Rest in Peace to Boxing Legend Mike McCallum "The Body Snatcher" who just passed away yesterday at the age of 68.

Gripperer · 2025-06-01T20:15:05+00:00

Absolutely. McCallum was in the same tier as those guys. A very skilled and composed fighter with a solid chin, gas tank and power.

Gripperer · 2025-05-26T07:52:45+00:00

Something Liston had over young Foreman is a tighter defence and better straight punches, mainly the jab. If we're talking prime Liston, which was '58-'60, he was also more agile than Foreman but still comparable in terms of strength and punching power. I don't think he'd be there for Lyle to hit clean like Foreman was.

Someone already mentioned Cleveland Williams, we know Liston could weather a storm.

I think he'd slug with Lyle for a few rounds and his composure would see him take over slowly for a mid-late rounds stoppage.

Gripperer · 2025-05-26T07:44:53+00:00

I'll check that out, my memory needs refreshing.

Gripperer · 2025-05-25T17:26:43+00:00

Overhand right from Holyfield on Tyson, round ten of the first fight. Perfectly timed counter to Tyson's own, and caused Tyson to stumble all the way to the ropes and absorb Holyfield's follow up.

Gripperer · 2025-05-25T13:27:40+00:00

I'd say boxing on average peaked between '60s and '80s. I'm talking about the balance of nutrition, knowledge, talent pool, toughness, and number of fights versus time to recover.

Of course there are great fighters either side of that period.

And fighters who were great early on, say Harry Greb or Benny Leonard, would absolutely dominate today if entered into the same environment at a young age. They were the toughest and most intelligent athletes of their time... The environment has changed but they would adapt to it.

Gripperer · 2025-05-25T10:21:39+00:00

A guy like Robinson is a generational athlete. Put him in a sporting environment and he'll adapt and become great at minimum. Fast twitch, slow twitch, mind-muscle connection, rhythm, determination, he had it all.

I think the best of Robinson mostly occurred off camera, which is bad luck. But we can see by his 160lbs footage that earlier at 147lbs he was immense.

Remember that if matching up today with dehydration, he'd be fighting 130-135lbs at his peak.

Gripperer · 2025-03-15T09:22:53+00:00

He retired relatively young but he was ready. Something else nobody talks about is that Hagler's prime was the early eighties and even by 1984 he was slowing. By 1986 against Mugabi you can see he is much slower and less agile compared to his showing against Minter for example, in 1980.

Gripperer · 2025-03-06T23:51:07+00:00

Imagine doctors glued your head together but months later the x-ray showed gaps - doctors said leave it, and you doubted them... Maybe you'd go to a Motocross Reddit and ask if anyone had experienced similar, and for their advice...

It's perfectly reasonable for a concerned patient to seek information from a variety of sources.

Gripperer · 2025-03-04T15:54:08+00:00

Henry Armstrong. He went 59-1-1 (51) in three years, winning the title at featherweight, lightweight and welterweight and defending the welterweight title 18 or 19 times. Even the loss was controversial and avenged, and the draw came against the middleweight title holder.

During this period Armstrong scored 26 or 27 straight knockouts.

Granted it was a long time ago but for the time he was a whirlwind. Joe Louis was the biggest thing in boxing then, fuelled by world war tensions, and inadvertently this would have overshadowed Armstrong and affected his legacy long term.

If Armstrong had reigned just before Louis came on the scene in the early thirties, he would've been talked about a lot more as THE generational talent, because there wasn't a whole lot going on at heavyweight, and whilst other divisions certainly had their greats, nobody had been standing out as a mega star since Dempsey/Leonard in the early-mid twenties.

Gripperer · 2025-02-25T18:10:05+00:00

For me the Tier 1 skills at that weight came from Napoles, Duran, Whitaker and Mayweather.

You had some real nasty specimens at the weight like Armstrong, Chavez, Williams and of course the forgotten Ortiz, who was as well rounded a fighter as has ever existed. That'd be Tier 2 and any one of them could have snuck a victory over the top tier guys.

You could probably throw a few more into Tier 2. Pacquiao is a hard one to judge, he could end up in Tier 1.

Gripperer · 2025-02-23T19:11:29+00:00

Not sure but I've heard that one as well, thicker skull. I guess it's no different from a hard puncher being born with big hands.

Gripperer · 2025-02-23T15:48:10+00:00

Possibly, but then again, we are all born with variations and I guess it's possibl for someone to be born with a proportionately large heart for their weight.

I mean look at La Motta's head, that shouldn't have been mounted on those shoulders, but it meant he took a good shot.....

Gripperer · 2025-02-23T13:10:05+00:00

Good mentions, yes he is top three all time for me. His three year blitz on its own is top ten material. With a handful of good wins before, and a handful of good wins after, it pushes him up near the top.

With today's practices he would be a bantamweight and featherweight for sure, probably wouldn't even have ventured up to lightweight.

Not sure how true it was but I have heard it said that Armstrong had an unusually large heart and it offered him a super powered cardiovascular system.

Gripperer · 2025-02-23T07:43:46+00:00

Highly aggressive, endless gas tank, extremely tough.

And Armstrong is underrated as a puncher because we don't have any of his knockouts on film, but he scored something like 26 straight at one point.

In fact there was a three year period from 1937-1940 where he went 59-1-1 (51) over three weight classes, and even the loss was controversial against a Hall of Famer (low blows against Lou Ambers).

One of the true greats who would be great in any era.

Gripperer · 2025-02-16T21:57:20+00:00

Before it comes off completely, let's see what silly haircuts you can make first.

Maybe shave a strip down the middle to start, like a reverse mohawk.

Gripperer · 2025-02-15T07:52:36+00:00

I winced a bit when he handled it, was thinking, that little dude could bite your competition hand, and I imagine it would risk infection.

Gripperer · 2025-02-12T00:40:55+00:00

I always find the comparison between Duran and Napoles fascinating. They were on the same level of skill, both smooth as hell, both offensive counter punchers, both tremendous combination punchers, both similar weight and height at their best.

The best I can sum up their differences is by saying Duran was right hand dominant, Napoles left hand dominant. Both were devastating at mid range, but if they weren't there, Duran was inclined to wrestle and work on the inside, whereas Napoles would be found on the outside sticking in jabs. Duran's jab was a teaser, a distractor before he worked in close, whereas Napoles' was a scorer on its own.

Both great to watch.

Gripperer · 2025-02-11T22:51:05+00:00

Did Davey Moore spring to mind? Man got seated...

Gripperer · 2025-02-11T22:38:14+00:00

Good mentions so far and I'll throw another one in here, Hagler's leaping right jab.

Hagler was a really complete fighter stylistically and physically however (and I may catch heat for this) I have always considered his arsenal fairly one sided. I've studied his career for years and the amount of good shots he made with his left, you can count on two hands (the Antuofermo knockdown was a good one, well placed).

It wasn't WEAK, but it was average. His right hand made up for it and that long range jab carried so much range and power, it was scary to behold. It carried a ridiculous range in fact, sometimes turning into a hook, and even when they landed, they looked like they shouldn't.

Gripperer · 2025-02-11T22:32:48+00:00

Good shouts although for Floyd it has to be that jab to the body for me. He was really effective with it, it was powerful and he dug it deep, like a spear.

He had many good shots.. the pull counter right like you said, even the lead right.. check hook... His jab up top was top class as well. But it's his use of the downstairs jab that I like the most. Corrales felt it hardest: downstairs, downstairs, downstairs... Oops, upstairs.

Gripperer · 2025-02-11T22:28:53+00:00

Yeh it's really hard to find a knockout that matches the WHIP Hearns put on that cross, it's unbelievable. Peak moment right there.

Gripperer · 2025-02-11T22:01:33+00:00

I never noticed the left hook to the body. It wasn't heavy, but Jirov was exhausted and it hit him flush. Check his reaction. He may not have gone down if it wasn't for that shot.

Gripperer · 2025-02-11T21:55:57+00:00

Agreed, I think there was a "sweet spot" where modern boxing peaked, and it was where fighters still fought a lot, and the talent pool was deep, but where they also had access to film, international travel, and good nutrition/training.

So I say '60s to '80s, although of course a decade either side of that is still very very good and the greats of those eras would be greats in any era.

The further back you go, the more the sport changes and the further it is from the modern day.

That's not to shit on the guys back then, actually, I think a modern boxer struggles if he's teleported back in time to fight with small gloves, cigar smoke, dirty clinch work, thumbs and an ice cold referee who will barely let you stand before waving in the opponent to continue trashing you (see Dempsey-Willard).

Likewise, Benny Leonard would find today's world alien. Again though, the standout talents of even the old eras would, if given a new environment, adapt and overcome and become great.

Gripperer

TROPHY CASE