Joey Archer from the '60s....

[yancey]

I still remember watching him fight Griffith at MSG for the middleweight championship.

It was on TV. I was a boy then, and watched it my Dad and Uncle, who were split on who won.

Griffith and Archer fought again, and Griffith won again. Archer then quit the fight game, I guess in disgust.

He was a pretty stylish boxer, maybe just not aggressive enough to get Griffith's title, in the eyes of the judges.

Anyone remember Archer?

[granberry]

Joey Archer was an excellent boxer who had everything except a big punch.

His win over Dick Tiger was the high point of his career.

He had wins over Rubin Carter, Denny Moyer, Don Fullmer, Jose Gonzalez, Victor Zalazar, among others.

Many of his wins [and losses] were on split decisions.

[kikibalt]

I still remember watching him fight Griffith at MSG for the middleweight championship.

It was on TV. I was a boy then, and watched it my Dad and Uncle, who were split on who won.

Griffith and Archer fought again, and Griffith won again. Archer then quit the fight game, I guess in disgust.

He was a pretty stylish boxer, maybe just not aggressive enough to get Griffith's title, in the eyes of the judges.

Anyone remember Archer?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPQzcZxiZ9g

Joey Archer vs Emile Griffith

[granberry]

I didn't realize Archer retired immediately after his two title fights with Griffith.

[yancey]

I didn't realize Archer retired immediately after his two title fights with Griffith.

Yes, the second fight with Griffith was his last, and he was not quite 30.

I think there was quite a bit of bitterness in the Archer camp over the decisions in the two Griffith fights.

Griffith was upset over something said or done by the Archer side after the decision in the second fight.

[dempseyfire]

Archer was a wonderful boxer who had the misfortune of just not having a big punch in a deep era of big bangers at middleweight. He won decisions over the likes of Carter, Mims, and Tiger but also lost hairline decisions to Gonazales, Fullmer (Don not Gene), and Griffith.

Would be undisputed champ today.

[Martin Sosa Cameron]

Archer was a wonderful boxer who had the misfortune of just not having a big punch in a deep era of big bangers at middleweight. He won decisions over the likes of Carter, Mims, and Tiger but also lost hairline decisions to Gonazales, Fullmer (Don not Gene), and Griffith.

Would be undisputed champ today.

You are all right. Joey Archer had all the conditions for to be the best Middleweight of the world in the '60, a time entirely of very good fighters (Giardello, Tiger, Benvenuti, Fernández, Fullmer, Scholtz, Hank, Benton, Carter, Giambra, González, Rodríguez, Torres)

[My2Sense]

Archer was a wonderful boxer who had the misfortune of just not having a big punch in a deep era of big bangers at middleweight. He won decisions over the likes of Carter, Mims, and Tiger but also lost hairline decisions to Gonazales, Fullmer (Don not Gene), and Griffith.

Would be undisputed champ today.

You are all right. Joey Archer had all the conditions for to be the best Middleweight of the world in the '60, a time entirely of very good fighters (Giardello, Tiger, Benvenuti, Fernández, Fullmer, Scholtz, Hank, Benton, Carter, Giambra, González, Rodríguez, Torres)

I don't know...

On one hand, Archer was almost always a difficult opponent for everyone he fought.

On the other, he was known to get by on some very questionable decisions (in New York, of course).

His "win" over Holly Mims was one of the most blatantly fixed decisions I've ever seen. The crowd (which was originally pro-Archer) must've booed and rioted for about an hour.

His win over Tiger was supposedly questionable/unpopular as well, although I never saw it.

Archer did have a reputation as a "spoiler", and he might have a good argument that Tiger was wrong to bypass him in favor of giving Griffith a title shot.

But at the same time, Archer did duck a rematch with Mims (as I recall, he pulled out with some "injury" and let Luis Rodriguez take care of him instead).

[Woller]

I have seen both Archer v Griffith fights, they were very close.

After the second fight, Archer said that he had trouble making middleweight. With no Super-Middleweight division at that time, he must have decided to retire instead of moving up to lightheavy.

Woller