what fighters look good in loss?

[joeandthebums]

I will start off with ray leonard against duran he showed tremendous courage.

Leonard underestimated Duran and deployed the wrong strategy, he exchanged a loss for some form of "machismo" respect.

Walcott against Louis 1 & 2 are two of my faves. Jersey Joe looked terrific in all those losing efforts.

Louis-Walcott II had a great ending, but was considered "the poorest, dullest heavyweight championship ever fought" at the time.

Joe Gans looked pretty good despite his age against Battling Nelson.

Especially if we believe that he was suffering from tuberculosis.

[joe strong]

Ray mercer vs lennox lewis
Tim witherspoon vs larry holmes
Tim witherspoon vs ray mercer
Mccline vs peter
David izon vs david tua
Tua vs ibeabuchi
Numerous fres oquendo fights
Golota vs bowe 1 & 2
Meehan vs brewster( meehan was so classy about it i felt bad for him)

[Sugarj]

Leonard underestimated Duran and deployed the wrong strategy, he exchanged a loss for some form of "machismo" respect.



Louis-Walcott II had a great ending, but was considered "the poorest, dullest heavyweight championship ever fought" at the time.



Especially if we believe that he was suffering from tuberculosis.

I quite enjoyed the Louis Walcott fights. I'm a fan of Walcott and like the subtle things he did in the ring. A real craftsman.

[Ray Corso]

The first Duran/Leonard fight was not Leonard choosing the wrong strategy it was Duran in great condition forcing Ray to fight! Duran had legs under him and was in his best shape he could have been in for that fight! Leonard never got a chance to use laterial moves or do anything that resembled a boxer. He got hurt in the second from a left hook and from then on had to fight Durans fight!
To me its Rays best fight! He went toe to toe with Duran at his best and showed all the doubters he wasn't a pretty boy who could only box! Ray

[joeandthebums]

The first Duran/Leonard fight was not Leonard choosing the wrong strategy it was Duran in great condition forcing Ray to fight! Duran had legs under him and was in his best shape he could have been in for that fight! Leonard never got a chance to use laterial moves or do anything that resembled a boxer. He got hurt in the second from a left hook and from then on had to fight Durans fight!

I am not degrading Duran's achievement. It is rightly considered his greatest singular victory, but Leonard was not entirely forced, he willingly did so.

To me its Rays best fight! He went toe to toe with Duran at his best and showed all the doubters he wasn't a pretty boy who could only box!

His best performance was a defeat? Not any of his displays in victory against Duran/Benitez/Hearns/Hagler?

[Ray Corso]

In my opinion the Duran loss set Ray up to out fight Hearns when the boxing syle failed. Leonard learned that he could win boxing & fighting returnig to boxing against Hagler who was NOT at his prime against Ray. Hagler beats Ray in a 15 round fight when Hagler was prime!
Benitez?? really? Ray made that tuffer than it needed to be and Wilfred fought well against him. Benitez to me is a bit over rated on this forum!!
He's not an ATG boxer in my opinion,he won early in life against a faded Cervantes and beat no one leading up to that fight. After that he was a marginal winner who lost when he stepped up as much as won when he stepped up. I'm not a fan of counter movers/counter punchers but he has no power so theres not much interest for me.
Defeating Hearns is the second biggest fight to me but as I said he doesn't beat Hearns without going through the Duran "learning curve"!

There are big fights that are very meaningful in a great fighters career that are Losses!!! A loss can be the biggest influence on a fighters career in a positive sense. Ofcourse to fans its the end of the world hahaha!!! Ray

[joeandthebums]

In my opinion the Duran loss set Ray up to out fight Hearns when the boxing syle failed. Leonard learned that he could win boxing & fighting

I agree the experience of the contest would benefit Leonard, as all experiences do.

Yet Leonard learning how to win any future contests "fighting" when he lost by boxing to his opponents advantage - not sure there.

returnig to boxing against Hagler who was NOT at his prime against Ray. Hagler beats Ray in a 15 round fight when Hagler was prime!

Leonard's thirty-five months without a contest is not very consistent with perhaps the "prime" of a thirty-year old athlete.

You cannot discredit a victory on grounds of "prime" comparisons. This is not a case of Ray Robinson-Paul Pender.

Benitez?? really? Ray made that tuffer than it needed to be and Wilfred fought well against him. Benitez to me is a bit over rated on this forum!!
He's not an ATG boxer in my opinion,he won early in life against a faded Cervantes and beat no one leading up to that fight. After that he was a marginal winner who lost when he stepped up as much as won when he stepped up. I'm not a fan of counter movers/counter punchers but he has no power so theres not much interest for me.

Benitez was a fine boxer who had a very successful career.

There are big fights that are very meaningful in a great fighters career that are Losses!!! A loss can be the biggest influence on a fighters career in a positive sense. Ofcourse to fans its the end of the world hahaha!!! Ray

I agree. Losses can ultimately be good things for a boxer. But never their best fight.

[McGoorty]

I will start off with ray leonard against duran he showed tremendous courage.

I could come up with some answers as far as a loss goes but just to be different I will say that no fighter in history ever looked better in a Draw than Kostya Tszyu did. Forgotten the guys name now but Kostya came out in the first round, dropped a massive bomb then followed up with a second which knocked the guy out before he even hit the deck. the idiot referee then declared the bout a Draw ????. claiming Kostya hit late, the ref was wrong, the ref was a ****. Best looking Draw I ever saw.

[Scott9945]

I could come up with some answers as far as a loss goes but just to be different I will say that no fighter in history ever looked better in a Draw than Kostya Tszyu did. Forgotten the guys name now but Kostya came out in the first round, dropped a massive bomb then followed up with a second which knocked the guy out before he even hit the deck. the idiot referee then declared the bout a Draw ????. claiming Kostya hit late, the ref was wrong, the ref was a ****. Best looking Draw I ever saw.

That was Tszyu beating Leonardo Mas and then getting screwed by terrible referee Joe Cortez.

[joseph5620]

I won't say Hearns looked good in defeat though, mainly because he was carried out in another man's arms like he was a child. Not sure why no one thought how that would look before it happened.


I'll say Frazier and Ali III both had them looking like warriors by the end.

I feel the same way about that. It was unnecessary and embarrassing in my opinion.