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So many good middleweights...I may have to turn this project over to someone else.
Who knows? I might do another one of these soon. It's best to space them though, or they can grow stale.
As for Tyson vs. Godfrey: While Tyson had trouble knocking out big, tall men, he didn't have trouble hitting them. He still won the majority of such fights even if by decision. Despite his ability to knock people out like it was his job (pun fully intended), he could do enough in the clinches and behind the jab to steal a decision here and there. Also, a tall fighter tends to throw the jab and back up, or clinch. While the clinches held Mike at bay, I have to disagree with your earlier comments pertaining to his lack of effort in a clinch. After he had won the title...yeah, he basically waited for the refs to pull apart the tangled mess. When he was hungry and ambitious, however, he would circle his arms in a down-and-outward motion to pull his opponents' hands away from their body. He would then proceed to fire off alternating shots to devastating effect, or even sneak an uppercut upstairs. When a fighter backs up and away from a bully style fighter like Mike, it invites a looping or wide hook shock, a la Frazier vs. Ali I. Trainers often report that they get nervous when they watch their fighter lean away from a punch, or back up after a jab or short exchange. While that's a person's instinctive reaction, it's certainly not the best course of action against a fighter of this style who possesses such explosiveness.
For these reasons, and various others, I didn't see Godfrey coming out on top against Tyson; I even went on that schpeal about Ali vs. Tyson for similar reasons. I guess I will be a debater (
) about this topic forever.
Props to K-DOGG for intelligent reporting in the field. Signing off for now, as I am way too frieking tired to continue...
Who knows? I might do another one of these soon. It's best to space them though, or they can grow stale.
As for Tyson vs. Godfrey: While Tyson had trouble knocking out big, tall men, he didn't have trouble hitting them. He still won the majority of such fights even if by decision. Despite his ability to knock people out like it was his job (pun fully intended), he could do enough in the clinches and behind the jab to steal a decision here and there. Also, a tall fighter tends to throw the jab and back up, or clinch. While the clinches held Mike at bay, I have to disagree with your earlier comments pertaining to his lack of effort in a clinch. After he had won the title...yeah, he basically waited for the refs to pull apart the tangled mess. When he was hungry and ambitious, however, he would circle his arms in a down-and-outward motion to pull his opponents' hands away from their body. He would then proceed to fire off alternating shots to devastating effect, or even sneak an uppercut upstairs. When a fighter backs up and away from a bully style fighter like Mike, it invites a looping or wide hook shock, a la Frazier vs. Ali I. Trainers often report that they get nervous when they watch their fighter lean away from a punch, or back up after a jab or short exchange. While that's a person's instinctive reaction, it's certainly not the best course of action against a fighter of this style who possesses such explosiveness.
For these reasons, and various others, I didn't see Godfrey coming out on top against Tyson; I even went on that schpeal about Ali vs. Tyson for similar reasons. I guess I will be a debater (
) about this topic forever.Props to K-DOGG for intelligent reporting in the field. Signing off for now, as I am way too frieking tired to continue...
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