Getting it wrong

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 07 Sep 2005, 14:21

Ezzard wrote:
walshb wrote:Ezzard, the Breland thing was huge. He was tipped to be an alltime great after LA....His amateur career was outstanding andI remember around that time, there was serious hype for him....He didn't deliver
You're right... You have reminded me of my own folly in tellign everyone how great he was going to be.

I to remember before seeing Breland fight (as a Professional) reading in various Boxing magazines etc the words "best since Ray Robinson" etc being used about the then 'hot prospect'.

ShoeShine · Post by **ShoeShine** » 07 Sep 2005, 14:34

KOJOE90 wrote:
Ezzard wrote:
walshb wrote:Ezzard, the Breland thing was huge. He was tipped to be an alltime great after LA....His amateur career was outstanding andI remember around that time, there was serious hype for him....He didn't deliver
You're right... You have reminded me of my own folly in tellign everyone how great he was going to be.
I to remember before seeing Breland fight (as a Professional) reading in various Boxing magazines etc the words "best since Ray Robinson" etc being used about the then 'hot prospect'.

Breland might be the most hyped amatuer ever, he had roles in movies b4 he ever turned pro..I think a lot of the overhype was bc he was from NY.

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 07 Sep 2005, 16:49

Yeah but Breland had that snappy look and he played the part so well.

Ezzard · Post by **Ezzard** » 08 Sep 2005, 04:08

I read an interview once with him. he used to psyche himself up by looking in the mirror and imagining he was a panther!

He came across as someone who was uncertain of himself

tiredoldngrey · Post by **tiredoldngrey** » 08 Sep 2005, 06:41

All talk of Breland brings up another fighter that, although he did win a world title, was either never as good as he should have been or far better than he deserved. That would be Marlon Starling and I really have no scientific basis behind this post, but on a personal level I can say that I hate him. The second Breland fight- this was years ago, of course, and in those days I didn't have anybody to forbid me ever having any money in my pocket, and being younger at the time, tended to travel to Las Vegas and wager my money on sporting events. That was a good year and when that rematch came up and I saw that I could get 2:1 odds, I bet what amounted to nearly a half year's wages. If you recall that fight- Starling hurting Breland every time he hit him, but wasting whole rounds laying on the ropes and smirking- you'll understand my feelings about Marlon.

locoxelbox · Post by **locoxelbox** » 08 Sep 2005, 10:58

I saw Bruce Seldon when he had like 5 or 6 fights and he looked like the next great heavyweight to me

(It was in 1989/1990 and I was only 14 and hadn't even started boxing yet). The TV commentators said he looked better than fellow prospects Lennox Lewis, Ray Mercer and Riddick bowe!

Also when Pedro Decima destroyed Paul Banke in four rounds to win the WBC super bantamweight title he looked like the next great argentine fighter to me. TV commentators said he looked like a new Alexis Arguello!!

Pretty strange as they had nothing in common stylewise.

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 09 Sep 2005, 01:41

..i thought liston would be around longer, but mostly because i underrated ali/clay. i saw clay against billy daniels and daniels was bouncing right hands off clay with ease...and i thought daniels wasn't all that good...basic skills but stiff. saw clay against doug jones and then henry cooper and started wondering who liston would beat nextafter he demolished clay.he'd already beaten the rated fighters on the way to the title.

breland/starling. ah yes...it was easy to spot the tv house fighter in that one. the announcers kept saying how breland was in front and showing superlative skill and all the while it was obvious than starling was taking him apart in pieces and breland was not going to be around for the scheduled finish.

hey....i thought seldon looked pretty good too in those early fights.

one i was always right on....ezzard. had no doubt he'd be the next heavyweight champion of the world, even when he was 171....and i predicted he'd be light heavy champ first, but underestimated the intelligence of the lesnevich camp.

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 09 Sep 2005, 12:42

locoxelbox wrote:I saw Bruce Seldon when he had like 5 or 6 fights and he looked like the next great heavyweight to me .

Hey, very early on in Seldons career I to thought he may be the 'darkhourse' of the Heavyweight prospects that were around at the time.

Then he got hit on the chin.

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 09 Sep 2005, 15:03

My greatest misfire perhaps even more so than the Prince was Greg Page. In this case I did get sucked in by the hype and to some degree what he showed early on. He is another who seemed to throw it away.

Mike Dokes was another one I got on the bandwagon with to be dissapointed.

Anyone know why Dokes and Page never fought? That's always mystified me.

The Great John L · Post by **The Great John L** » 09 Sep 2005, 15:05

BoxBuzz wrote:Mike Dokes was another one I got on the bandwagon with to be dissapointed.

Dokes sure was a disappointment. Too much partying put a damper on his career -- although the war with Holyfield sure was a helluva show.

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 10 Sep 2005, 06:56

BoxBuzz wrote:Anyone know why Dokes and Page never fought? That's always mystified me.

I'm sure Don King would know the answer to that one.

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 10 Sep 2005, 08:48

Thanks, someone get Don on the line for me. Tell him I want answers.

Nile4000 · Post by **Nile4000** » 02 Oct 2005, 15:10

The Great John L wrote:
sharkeysboy wrote:I was wrong in reverse about Michael Nunn. I had heard that he was a pretty good young fighter so I went to the Forum on Stroh's Monday Night Fights in 1985 and watched him from ring side. I was unimpressed. He seemed clumsy and barely outpointed a mediocre opponent. So I bet my friend Ron that there was no way Nunn would ever hold a title or beat a formidable opponent. Nunn became middle weight champ, defended it a bunch of times and beat the following challengers:

Donald Curry
Iran Barkley
Marlon Starling

as well as others. I believe he was still undefeated when Toney TKO'd him.

I defend my bad judgement on the basis of sitting too close. I was used to watching live fights from the back row. It threw me off. I also met Azumah Nelson earlier that night so I was a bit star struck.
Yeah, I didn't think Nunn would amount to anyhting either. Does anyone remember Marty Monroe. He destroyed tough Eddie "The Animal" Lopez on national TV, and I thought he looked like a future champ. Good chin and excellent power. Of course, I completely ignored the fact that he was stiff and mechanical when he was outpointed earlier by Scott LeDouex, and his very next fight he was exposed by Greg Page -- LTKO 6. And it was a complete blowout.

Thought Page was the next great, and could've been, but we all know what happened. :x

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 02 Oct 2005, 15:15

We are reserving a ticket on this thread for Gitman should he ever decide to drop in and share his RJJ experience with us.