BoxRec

J-C wrote:While we're taking about impressive records Willie Pep was 134-1-1 going into the first fight with Saddler.

Also managing a win over Saddler after the plane crash is another achievement worth a mention.

King Carlos wrote:

Knucklez wrote:

King Carlos wrote:To combat Armstrong's case, how about Terry McGovern knocking out the Bantamweight, Featherweight, and Lightweight champions of the world all within a span of 9 months?

Who was this?

Bantam/Feather (the weights were different in those days) whirlwind champion of the world at the turn of the 20th century. He blazed through the weights like Tyson blazed through the Heavyweight division in the late 80's, but against superior opponents. Like Tyson, he also had a relatively short prime due to his berserker style.

September 12th, 1899: KO's Bantamweight champion Pedlar Palmer in the first round (the first World Championship bout to end as such under Marquis of Queensbury rules). Wins Bantamweight championship.

January 9th, 1900: TKO's all time Bantam/Featherweight king (and Featherweight champ at the time) George Dixon (albeit an admittedly faded version, but still an excellent champion) in the 8th round.

Defends the title 3 times, KO'ing Eddie Santry (5th round), Oscar Gardner (3rd round, scheduled for 25), and Tommy White (3rd round, also scheduled for 25).

July 16, 1900: TKO's Frank Erne, Lightweight champion at the time, in 3 rounds in a non-title bout.

All told, after a DQ loss to Tim Callahan (which he later avenged by KO) he went 39-0-2 (34 KO's) from August 4, 1898 to May 29, 1901, defeating many ranked contenders during that period to go along with the aforementioned conquests.

He also holds an official KO victory (2nd round) over Lightweight king Joe Gans during that time frame. However, most (myself included) look past this bout, as it's generally regarded as one of the most blatant dives in all of history. The footage certainly suggests as much.

This does nothing to diminish McGovern's standing, though. He was an unheard of force in that era of 20-40 round bouts, wherein the majority of competitors relied on pacing themselves for the distance (and rightly so) and only going for the KO when the opportunity saw fit. Not so with Terrible Terry. He was truly a marvel.

SUGARRAYSMELEE wrote:

J-C wrote:While we're taking about impressive records Willie Pep was 134-1-1 going into the first fight with Saddler.

Also managing a win over Saddler after the plane crash is another achievement worth a mention.

I'm not taking a swipe at Pep or anything, I know he is one of the p4p greats, I just don't know a lot about him.

But, besides Saddler once, did he beat any other hall of fame fighters?

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I don't know the whole roster of the HOF, is Willie Joyce in there? Pep completely schooled him. Campo & Terranova were solid guys off of the top of my head. And there are plenty more, it wasn't just a string of bums.

J-C wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I don't know the whole roster of the HOF, is Willie Joyce in there? Pep completely schooled him. Campo & Terranova were solid guys off of the top of my head. And there are plenty more, it wasn't just a string of bums.

I've just checked and Joyce isn't in, but good shout though. Paddy De Marco is another good name on his record.

What makes the record impressive for me is that he had all those fights over seven or eight years, so that's at least two a month. Fighting at that rate to only drop fights to Saddler and Sammy Agnott is impressive to say the least.

J-C wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I don't know the whole roster of the HOF, is Willie Joyce in there? Pep completely schooled him. Campo & Terranova were solid guys off of the top of my head. And there are plenty more, it wasn't just a string of bums.

I've just checked and Joyce isn't in, but good shout though. Paddy De Marco is another good name on his record.

What makes the record impressive for me is that he had all those fights over seven or eight years, so that's at least two a month. Fighting at that rate to only drop fights to Saddler and Sammy Agnott is impressive to say the least.

J-C wrote:

SUGARRAYSMELEE wrote:

J-C wrote:While we're taking about impressive records Willie Pep was 134-1-1 going into the first fight with Saddler.

Also managing a win over Saddler after the plane crash is another achievement worth a mention.

I'm not taking a swipe at Pep or anything, I know he is one of the p4p greats, I just don't know a lot about him.

But, besides Saddler once, did he beat any other hall of fame fighters?

That's always the question mark with Pep, his ledger is not as strong as some of the other great featherweights.


Off the top of my head he beat Chalky Wright and Manuel Ortiz both of whom are hall of famers I believe.

Anyone know of any others?

King Carlos wrote:While only Saddler, Wright, and Ortiz are official HOF'ers (hardly the most telling distinction anyway)

King Carlos wrote:For those who disagree that Pep faced quality opposition by comparison to some of the other great Feathers, chew on this:

While only Saddler, Wright, and Ortiz are official HOF'ers (hardly the most telling distinction anyway), every one of these men were at least rated contenders at some point.