Was Willie Pep a COWARD?

[RodBarker]

I mean 240 pro fights is not such a dumb ass reason. Fighters from back then were tested in battle. Their ability to adapt must have been perfected to a level which is unthinkable in the world of 40 fights careers.

Still, Mayweather is a great fighter, and saying that a guy who constantly shares the ring with someone bigger than him is a coward is one of the dumbest thing on earth.

Pep is one of the best fighters ever Mayweather isnt close to that get over it

LOL how the hell would you know , have you seen some Pep fights that no one else has seen where Pep looks like PBF has no chance ,, I know what you guys are going on about and its called history and romance , the stuff movies and legends , books and fairytales where heros are built in folklore , sad part of human nature where one cant see the forest through the trees .

[SkillspayBills]

LOL people that say he went toe to toe when he had to didn'w watch pep fights now did they. I will tell you this, if Pep fought in this day and age he would be labled as the most boring boxer of all time.

[Phantasm]

Pep is one of the greatest fighters of all time...arguably in some top ten lists, definately among the 20 greatest ever to lace them up. To compare Floyd with Pep is sacriligous, imo. Pep could mix it if he had to (case in point, his fights with Saddler) and made his opponents miss by standing in front of them, similar to Whitaker. I like Floyd, his is arguably the best 'boxer' today; but Pep is an all time great and Floyd has a loooooong way to go to get there. This guy Dios just likes to make outrageous comments to get a rise out of folks. To ask if Pep was a coward because he fought defensively to try and make a case for Floyd is idiotic.

[grayfist]

Pep and Saddler fought in a contest that was hailed as The Ring's "Fight of the Year-1949." It was their second meeting. It was the same year that Sugar Ray Robinson successfully defended his title against Kid Gavilan (their 2nd title clash), Ezzard Charles TKO'd Gus Lesnevich in the 7th as well as UD'd Jersey Joe Walcott and MD'd Joey Maxim; Jake LaMotta TKO'd Marcel Cerdan and Archie Moore stopped Jimmy Bivins cold in the 8th.

It was in their final meeting that Pep backed off Saddler more. It was the worst of their five encounters. They used every foul trick in the book including eye-gouging, wrestling, heeling, tripping, thumbing...

[TRUE WARRIOR]

"My fight style is 'he who hits and runs away lives to fight another day'. So that's what I did for 29 years. I tried to hit and run. And I got away with it."
- Willie Pep

at least he admits that he fights like a coward.

[tredh]

at least he admits that he fights like a coward.

Is toe to toe fighting and unskilled brawling the only fight styles you respect? There is a difference between fighting toe to toe and unskilled brawling.

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

Willie Pep a coward? Based on his style? LOL Man, some of the stuff that comes in the form of words from so called boxing fans AMAZES me!! Do you have any clue whatsoever what it took to even step into the ring with the level of opposition that Pep did?????????????????

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

Also, to say Pep "was arguably a top 20 all time" sounds like a compliment but, man, to say he was anything lower than number 5 or 6 is an INSULT. Sugar Ray Robinson said Pep was pound for pound the BEST ever

[BmoreBrawler]

Is toe to toe fighting and unskilled brawling the only fight styles you respect? There is a difference between fighting toe to toe and unskilled brawling.

you guys are missing the point. the point I take away from that quote is that willie pep didnt run HALF as bad as floyd does now and STILL he felt somewhat guilty for it.

[oovavu]

if i was fighting over 10 tmes a year i wouldn't be standing toe to toe in every fight, sounds like a smart fella.