espn doing the 50 best fighters from all 50 states

[Matt]

Mike Gibbons takes Minnesota

[bjermaine]

jess willard wins kansas. that was an easy one.

[actjac]

All of those represented so far have been from the early part of the last century.

[Matt]

Harry Wills wins Louisiana.

[actjac]

It appears that though they are counting down state by state it is also from the oldest boxer to the youngest.

[bjermaine]

greb wins pennsylvania over holmes and frazier. tough call there, all great fighters.

[I Feel Fine]

Holmes and Frazier were great fighters, but I don't see it as a tough call at all. Greb is clearly the better fighter pound for pound.

[Matt]

Jack Dempsey is the winner of Colorado

[Matt]

In another easy call, Mickey Walker wins New Jersey.

[bjermaine]

eddie anderson wins wyoming.

[Archie Moore]

Wisconsin Pinky Mitchell or Eric Morel

[Ric]

eddie anderson wins wyoming.

ESPN obviously got its info on Anderson from BoxRec, and perhaps its selection from this thread. Would Arkansas's really be Liston (cause he might be considered to be a Missouri fighter)? I might suggest Tommy Freeman instead.

[bjermaine]

eddie anderson wins wyoming.

ESPN obviously got its info on Anderson from BoxRec, and perhaps its selection from this thread. Would Arkansas's really be Liston (cause he might be considered to be a Missouri fighter)? I might suggest Tommy Freeman instead.

i was going to say something about them just looking at boxrec to pick a guy. a few other states will be tough to find a fighter for.

[Jaclem]

ezzard was born in georgia but spent most of his life and fought from cincinnati, so if that criteria is used ohio gave us, in addition to ezzard that great great trio of light heavyweights as ezz lloyd marshall and jimmy bivins.

re: archie moore - he fought out of so many towns that he'd appear in a large number of states. box buzz will be happy to list them all.

[Matt]

Ace Hudkins wins Nebraska.

[Matt]

Billy Petrolle wins North Dakota, winning over Virgil Hill.

[actjac]

I am holding my nose at these picks now. Bias of preferances is certainly given to fighters of an earlier age. It would be a close pick between Hill and Petrolle for North Dakota but Hill actually WON championships. How can one not use that criteria as a barometer. As far as South Dakota there should be no question about Pat Jefferson as the obvious winner. He had an outstanding amateur career before turing pro and has a winning percentage of 80% with his losses coming against Alexis Arguello, Johnny Bumphus and his only other three losses came from fighters with combined records of 80-15.

[bjermaine]

clyde hull is the pick from south dakota.

[Matt]

Petrolle has better wins than Hill. Hill has to have one of the most over-inflated title defense records of any fighter ever. Clyde Hull I agree was a stretch.

[bjermaine]

barney ross wins illinois

[Dempsey1238]

Billy Petrolle was a great fighter, he just just active in the WRONG era. We had Jimmy McLarin, Barney Ross, Tony Canzi, and countless others top early 1930's GREAT fighters. Any other era that was a little weaker, I think Billy could have won a title. But he was stack against legends. The Lightweights-welterweights were the 1970's heavyweights of that era.

[Gary Digital Williams]

I know they don't seem to include DC, but I would say either Simon Brown or Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson.

[Matt]

Henry Armstrong wins Missouri.

[Matt]

Al Hostak wins Washington over Freddie Steele. I disagree with the pick, as Steele was a better fighter in his prime and had the better resume. Steele was already perceived as being past his best entering the Hostak fight due to injuries and his loss of desire after the death of his manager/father figure Dave Miller. I suppose if you don't know the circumstances surrounding Steele, and you see Hostak KO 1 Steele, you can come to the conclusion that Hostak was the better fighter.

[Seamus]

Hostak is definitely underrated, but there's no way I see him beating a pre-injury Steele.