Forgotten Fighters

[saintpat]

Add to the list (unless I overlooked a mention):

Willie Pastrano, the prototype Angelo Dundee fighter and a wildly colorful character from New Orleans

Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson, a dominant flyweight who seems vastly underrated

Vito Antuofermo, blood and guts -- and more blood and more guts

Simon Brown, the dominant welter from the late 1980s into the early '90s

[Bodyshot3]

@Saintpat....agreed with the above, especially Simon Brown.

The Hilton Brothers Clan deserves a shout as well. World-class, exciting sluggers when they were not in the pub, in the back of a police car or in jail. Matthew was arguably the pick of the crazy gang....but despite a world title it never went exactly to plan.

I am sure they are keeping the Mounties busy even now!

[GeneralZod]

Greg Haugen
Livingstone Bramble (I'm not sure how i feel about that name)
Edwin Rosario, maybe?
The champion/s between Corbett and Burns

[Flo_Raiden]

Jung Koo Chang
Yuri Arbachakov
Mark Johnson
Yoko Gushiken
Hilario Zapata
Myung woo Yuh

[The Surgeon]

You hardly ever hear the name Ben Tackie anymore, he was a good Ghanian fighter with an iron chin and killer power and stamina. He was a good contender and beat some good fighters. Kostya Tszyu beat him and then Tackie didn't do much after that. Ricky Hatton also beat him but I thought he did ok vs Hatton.

Remember the shot he flattened top trainer Robert Garcia with when the pair were fighting!? About 10 rounds in if memory serves

[The Surgeon]

Another fighter who i never hear mentioned though he did turn pro in 1901 - Peerless Jim Driscoll

Couple of poems about the Welsh Wizard

I saw Jim Driscoll fight in nineteen ten.
That takes u back a bit. You dont see men
Like Driscoll anymore. The breeds died out.
There's no one fit to lace his boots about.
All right son. Have your laugh. You know it all.
You think these mugs today that cuff and maul
Their way through ten or fifteen threes can fight.
They hardly know their left hand from their right.
But Jim he knew, he never slapped or swung,
His left hand flickered like a cobra's tongue
And when he followed with the old one-two
Black lightning of those fists would dazzle you.
By Jesus he could hit, ive never seen
A sweeter puncher, every blow was clean
As silver. Peerless Jim the papers named him,
And yet he never swaggered, never bragged.
I saw him once when he got properly tagged -
A sucker punch from nowhere on the chin -
And he was hurt but all he did was grin
And nod as if to say "I asked for that."

No one was ever more worth looking at,
Up there beneath the ache of arc-lamps he
Was just like what we'd love our sons to be
Or like those gods you've heard about at school...
Well yes, im old and maybe im a fool.
I only saw him once outside the ring
And i admit i found it disappointing.
He looked just - i dont know - just ordinary
And smaller, too, than i thought he'd be
An ordinary man in fact, like you or me




The peerless Irishman of Wales,
your fists were the terror of the world;
your sudden right crashing
on the jaw, heavy as a coal tram;
your left coming from nowhere
like the chain of a Tiger Bay dock crane.
The champ feared by the champions,
with the steel hand to lay men low;
the most dangerous pro of them all,
with the heroes of the world at your feet.
Here, in bronze, we commemorate
the hardest fists of their day,
but more than all your victories,
it’s what you did not do that makes you great,
the time when you’d drawn a world title fight,
to be up to a world title,
and America was going wild
for a second bout to settle it,
and the world was urging you
to take it, and win it this time round.
But no, you came back to Wales
to keep your word to the home
for orphaned Cardiff children
where you’d been raised. You kept faith.
You had to keep your promise;
lost a prize, retained a soul.
Irishman of the deadly fists,
your daring was to turn back;
your heroism was restraint,
your liberty was to stay bound,
and a greater honour than success
was your failure – for the children’s sake.

[mickey malone]

Jimmy Carruthers, is about as forgotten as it gets, when it comes to bloody good fighters...
Dave Sands, and Pete Sanstol too..

[Andyland]

Forgotten fighters

Billy Bello

Kiko Bejines

[Bodyshot3]

Ole Klemetsen was a one-man rollercoaster whilst his crazy ride lasted....he either sparked you right out (and early) or you got him.

Explosive, massive risk-taking guy and it is a pity he had to do all his boxing on the road because Norway banned the fight game. For such a tiny country that did not support professional fighters the Norweigans have done ok, Magne Havanna was half decent and Steffan Tangstaad gave it a go as well.

[Weltschmerz]

Sam Langford. 'Uncrowned Champion'.