BoxRec

In this weeks boxing news Pele says he is gonna retire after his next fight and I was wondering if people think he could have achieved more?
Personally I think he was hinderd by the former world kickboxing champ tag (Brendon always looking for an angle when realistally his full contact record wasn,t that good) and would have been better if he,d had a couple of seasons in the amateurs to develop his basics and build up a bit of puch resistance.
He spent years competeing in light and semi contact tournaments (in which he was a world champ) which whilst improving his handspeed and footwork didnt help his defence or ability to take a shot in the world of pro boxing and though the he may have seemed ideal for the Ingle system realistically he didn,t have the basics an amateur career would have given him.

apperantly he knocked vitali k out in a martial arts compitition years ago, honestly, google it. he couldve maybe gone a bit further with better skill/technique but its not like the guys dissapionted anyone ala audley. he was a decent domestic level test for prospects

He knocked Vitali out with a spinning heal kick to the head in a light contact tournament even he admits now he was lucky not to be disqualified for excess force, Again another story blown out of proportion by Brenden.

No. He was chinny and had zero stamina. He always looked gassed by round 3.
He always had his chin out to dry and the moment he moved above fighting journeymen he got taken out.
I remember Ian Darke's assessment of his defeat by Orlin Norris , which took about 90 seconds, "Pele Reid was thrown to the wolves there."

Good skills and power but no chin. You're only going to get so far, especially as a heavyweight, if you can't take a punch.

I was disappointed with him in Prizefighter 2. He could have done so much more but didn't seem to grasp the urgency of fighting a three-rounder.

i think he went as far as he could. the chin let him down plus maybe all those muscles affected his stamina.
top bloke though.

He couldn't really have done more even if someone had tried iron out his flaws - for the duration of his best years Danny Williams was the man and Pele would never wrest the British & Commonwealth belts from fat Danny.

No, whatever Reid achieved was enough for someone with his boxing talent. He had a good little run for while and boxed for a British title. That's not bad at all.

He really should have put more effort into K1, he was pretty over in Japan with his flashy style, but it seems like he didnt want to commit to the travel, or something.


Lovely bloke, im told

He only won one k-1 fight out of about 5 and that was on cuts against a Brit his style was never suited to the lowkicking of K-1.

thaibox uk wrote:He only won one k-1 fight out of about 5 and that was on cuts against a Brit his style was never suited to the lowkicking of K-1.

True.

Pele's grounding in Lau Gar and light continous/points was never going to convert well to the Muay Thai influenced K1 style.

His calling card on the kickboxing circuit was his intimidating axe kick. When was the last time you saw that technique executed with any regularity in K1, since the passing of Andy Hug (RIP)?

I think if he had gone to a pro gym early on with a greater emphasis on a 'traditional' boxing style and guard he may have had marginally more success as he would have better basics/fundamentals to rely upon in times of crisis.

As others have said though, that chin would always have let him down as he moved through the division.

reid-francis was definitely one of the worst 'exposed' fights i've ever seen.

easily up there with khan-prescott.

pele made julius look like joe louis that night.

Nice bloke, bloody awful fighter....

Tough question Thaibox - I am sure had he dedicated with boxing, as opposed to the kick boxing, then his basic defence would have been better.

Would he have been exposed at British title level, not sure. Probably I would think.

if anyone gets the chance then get a copy of his fight with sprott, it was a cracker...

A mate of Dirk's fought Pele in his kickboxing days. Said fighter was a very decent kickboxer too, and is now a pro Boxer. He said Pele is the only person he'd never face.

I really rated him as a kickboxer.

Emerson Poncey Name Ghent wrote:A mate of Dirk's fought Pele in his kickboxing days. Said fighter was a very decent kickboxer too, and is now a pro Boxer. He said Pele is the only person he'd never face.

I really rated him as a kickboxer.

As a full contact fighter he fought and beat Lee Swaby in his only full contact fight then in K-1 he had 5 losing 4 at a reasonable level,
Realistacally he was a light contact fighter and this is why I feel the
world champion kickboxer label was a burdon on him.
Mat Skelton was a world class full contact kick/thai boxer as was Carl Thompson Pele wasn,t.

thaibox uk wrote: As a full contact fighter he fought and beat Lee Swaby in his only full contact fight then in K-1 he had 5 losing 4 at a reasonable level,
Realistacally he was a light contact fighter and this is why I feel the
world champion kickboxer label was a burdon on him.
Mat Skelton was a world class full contact kick/thai boxer as was Carl Thompson Pele wasn,t.

Exactly right

Pele's kickboxing days (pre pro boxing) were spent competing in semi contact points as seen here on this highlight reel:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SIHH7WqyM ... re=related

or in light continous - no strikes with full power (example below)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=MGuT4axlpcM

What most people think of when they say 'kickboxing' is the full contact version (look out for Lee Swaby in the clip below!)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=p_d_yoV6L40

As thaiboxuk says Pele only 1 full contact match before turning to pro boxing and zero amateur fights. I reckon if he has gone into boxing from a young age instead of Lau Gar / points kickboxing he could have had the skills necessary to negate his shaky whiskers somewhat.

Thats exactly what I think If he,d have done a few seasons in the ams he,d have got a better defence ,Any heavyweight will go over if caught on an unprotected chin he didn,t have the schooling for the Ingle system.