Herol Graham - The Best I've Faced

[Redback Rasta]

Best I've Faced : Herrol Graham

Best boxer:
Sumbu Kalambay for the European middleweight title. It was a very close fight, but he caught me with a big punch and I slid across the ropes. I have to give him that, it was a great shot, and that probably took the fight away from me, if I’m being honest. He was a quality opponent, who won and lost a fight with Mike McCallum after that.

Best puncher:
The best puncher was Julian Jackson, come on, please. I don’t even have to think when it comes to that question. One shot and I was gone and it came just after the referee was going to stop the fight in my favor. I made the mistake of going for a sucker punch, when he was in the corner, and Jackson responded with a knockout punch. I had to go to the hospital and there were some scary moments because I couldn’t remember a thing about the fight. Three or four hours later it all came back to me and that was a really powerful right hand shot. There were a lot of broken hearts in Britain that night, especially mine. Another extremely hard puncher was Lindell Holmes, who I outpointed in Sheffield, but nobody tops Jackson.

Best defense:
Maybe Sumbu Kalambay but there wasn’t anyone who really excelled defensively. Even McCallum wasn’t difficult to hit and although Kalambay was a big puncher with long arms, he was still findable. That said I didn’t hit him as often as I wanted to, so Kalambay edges it.

Fastest hands:
Mine (laughs). For the most part my hand speed was superior, so it’s difficult to think of someone who troubled me. You could say Vinny Pazienza had the quickest hands but he couldn’t hit me with anything. It was funny because after that fight Pazienza told me that I didn’t touch him. I said; “What about the marks all over your face, Vinny? There’s blood coming from your eye and you have swollen lips, but I didn’t touch you?” He was going on like I didn’t win the fight (laughs). He did have quick hands because he was short limbed and exploded on the inside, but his style was easy to box against.

Fastest feet:
Nobody, come on now, don’t mess about (laughs). I kept it long and my stance was wide, so I leaned back out the way. The suspension of a bridge is long, is it not? If I wanted distance then I created it, so nobody was able to counter me in terms of footwork – nobody.

Best chin:
Well I can’t say me for this one because I got knocked out (laughs). It’s got to be Charles “The Hatchet” Brewer. I got him down twice, but couldn’t finish and he ended up stopping me. The fight was in Atlantic City, on the undercard of Lennox Lewis vs. Shannon Briggs.

Best jab:
Nobody bothered me with the jab. I expected a great jab from Mike McCallum, but his didn’t trouble me at all. He was forced to hustle and bustle with me, because boxing wasn’t working for him.

Strongest:
Sanderline Williams in 1985. I remember him because he wore army trunks, but more so because his shots seemed to go right through me. I really had to move that night, because he hit so hard. I would still give punch power to Julian Jackson though. I have to because he knocked me out.

Smartest:
Sumbu Kalambay or Mike McCallum. Both of them were smart technicians who made you think, but I pushed both of them all the way.

Best overall:
Mike McCallum, but I thought I beat him. He tried to dictate the pace and I could see that, so I changed the tempo and did my thing. I boxed, frustrated him with my movement and, although he scored points by applying pressure, nothing was landing. The judges scored aggression but it wasn’t effective aggression. This was The Body Snatcher, right? Watch the fight and you’ll see – he couldn’t touch me to the body. It was a great experience and he was a great fighter, but he couldn’t get off the shots that he wanted to get off. I was perhaps guilty of not throwing enough back, but I thought I earned the decision.

[Cazelo]

Enjoyed reading that. Would like the same questions asked to other old pros

[damianhucker1]

Enjoyed reading that. Would like the same questions asked to other old pros

You could ask Fidel or Jawaid at gym and post on here ...

[palooka]

thanks for that Rasta.

[Bodyshot3]

@Redback Rasta...cheers, always really like these Best I've Faced threads; when fighters are not fighting any more and the 'past is the past' you get a really genuine and clear understanding of who they actually rated and respected and without any disclaimers.

Kalambay gets mentioned so often as a bloody nightmare by his former opponents that it seems pretty clear that his overall ranking and reputation should possibly be higher.

Meanwhile...the Jackson fight still has me shaking my head and feeling sad for Herol

[Cazelo]

Enjoyed reading that. Would like the same questions asked to other old pros

You could ask Fidel or Jawaid at gym and post on here ...

I could do that. I'm sure there's a few others I know that I can ask too

[tobyh5]

I rate and respect Herol but it is called The Best I've Faced and I would like to know the answers to that, ya know the best that he uhm, faced rather than read him saying how he is the best at this that and the other.

I will be honest and say that I switched off halfway through. Shame as he was one of the first guys I really followed in the late 80's. I got into the sport on the back of Honeyghan v Curry and Tyson emerging and then latched onto Herol.

[Terminator666]

Wonder what the outcome would have been if Herol had gotten an immediate rematch with Jackson?

[Counter-puncher]

Kalambay gets mentioned so often as a bloody nightmare by his former opponents that it seems pretty clear that his overall ranking and reputation should possibly be higher:

Damn straight. You don't win about 16-18 out of 24 rounds against McCallum without being one hell of a boxer.

[deadpan]

I rate and respect Herol but it is called The Best I've Faced and I would like to know the answers to that, ya know the best that he uhm, faced rather than read him saying how he is the best at this that and the other.

I will be honest and say that I switched off halfway through. Shame as he was one of the first guys I really followed in the late 80's. I got into the sport on the back of Honeyghan v Curry and Tyson emerging and then latched onto Herol.

I was and am a huge Herol fan but reading his responses did prompt me to ask who was world class who he actually beat. Is Kalule his best scalp?

[Terminator666]

Pazienza was world class

[deadpan]

Wasn't Paz on the seniors tour by then?

[tobyh5]

Wasn't Paz on the seniors tour by then?

And well above his "natural" weight

[THEBUTCH]

An excellent Q&A from one of the greats of British boxing.

Graham boxed terribly against McCallum and still only lost out on a draw becase of a harsh point deduction. No wonder Mike would never box him again.

Amazing career and always remembered with great respect.

[JC]

Enjoyed reading that. Would like the same questions asked to other old pros

Here you go – http://ringtv.craveonline.com/tag/best-ive-faced

[Parson Cross]

I rate and respect Herol but it is called The Best I've Faced and I would like to know the answers to that, ya know the best that he uhm, faced rather than read him saying how he is the best at this that and the other.

I will be honest and say that I switched off halfway through. Shame as he was one of the first guys I really followed in the late 80's. I got into the sport on the back of Honeyghan v Curry and Tyson emerging and then latched onto Herol.

If you know the guy you wouldn't say that mate.
That's Herol's humour.
He's been to hell and back in his personal life but to this day if he attends a do in Sheffield he lights the place up and everybody loves him.

[tobyh5]

I rate and respect Herol but it is called The Best I've Faced and I would like to know the answers to that, ya know the best that he uhm, faced rather than read him saying how he is the best at this that and the other.

I will be honest and say that I switched off halfway through. Shame as he was one of the first guys I really followed in the late 80's. I got into the sport on the back of Honeyghan v Curry and Tyson emerging and then latched onto Herol.

If you know the guy you wouldn't say that mate.
That's Herol's humour.
He's been to hell and back in his personal life but to this day if he attends a do in Sheffield he lights the place up and everybody loves him.

With respect, articles should not be written for people who know the subject matter but should be written for anyone to pick up and enjoy. If you need to know Herol to understand it, it is a flawed article.

[Parson Cross]

Well I enjoyed it.

[palooka]

Well I enjoyed it.

and that's that.

[bigjack]

I rate and respect Herol but it is called The Best I've Faced and I would like to know the answers to that, ya know the best that he uhm, faced rather than read him saying how he is the best at this that and the other.

I will be honest and say that I switched off halfway through. Shame as he was one of the first guys I really followed in the late 80's. I got into the sport on the back of Honeyghan v Curry and Tyson emerging and then latched onto Herol.

If you know the guy you wouldn't say that mate.
That's Herol's humour.
He's been to hell and back in his personal life but to this day if he attends a do in Sheffield he lights the place up and everybody loves him.

Herol is one of my all time hero's and i was devastated when he lost his unbeaten record to Kalambay,honestly i was on a real downer for a week afterwards and i really wished he could have won that world title,just for the record,when he was the top challenger for Hagler just before leonard i personally think he would have given marvin nightmares at that time and many people laughed at me,but i think the timing would have been perfect then for herol to cause a shock.

[tobyh5]

Well I enjoyed it.

Cool, that is 1 person sorted out of the whole population and you already said you knew him

[bigjack]

Well I enjoyed it.

Cool, that is 1 person sorted out of the whole population and you already said you knew him

and i enjoyed it too,so there's 2 and i don't know him .

[keithmoonhangover]

Loved it. Would love to see some more. (That's what she said )

[Bricks]

I rate and respect Herol but it is called The Best I've Faced and I would like to know the answers to that, ya know the best that he uhm, faced rather than read him saying how he is the best at this that and the other.

I will be honest and say that I switched off halfway through. Shame as he was one of the first guys I really followed in the late 80's. I got into the sport on the back of Honeyghan v Curry and Tyson emerging and then latched onto Herol.

I was and am a huge Herol fan but reading his responses did prompt me to ask who was world class who he actually beat. Is Kalule his best scalp?

Yeah he beat a handful of contenders ,holmes and kalule in 85 ,and he had the long undefeated stretch but u cant even say he cleaned up domestically as he didnt fight sibson,benn ,eubanks,watson BUT in every case each of those men ran from herol went out of their way to avoid him. He showed he belonged at A List v mccallum and kalambay and jackson.the three fights were very close .the man was an enigma but one of the most talented ever in britain.an absolute disgrace a broadcaster or the aba do not use him

[jonp]

Was with mccallum all last week and brought up the fight with herol graham he was very complentary of him.Said he was a bad boy who was really hard to get to too but felt his experience got it down the straight.Interestingly he also said julian jackson was the hardest puncher he went in with including sparring.