Could any MW in history rule the division in 89-95?

[soul_survivor]

So let's say that there was still one championship at the time fabulous four has left the division and that guy, whoever you pick him to be, just won his belt and being in his prime in that period had to fight top contender in each fight, in a way that Hagler did for example.
The schedule could look like this, with 2-3 fights a year:

1989
vs Nigel Benn
vs Herol Graham
vs Iran Barkley

1990
vs Mike McCallum
vs Sumbu Kalambay

1991
vs Michael Nunn
vs Chris Eubank
vs Michael Watson

1992
vs James Toney
vs Julian Jackson

1993
vs Reggie Johnson
vs Gerald McClellan
vs Lamar Parks

1994
vs Roy Jones Jr.
vs Steve Collins
vs John David Jackson

1995
vs Bernard Hopkins
vs Jorge Fernando Castro


That 5-6 year period is my favorite time in any division any time... I addimtedly have some holes in my boxing history knowledge, but I never seen anything like that. Such a combination of different styles and qualities with great fighters in their prime squeezed into one weight class.
My honest opinion is that it wasn't possible for anyone(I saw Hagler, Monzon, Robinson) to dominate with that kind of kind of quality and diverse styles coming at you fight after fight. No matter how great you were, there's always someone that would have your number in that mix. Had Monzon or Hagler fought in that time, they wouldn't be remembered as quite as great MW champions, because even if they emerged as top guys(what is big if imo), they wouldn't be able to rule.
What's your take?

Was it really that great a time? How many of those names fought each other? When were the titles unified? Jones had a short stay at mw and Eubank, Watson, Benn forged a terrific rivalry but never fought some of the other better names out there. This was quite possibly the most political era ever at mw, even now we've at least got two out and out champions in the division, Canelo claiming lineage and GGG with 3 2 and a half belts. The WBO and regular WBA are simply regarded as good challengers.

That could have been a great era if all or most of those names had fought each other. I still prefer middleweight in the late 60s and 1970s, with guys like Monzon, Napoles, Griffith, Antuofermo and so on actually crossing paths.

In terms of a mythical middleweight miraculously fighting all those names back to back, possibly Robinson comes out on top, Hagler and Monzon might trade some losses but again would clear the field, possibly Greb? Not many could go back to back with that level of opposition.

[The Old LefHook]

Sam Langford - would most likely knock out all those fighters. Other middleweight greats like, **** Tiger, Gene Fullmer, Carmen Basilio, Micky Walker, Harry Grebb, Freddie Steele, Sugar Ray Robinson, Tony Zale, Stanley Ketchel would be favored to beat those fighters.

McClellan is completely overrated. Okay, he won a slugfest with Jackson. After that he went to England and got his butt spanked by Benn. To have this loser ahead of Robinson in any poll is a joke. This is the same loser who sent hundreds of punches sailing ineffectively over Benn's head. Most middleweight greats are going to thump McClellan mercilessly, the same way he salughtered flamingos with his new sports car at a Florida hotel.

I agree with you on this one, Sonny, not on every single fighter, but in general.

I will tell you who writes on here mostly--young kids with a definite paucity of boxing history and imagination. They have been alive just long enough to see Roy Jones when they were little kids and gain the belief that he was unbeatable.

Robinson vs McCallum is another one for the bedtime crowd. No guy as slow as McCallum would have any chance against Robinson.The Robinson who fought Basilio and Fullmer was five or six years past his best.

Sonny, I think you forgot LaMotta. He will beat almost everyone on this modern-inflected list.

[sonnyboyx2]

McClellan is completely overrated. Okay, he won a slugfest with Jackson. After that he went to England and got his butt spanked by Benn. To have this loser ahead of Robinson in any poll is a joke. This is the same loser who sent hundreds of punches sailing ineffectively over Benn's head. Most middleweight greats are going to thump McClellan mercilessly, the same way he salughtered flamingos with his new sports car at a Florida hotel.

I agree with you on this one, Sonny, not on every single fighter, but in general.

I will tell you who writes on here mostly--young kids with a definite paucity of boxing history and imagination. They have been alive just long enough to see Roy Jones when they were little kids and gain the belief that he was unbeatable.


Robinson vs McCallum is another one for the bedtime crowd. No guy as slow as McCallum would have any chance against Robinson.The Robinson who fought Basilio and Fullmer was five or six years past his best.

Sonny, I think you forgot LaMotta. He will beat almost everyone on this modern-inflected list.

Yes you can add LaMotta to the list as well as Monzon and many others

[NChristo]

Robinson vs McCallum is another one for the bedtime crowd. No guy as slow as McCallum would have any chance against Robinson.The Robinson who fought Basilio and Fullmer was five or six years past his best.

Sonny, I think you forgot LaMotta. He will beat almost everyone on this modern-inflected list.

So you're just going too ignore how skilled McCallum was and just grade him on his speed ?, you make it sound as though Robinson would just walk through McCallum which is hilarious, he may not win but McCallum as his peak gives every Middleweight problems. The fight would be fireworks as well, not sure what you mean by bedtime crowd.

[billeau2]

So you're just going too ignore how skilled McCallum was and just grade him on his speed ?, you make it sound as though Robinson would just walk through McCallum which is hilarious, he may not win but McCallum as his peak gives every Middleweight problems. The fight would be fireworks as well, not sure what you mean by bedtime crowd.

I certainly think McCallum was a hell of a lot better than Fullmer...and i like Fullmer (I like mcCallum also). Even an older McCallum hung in there with Jones for the first part of their fight. I would love to see McCallum prime for prime with Hagler, that would be a war of attrition.

I do think there was much more to McCallum than speed...and body punching for that matter...not sure if he could hang with Ray Robinson, hard to envision how that fight proceeds. One could consider the La Motta fights as a guide, but Jake was much more of a puncher brawler than a boxer puncher such as McCallum.

[The Old LefHook]

So you're just going too ignore how skilled McCallum was and just grade him on his speed ?, you make it sound as though Robinson would just walk through McCallum which is hilarious, he may not win but McCallum as his peak gives every Middleweight problems. The fight would be fireworks as well, not sure what you mean by bedtime crowd.

Personally, I think Robinson would roll right through McCallum and knock his head off. The speed differential was too great. I like McCallum, and I think he was a very good, skilled fighter. Of course I disagree with Sonny on a Hagler bout. I believe Hagler would put the snatcher to sleep. I believe Fullmer would club him to death also.

[NChristo]

Personally, I think Robinson would roll right through McCallum and knock his head off. The speed differential was too great. I like McCallum, and I think he was a very good, skilled fighter. Of course I disagree with Sonny on a Hagler bout. I believe Hagler would put the snatcher to sleep. I believe Fullmer would club him to death also.

OKAY

[rightsideup]

So let's say that there was still one championship at the time fabulous four has left the division and that guy, whoever you pick him to be, just won his belt and being in his prime in that period had to fight top contender in each fight, in a way that Hagler did for example.
The schedule could look like this, with 2-3 fights a year:

1989
vs Nigel Benn
vs Herol Graham
vs Iran Barkley

1990
vs Mike McCallum
vs Sumbu Kalambay

1991
vs Michael Nunn
vs Chris Eubank
vs Michael Watson

1992
vs James Toney
vs Julian Jackson

1993
vs Reggie Johnson
vs Gerald McClellan
vs Lamar Parks

1994
vs Roy Jones Jr.
vs Steve Collins
vs John David Jackson

1995
vs Bernard Hopkins
vs Jorge Fernando Castro


That 5-6 year period is my favorite time in any division any time... I addimtedly have some holes in my boxing history knowledge, but I never seen anything like that. Such a combination of different styles and qualities with great fighters in their prime squeezed into one weight class.
My honest opinion is that it wasn't possible for anyone(I saw Hagler, Monzon, Robinson) to dominate with that kind of kind of quality and diverse styles coming at you fight after fight. No matter how great you were, there's always someone that would have your number in that mix. Had Monzon or Hagler fought in that time, they wouldn't be remembered as quite as great MW champions, because even if they emerged as top guys(what is big if imo), they wouldn't be able to rule.
What's your take?

interesting fighters bombers like benn,barkley and defensive stal***** like kulamby and well rounded fighters such as MM, JT
fellows like RJJ and hopkins were just emerging

I think atgs such as monzon and srr would do well against these guys as monzon was thought to be heavy strong in mw body and ray Robinson was just incredible alot of fellows from the forties such as conn cannot be overlooked as well

[Tony Trick-Pony]

Great thread, man. I have to say that this is the power of having only one recognized champion. You get much better challengers and while one may not be able to reign for long, the quality of opposition rises way up there.