miniquiz

[Jaclem]

..what do the following fights have in common:

Louis/Braddock
Walcott/marciano I
robinson/lamotta VI
pep/saddler III
maxim/bob murphy

[iceman21287]

..what do the following fights have in common:

Louis/Braddock
Walcott/marciano I
robinson/lamotta VI
pep/saddler III
maxim/bob murphy

I'm not sure about Robinson/LaMotta VI and Maxim/Murphy, but I know that in Louis/Braddock, Walcott/Marciano I, and Pep/Saddler III the winner was dropped early in the fight only to win it by knockout later on.

[Jaclem]

..iceman..you're right about the three you mention...but neither robinson nor maxim were dropped.

..and added hint...that may confuse more than it helps...but that's up to you folks....there is one fight mentioned in the quiz that..while it fits the main queation, is an exception to the others in another situation.



(the question is based on fact...confirmed by old ring magazines and newspaper research.)

[perrycarter]

All of these fights involved two boxers who were trying to hit each other in the face.

You cannot deny this to be true so give me my prize.

[Randineous]

..what do the following fights have in common:

Louis/Braddock
Walcott/marciano I
robinson/lamotta VI
pep/saddler III
maxim/bob murphy

Not exactly sure about Pep & Saddler, but I believe that all of the challengers in those other title fights were the betting favourites going into the fight with the champion, so I'm going to go with that as an answer.

[Randineous]

I believe you're right.

That was my best guess and I believe the one exception that Jaclem alluded to was the Maxim/Murphy fight, which saw the champion reatin his title over the favoured challenger. All of the other ones saw the title change hands.

[Jaclem]

..randy and dec...right you are!!! ..and yes, saddler was the favorite to re-win the title from pep.

the fight that differed in another way...only maxim , though the underdog, retained his crown.


back to pep/saddler.....the betting odds in their fights were...well..peculiar. one reason that pep is often rated over saddler as a featherweight great, despite the latter's three wins over the former......is pep overall magnificent record ( though saddler's is outstanding if not quiite as dazzling)... the other is the results of the fights themselves. there are those who question willie's will to win....in at least two of them....and might explain why willie got a longer suspension from the boxing commission than saddler did for their notorious foul-filled final match.

[Jaclem]

..dec...if were a featherweight and given my choice of which one i had to fight, i'd pick pep. willie might make a fool of me, but saddler could ruin me for life. he is a much under rated fighter.

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

why were marciano and irish bob muprhy favorites going into there title fights? maxim and walcott were very good champions and im suprised they were made underdogs.

[Jaclem]

..decagon has it exactly as it was re: walcott/,marciano. as for maxim and irish bob murphy...maxim wasalways underrated because he didn't have a punch. i was surprised myself at the time of the match that he was the underdog....i knew there was no way the hard-chinned superb boxer maxim was going to lose to murphy. the fight was on espnc classic a little while ago...and this was the first time i'd seen it since i saw it on live tv. murphy knocked maxim across the ring in the second round which excited the crowd but didn't bother maxim much. he went on to totally outclass murphy...who had swollen face and battered eyes at the end...maxim had a short fast left jab that he could throw six or seven times in a row and often that was enough alone,along with his good chin and great defensive skills to win him a lot of fights and be competive with the many of the best heavies and light heavies of his era.