Willie Pastrano

[davie]

A mate of mine just mentioned his name, his dad had seen him fight Terry Downes.
I knew the name from other fighters records but had never really looked at him.

Really solid record,
Undisputed LHW champion, with wins agains Maxim and Harold Johnson, drew with Archie Moore.
A number of other solid wins.
A few defeats, most of his defeats to solid opposition and mainly very tight calls.
His 2 stoppage losses came to a 20lb heavier Brian London and a final defeat to Torres that retired him.
All in all a very good looking record at first glance yet Boxrec have him outside the top 20. Seems to rank him quite low.

Any thoughts.

[keithmoonhangover]

My thoughts are..... have you read Angelo Dundee's book I Only Talk Winning?

[davie]

My thoughts are..... have you read Angelo Dundee's book I Only Talk Winning?

No

I bet if I had I'd know a lot more about Willie Pastrano though

[Caractacus]

He was sort of like a Muhammad Ali style when he boxed before Ali.
I remember reading somewhere where he had claimed that he was drugged before he fought and lost the title to Jose Torres.
The drug just made him about half a second slower in reacting then usual but it through him off enough to loose.
I also think Angelo Dundee said that he was robbed with the fight with Brian London,
a cut was made to seem a lot worse to the ref when he stopped it.

[keithmoonhangover]

My thoughts are..... have you read Angelo Dundee's book I Only Talk Winning?

No

I bet if I had I'd know a lot more about Willie Pastrano though

The book is a must read and there is a lot about Pastrano in there. He was a real character,

[Ambling Alp II]

I read that book from the library several years ago. It was a good book.
Pastrano was a very good light heavy who was actually a heavyweight contender for a bit.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Very skilled fighter, not the most entertaining. The decision over Johnson was dubious.

[Seamus]

I watched Pastrano v Johnson as well, and it sure didn't look like Pastrano deserved the decision. Didn't look like he landed many punches.