Guys who 'fight to their level'

[stujones]

Gatti - still had a great career and was a multi weight world champion but I often think some of his L's shouldn't have been L's - he had the talent to box the brains off a lot of the fighters. Its why I don't quite rate the Gatti vs Ward trilogy as high as some - it should have been 3-0 Gatti and fairly comfortably.

He would have never beaten DLH or Mayweather, I think sometimes he is wrongly associated as an over achiever - he was pretty damn talented and showed real elite (not all time great) ability in flashes. I thought in Flashes he looked like he could give the level of a Sharmba Mitchell, Vivean Harris, even Zab JUdah and Ricky Hatton a real arguement. Cotto, Mayweather, DLH and Tszyu (prime) were a level above.

[Nondescript]

Demetrius Andrade (not sure if this was just intended for British fighters though).

[dookus]

Darnell Boone

[bennie]

Roberto Duran was terrible between big fights because he never fell in love with training and would use 10-rounders to sharpen up rather than the gym, which left the demotivated, food-loving and often blubbery Panamanian extremely vulnerable at times. He lost his first career fight in a 10-rounder to Esteban De Jesus, of course, and found himself on the deck in the process and was really winded by a body shot from Frenchman Leonard Tavarez in a non-title encounter in Paris in 1974. Duran, as ever, had gorged himself after the weigh-in but he came back to stop Tavarez. He was booed out of the ring after a 10-rounder with Javier Muniz on the Ali-Evangelista undercard in the States and after Edwin Viruet messed him around in another 10-rounder in the States, an affair which particularly enraged Duran because Viruet, a Puerto Rican like De Jesus, was and still is decidedly 'gobby'.
Most of all, Duran hated 'runners' and the likes of Zeferino "Speedy" Gonzalez, Jimmy Batten, Kirkland Laing, Paul Thorn, Wellington Wheatley, Saoul Mamby and others all frustrated him at various stages in his long career and Laing beat him, of course. It seems bizarre now but Duran was completely written off following a three-round exhibition at the Felt Forum in the basement of Madison Square Garden in the summer of 1981. It was Duran's first boxing appearance in the wake of his "No Mas" disgrace and - weighing 170 pounds - he moved around with a Panamanian amateur boxer by the name of Simon Smith to boos from the crowd who couldn't believe how fat Duran looked and how listlessly he performed. Duran was simply pulling his punches but to to hard-bitten New Yorkers he was all washed up.
His non-title performances could probably be summed up in the matchmaking process. His opponents, said Team Duran, could come in at any weight they wanted.

[brilo33]

Some fighters look a million pounds vs average opposition, but then not so hot stepping up--this is prob the norm. But there are also some fighters who raise and drop their performances in the other way based on opposition levels. I think a common indicator of this is when guys look their best in their biggest fights/vs best opponents, but then no so hot vs the guys in between

Who are some of these guys past or present. Recent guys

Callum Smith
BJS
Starting to see this from Mall Charlo

so you rate ryder better than groves? and i am big ryder fan
bjs steps up when fighting better oppo ryder eubank jr spike lee Lemieux

[brilo33]

i would say . eggington ,allen.

[margaret thatcher]

Some fighters look a million pounds vs average opposition, but then not so hot stepping up--this is prob the norm. But there are also some fighters who raise and drop their performances in the other way based on opposition levels. I think a common indicator of this is when guys look their best in their biggest fights/vs best opponents, but then no so hot vs the guys in between

Who are some of these guys past or present. Recent guys

Callum Smith
BJS
Starting to see this from Mall Charlo

so you rate ryder better than groves? and i am big ryder fan
bjs steps up when fighting better oppo ryder eubank jr spike lee Lemieux

Nope, not at all

[brilo33]

so you rate ryder better than groves? and i am big ryder fan
bjs steps up when fighting better oppo ryder eubank jr spike lee Lemieux

Nope, not at all

not at all you dont think ryder is as good as smith? fair dos

[margaret thatcher]

Nah Cal is better, Groves was better than Ryder too

[brilo33]

Nah Cal is better, Groves was better than Ryder too

yea i get what ya were saying the same thing i was smith looks better against better oppo , as does bjs

[JC]

Jermaine Taylor.

Fought on even terms with Hopkins and Winky Wright; laboured against Ouma and Spinks.

He'd usually end up fighting his opponent's fight, was ahead when he got KO'd by both Pavlik and Froch

[Greg Nicholas]

Eubank Sr would pose if they weren't a threat and give rounds away, or throw that silly looping right hand and be countered with taps.

[GPTM1403]

Reading the recent Eubank v Benn stuff in BN, there's some comments from senior that suggest he was very much do what it takes and keep it at that. I was going to say Lloyd Honeyghan for this but I'm never sure if it was a case of he dropped to the opponents level after beating Curry or just blew it at that point and forgot how he got there.