Sidney Carton wrote:1920's lightheavyweights included Jack Delaney, Tommy Loughran, Paul Berlenbach, Mike McTigue, Jim Braddock, Jimmy Slattery
Great class of light heavies. Interesting that a couple of these guys lost to middleweights, and one got kayoed by a welterweight.
It does happen, it's a very interesting conversation that is ongoing about just what weight and height have to do with overall effectiveness. If fighters were fighting 100 times a year this would likely sort itself into pretty measurable data. But when two very talented fighters enter the ring, the odds of something odd taking place has got to land favorably on the smaller guy. All you need is something unusual to happen to even the odds very quickly in real time, and relegating the measurable things just as quickly toward irrelevancy.
Mike McTigue losing to a "welterweight" (Mickey Walker) is not really a disgrace. Mickey beat a helluva lot of light heavies and heavyweights, including a controversial draw with Jack Sharkey.
Sidney Carton wrote:Does anybody here know that Mickey Walker was a middleweight?
He won the middleweight title from Tiger Flowers.
Anybody who calls him "a welterweight" is really straining to present a false picture.
He was a damn good welterweight, and is a top twenty Middleweight, without question. I believe ring magazine had him in the top ten of all time. He was one of those guys who epitomized his era, but let's not get over zealous here... He only beat Tiger Flowers because of a robbery.
Sidney Carton wrote:Does anybody here know that Mickey Walker was a middleweight?
He won the middleweight title from Tiger Flowers.
Anybody who calls him "a welterweight" is really straining to present a false picture.
He was a damn good welterweight, and is a top twenty Middleweight, without question. I believe ring magazine had him in the top ten of all time. He was one of those guys who epitomized his era, but let's not get over zealous here... He only beat Tiger Flowers because of a robbery.
It gets weirder and weirder here.
"welterweight" Mickey Walker beat light heavyweight champions Paul Berlenbach, Mike McTigue, and lost a split decision to Tommy Loughran for the light heavyweight title.
"welterweight" Mickey Walker beat heavyweights Johnny Risko, Bearcat Wright, Paulino Uzcudun, King Levinsky and fought a draw with Jack Sharkey.
I've never understood the reasoning of people considering some fighters only at a certain weight class. Most non-heavyweights move up. It's natural. It's one thing to say a guy is still a welterweight if it is just fights first fighter at middleweight. However, there are fighters who have had fighters at an upper class for a couple of years and have 10 fighters at the higher weight class and people still refer to the guy as only a fighter in the lower weight class.
Mickey Walker was a better middleweight than welterweight. He also eventually moved up and fought many times against light heavyweights and even heavyweights when he was well over the middleweight limit. He was not "just a welterweight" when he was doing that or even "just am middleweight" for most of the time he was fighting even bigger guys.
Last edited by Ambling Alp II on 08 Sep 2017, 15:36, edited 1 time in total.
