The Greatness Of Willie Pep (Willow The Wisp)

[max baer]

Most of Pep's opponents are not recognizable to us. That is a big problem in mythical matchups and in making judgements. We don't know how tough his opponents were. I suspect they pretty tough.

Pure defensive boxers have to be really good for their reputations to last as long as Willie's has, which is no argument but an opinion.

I rate him near the top of an AT pure defensive boxers' list, maybe the top. As a pure boxer, his AT company will be Benitez, Mayweather, Nicolino Locce, Young, Byrd, et al. Mayweather is high on that particular list.

It takes very little watching to see how well Willie handles himself in the ring. I don't really know where he should be on a general AT list.

i am not a boxer since being a kid so i cannot discuss too much about technique as some of you here will be able. i talk on what i know about the sport in terms of boxing's history and sociology.
the d3vil said in another thread about how brits and yanks predominate the history of boxing because they are western english speaking so easy to promote so a heck of a lot of our perceptions about rankings are based on how we perceive the opponents and the era.
someone earlier i think it were willow talked about how tough boxing was 60 odd years ago as men from all walks of life had little chance of wealth unless they became a classy boxer or athlete.
there were little else chances. so willie pep must have had some damn hard fights to be a key player during his era of hungry hungry men all desperate for that bit glory on offer.

[Ivich]

Most of Pep's opponents are not recognizable to us. That is a big problem in mythical matchups and in making judgements. We don't know how tough his opponents were. I suspect they pretty tough.

Pure defensive boxers have to be really good for their reputations to last as long as Willie's has, which is no argument but an opinion.

I rate him near the top of an AT pure defensive boxers' list, maybe the top. As a pure boxer, his AT company will be Benitez, Mayweather, Nicolino Locce, Young, Byrd, et al. Mayweather is high on that particular list.

It takes very little watching to see how well Willie handles himself in the ring. I don't really know where he should be on a general AT list.

241 fights and I only recognize 23 names,

[QueensburyRules]

241 fights and I only recognize 23 names,

- - Where the list of your snail names that you digested?

Pep is great because he gave fights the people wanted and dominated his era. Don't get better than that.

[Willie Pep 229]

241 fights and I only recognize 23 names,

Maybe with one dominate champ (Pep) in only eight weight classes, not too many fighters were given the opportunity to gain notoriety; never got a chance to make a name for themselves

[Tatabanya]

Starting from the basics, one should note that Pep's correct nickname was "Will o' the Wisp", not "Willow The Wisp".

[Ivich]

Maybe with one dominate champ (Pep) in only eight weight classes, not too many fighters were given the opportunity to gain notoriety; never got a chance to make a name for themselves

My post was in response to this.
"Most of Pep's opponents are not recognizable to us"
It is no reflection on Pep's status as a P4P ATG. For me he is in the P4P ATG top ten.

[Ivich]

- - Where the list of your snail names that you digested?

Pep is great because he gave fights the people wanted and dominated his era. Don't get better than that.

Congratulations for making the most vacuously inane and childish post of the month so far.I say "so far," because you still have time to make a worse one.

[The D3vil]

Bad not in the sense of a puncher. He wasn't going to hurt you. Willie couldn't hurt a fly, to borrow a proverb. He was bad because he could make you look like a fool.

I meant bad as in highly skilled.

I know he wasn't a murderous puncher, though.

[Slugfester]

about time we talked about Willie Good discussion

[Slugfester]

I was commenting on a familiar phenomenon in boxing history--i.e. not recognizing most of the names on the resumes of old timers. No reflection on Pep. Would we recognize most of the names on JC Chavez's resume? Or on Arthur Abraham's? Goes for most fighters, I think. The phenomenon is xaggerated with old timers. How quickly we forget.