Forgotten Fighters

[Sugar Adam Ali]

here is a guy that was around not too long ago but hardly ever gets mentioned..


my man micheal carbajal...

hundred pounds or so of pure dynamite,,, one of my faves,,, some classic battles

[Ben Bolt]

Eddie Machen

A cold September evening in an outdoor arena in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1958, #1 contender Machen faced Ingemar Johansson in what was supposed to be a tune-up before his date with title holder Floyd Patterson.

It was a very chilly night, so Machen entered the ring with layers of clothing. And he had to wait for quite a while before Ingo climbed through the ropes.
Not the best conditions for Machen.
During the short minutes the fight lasted, Ingo said he immediately felt that Machen was more powerful than anybody else he had met before.

Under different circumstances, Machen may have proved too strong for Ingo. And in that case, he would have faced Patterson and the heavyweight history could have had another turn.

It’s said the event in Gothenburg changed the destiny for both men. Ingo went on to wealth and glory, while Machen gradually slumped and which finally ended up in a suicide jump from his apartment window.
2 min. and 16 sec. in Gothenburg did it.

“After I had beaten Eddie, it took him a long time to recover. I watched him in a couple of fights afterwards, and he looked like a novice.” ― Ingemar Johansson

“What have I got for all my years as a ranking heavyweight? Nothing!” ― Eddie Machen

[taansend]

Some great names on here. Cheers lads. I was a big fan of many of these from the late 70's to mid 90's.

Here's a name that's not a great but I enjoyed watching him... Darrin Van Horn.

Had 56 fights, won paper titles in two divisions & retired before his 26th birthday. In fact, he pretty much retired just after his 24th birthday then had a quick comeback fight a couple of years later. Wonder what became of him.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

vissyl jirov,,,

i know he hasnt been gone that long, but nobody ever talks about him,,

i will always remember him for the olympics, toney fight, mesi fight when he got screwed, and the micheal moorer fight when moorer pulled a george foreman on his and hit him with the 1-2 to end it

Love me some jirov

[Bodyshot3]

@Taansend - yup remember Van Horn from when ITV here in the UK used to show fights from anywhere there was a world title bout on and send Reg Gutteridge all over the globe to commentate on them....used to stay-up after finishing my homework to catch these.

Seem to remember he was called The Schoolboy (because he was very young and innocent looking) and had DVH had an odd but pretty successful combination of being a tall, lanky fighter who often went to war.

ITV used to show the Hilton brothers (when they weren't in jail!) Bobby Czyz and lots of fights from Italy, France and Thailand as well.

I might be wrong, but I seem to recall watching alot of Italy's Gianfranco Rosi for a while; not a very exciting experience but the guy won a lot of good fights whilst stinking the joint out.

His record does still look good, especially considering he got starched by Honeyghan inside three rounds early in his career.

[ShamrockXpress]

3 time lightheavyweight WBC champion Dennis Andries is someone who doesn't get much attention. Not the most skilled, he got by on being very fit and very tough. He used to get the tube home from fights carrying his WBC title. His trilogy with Jeff Harding is a forgotten classic.

John Conteh is another, one of the most naturally skilled boxers to ever come out of Britain, loved the high life more than he loved hard work and his career suffered greatly because of it. He allegedly had his right hand broken for having an affair with the wife of a British 'national treasure', then lost a close decision to Matthew saad Muhammed fighting virtually one handed. By the time of the rematch 7 months later he was finished, a homecoming fight in 'The Stadium' followed, before he called time on a successful, but ultimately disappointing career.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

3 time lightheavyweight WBC champion Dennis Andries is someone who doesn't get much attention. Not the most skilled, he got by on being very fit and very tough. He used to get the tube home from fights carrying his WBC title. His trilogy with Jeff Harding is a forgotten classic.

John Conteh is another, one of the most naturally skilled boxers to ever come out of Britain, loved the high life more than he loved hard work and his career suffered greatly because of it. He allegedly had his right hand broken for having an affair with the wife of a British 'national treasure', then lost a close decision to Matthew saad Muhammed fighting virtually one handed. By the time of the rematch 7 months later he was finished, a homecoming fight in 'The Stadium' followed, before he called time on a successful, but ultimately disappointing career.

good call,, i was about to say the same thing,, Andries wasnt an elite p4p guy but a damn good fighter and a tough out for anyone,,
His fights with harding were very fun to watch,,

[TBear]

good call,, i was about to say the same thing,, Andries wasnt an elite p4p guy but a damn good fighter and a tough out for anyone,,
His fights with harding were very fun to watch,,

I always thought Andres was fun to watch. I enjoyed his fights with Czyz and Tony Willis when they happened as well. Winning the title twice after losing the title to Hearns gave Hearn's achievement more value historically.

[IronDanHamza]

Eddie Machen

A cold September evening in an outdoor arena in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1958, #1 contender Machen faced Ingemar Johansson in what was supposed to be a tune-up before his date with title holder Floyd Patterson.

It was a very chilly night, so Machen entered the ring with layers of clothing. And he had to wait for quite a while before Ingo climbed through the ropes.
Not the best conditions for Machen.
During the short minutes the fight lasted, Ingo said he immediately felt that Machen was more powerful than anybody else he had met before.

Under different circumstances, Machen may have proved too strong for Ingo. And in that case, he would have faced Patterson and the heavyweight history could have had another turn.

It’s said the event in Gothenburg changed the destiny for both men. Ingo went on to wealth and glory, while Machen gradually slumped and which finally ended up in a suicide jump from his apartment window.
2 min. and 16 sec. in Gothenburg did it.

“After I had beaten Eddie, it took him a long time to recover. I watched him in a couple of fights afterwards, and he looked like a novice.” ― Ingemar Johansson

“What have I got for all my years as a ranking heavyweight? Nothing!” ― Eddie Machen

Machen was a very good fighter. Very good.

The fighter who I used as an example Harold Johnson fought and beat Machen moving up from LHW to HW.

It's funny that two of Liston's best wins in Machen and Valdez are also wins on Harold Johnson's resume, except he beat them first and they aren't even close to being some of Johsnon's best wins.

Yet a lot of people consider Liston to be an ATG, but you rarely hear about Johnson.

A guess another reason why he's in this thread.

[Ben Bolt]

Some great names on here. Cheers lads.

Indeed!

Harold Johnson

Over the years, I’ve learned Harold really has plenty of fans. Deservingly.

Being quite muscular, I found this quote by Harold:
“The only weights I lifted were dumbbells for shadow boxing to put power in my punches. I was told I could hurt myself lifting weights, so I didn’t. I didn’t want to get injured.
It’s no good for fighters – it makes you slow, muscles you up. They might give you power, but your opponent will see your punches coming. What’s the point in having power if you can’t hit nobody? People were sure I lifted weights, but I never.”