppercut that dazes barry. pac-man wades in with vicious overhand rights and barry takes a knee. gets up at 8 and clinches for the remaining 45 seconds of the round. he makes it.
the 6th is a tear up of epic scale. manny senses he has barry close to quitting as he backs him up with forceful jabs. he is wrong. manny is too open as he attacks and wham!! a solid left to the heart has him down and out. what a fight!!! mcguigan is champion of the world and thats where his problems begin.

the rematch

barry mcguigan (champ) v manny paquiao (challenger)

[allworld80]

Pacquiao has a cold look in his eyes before the fight, and it turns out to be an omen. He's on McGuigan from the start, and punishes the champion early. Straight left upon straight left have the irishman's face swollen and bloody after just a few rounds. McGuigan is game, and lands some blistering shots of his own in the 5th, even staggering the Pac-man a few times. Round 6 is the end. Pacquiao unleashes a barrage of unanswered power punches, and removes McGuigan from his senses. White towl time. Pacquiao TKO6.

At the height of their prime and power...

Sonny Liston vs George Foreman

[Djanders]

Pacquiao has a cold look in his eyes before the fight, and it turns out to be an omen. He's on McGuigan from the start, and punishes the champion early. Straight left upon straight left have the irishman's face swollen and bloody after just a few rounds. McGuigan is game, and lands some blistering shots of his own in the 5th, even staggering the Pac-man a few times. Round 6 is the end. Pacquiao unleashes a barrage of unanswered power punches, and removes McGuigan from his senses. White towl time. Pacquiao TKO6.

At the height of their prime and power...

Sonny Liston vs George Foreman

12 rounds: George Foreman wins by MD12. Foreman down in 1st. Liston down twice in round 12.

Riddick Bowe vs Mike Tyson, prime vs prime. 12 rounds.