Dariusz Michalczewski's 24 consecutive title defenses doesn't get enough praise

[IronDanHamza]

Maybe it's just a testament to how little having numerous title defenses means.

I mean, Dariusz was a good fighter. But, he's nothing special.

Look at this list of fighters with a long list of title defenses;

Johnny Nelson
Dariusz Michalczewski
Felix Sturm
Sven Ottke
Ivan Calderon
Virgil Hill

The list goes on and on. These are good fighters, but nothing special at all. I'd say some have arugments for the HOF. But none are locks, IMO.

I see all the time; "But he had 20 Title defenses" or using them as a reasoning as to why so and so is a great fighter. When there are fighters who are so far from great, with the same amount.

People say Hopkins is a Top 5 MW because he has 20 Title defenses. Bull****.

People say Calzaghe is an ATG because he has 21 Title defenses. Bull****.

If we are going to use that logic then the same must apply for every scrub like Johnny Nelson who racks up a long list of title defenses against mainly bums.

[daggum]

he actually only had 23 defenses. he also won the wbo cruiserweight title off a bum. was dariusz a great fighter or a sven ottke impersonator? let's dive in shall we!

beats leonzar barber for the title (ranked #5)
beats king hippo giovanni for the cruiserweight belt (unranked)
beats roberto dominguez perez (unranked)
beats paul carlo (unranked)
beats everardo armenta Jr (unranked)
beats phillipe michel (unranked)
beats asluddin amurov (unranked)
beats christophe girad (unranked)
beats graciono rochigiani (unranked at time, rochigiani dominates dariusz but hits him right after the ref says break, darius runs across the ring and collapses(probably pretending) he can't fight anymore which results in a dq win)
beats christope girad (unranked again)
beats virgil hill (ranked #1)
beats nicky piper (unranked)
beats daren zemar (unranked)
beats andrea magi (unranked)
beats mark prince (unranked)
beats drake thadzi (ranked #10)
beats ****** biarslanov (unranked)
beats montel griffin (ranked #7, griffin dominates the fight winning every round until darius stuns griffin and the ref stops it in a terrible early stoppage)
beats graciano rocciagini (ranked #5, protected ranking, hadn't fought in 2 years because of the lawsuit with the wbc)
beats ka dy king (unranked)
beats alejandro lakatos (unranked)
beats richard hall (unranked, hall gives him hell and they stopped the fight for some strange reason still not sure why(cut? swelling? he appeared fine) the scorecards were ridiculous as hall was probably winning)
beats joey degrandis (unranked)
beats richard hall (unranked again)
beats derrick harmon (unranked)
loses to julio cesar gonzalez (#7)

in his career he only beat 5 ranked fighters(calzaghe beat 10 lol). the controversial fights with griffin, rochiagini, and hall really expose him as a protected fighter. anytime he was close to losing some kind of controversy happened. he has a really good win over virgil hill but besides that it's basically sven ottke territory.

[Turbo B]

He's only known by Poles and Hardcores.

[ИATAS]

he actually only had 23 defenses. he also won the wbo cruiserweight title off a bum. was dariusz a great fighter or a sven ottke impersonator? let's dive in shall we!

beats leonzar barber for the title (ranked #5)
beats king hippo giovanni for the cruiserweight belt (unranked)
beats roberto dominguez perez (unranked)
beats paul carlo (unranked)
beats everardo armenta Jr (unranked)
beats phillipe michel (unranked)
beats asluddin amurov (unranked)
beats christophe girad (unranked)
beats graciono rochigiani (unranked at time, rochigiani dominates dariusz but hits him right after the ref says break, darius runs across the ring and collapses(probably pretending) he can't fight anymore which results in a dq win)
beats christope girad (unranked again)
beats virgil hill (ranked #1)
beats nicky piper (unranked)
beats daren zemar (unranked)
beats andrea magi (unranked)
beats mark prince (unranked)
beats drake thadzi (ranked #10)
beats ****** biarslanov (unranked)
beats montel griffin (ranked #7, griffin dominates the fight winning every round until darius stuns griffin and the ref stops it in a terrible early stoppage)
beats graciano rocciagini (ranked #5, protected ranking, hadn't fought in 2 years because of the lawsuit with the wbc)
beats ka dy king (unranked)
beats alejandro lakatos (unranked)
beats richard hall (unranked, hall gives him hell and they stopped the fight for some strange reason still not sure why(cut? swelling? he appeared fine) the scorecards were ridiculous as hall was probably winning)
beats joey degrandis (unranked)
beats richard hall (unranked again)
beats derrick harmon (unranked)
loses to julio cesar gonzalez (#7)

in his career he only beat 5 ranked fighters(calzaghe beat 10 lol). the controversial fights with griffin, rochiagini, and hall really expose him as a protected fighter. anytime he was close to losing some kind of controversy happened. he has a really good win over virgil hill but besides that it's basically sven ottke territory.

lol damn, close the thread.

[Tiozzo]

He was a hell of a fighter. Not being American is why he isn't brought up more by Americans generally (they didn't see him) but the lack of Jones is why his #'s don't get full love. Dariusz only got one real dodgy win (the KO loss to Rochigianni that wasn't). Thrashed Hill. He's on the Hall ballot, where guys like Eubank and Benn who had double digit defenses at 68 are not, so someone paid attention.

If he fights Jones, he probably doesn't have the numbers and most assume that. Could he have won? Anything is possible and he had a stiff jab and hammer of a right. We'll never know. I think he he gets in the Hall eventually but it's tough. Foreign guys sometimes wait a long time. Myung Wuh Yuh is still waiting and should have been in years ago.

I believe a good fighter with a good jab was something that troubled Jones

just take McCallum for example, Jones was very tentative in that bout, he was fighting scared, like he could get caught and knocked out at any time, and McCallum wasn't even a puncher, but his ring prowess preceded him, and it hurt Jones confidence in that fight I believe

so yes, Dariusz-Jones is a great 'what would have happened', and in my book, it's a pick-em fight

[Zerwas1]

Hill had an injured feet. Don't know what it was, but he was really slow on em.

[crold1]

he actually only had 23 defenses. he also won the wbo cruiserweight title off a bum. was dariusz a great fighter or a sven ottke impersonator? let's dive in shall we!

beats leonzar barber for the title (ranked #5)
beats king hippo giovanni for the cruiserweight belt (unranked)
beats roberto dominguez perez (unranked)
beats paul carlo (unranked)
beats everardo armenta Jr (unranked)
beats phillipe michel (unranked)
beats asluddin amurov (unranked)
beats christophe girad (unranked)
beats graciono rochigiani (unranked at time, rochigiani dominates dariusz but hits him right after the ref says break, darius runs across the ring and collapses(probably pretending) he can't fight anymore which results in a dq win)
beats christope girad (unranked again)
beats virgil hill (ranked #1)
beats nicky piper (unranked)
beats daren zemar (unranked)
beats andrea magi (unranked)
beats mark prince (unranked)
beats drake thadzi (ranked #10)
beats ****** biarslanov (unranked)
beats montel griffin (ranked #7, griffin dominates the fight winning every round until darius stuns griffin and the ref stops it in a terrible early stoppage)
beats graciano rocciagini (ranked #5, protected ranking, hadn't fought in 2 years because of the lawsuit with the wbc)
beats ka dy king (unranked)
beats alejandro lakatos (unranked)
beats richard hall (unranked, hall gives him hell and they stopped the fight for some strange reason still not sure why(cut? swelling? he appeared fine) the scorecards were ridiculous as hall was probably winning)
beats joey degrandis (unranked)
beats richard hall (unranked again)
beats derrick harmon (unranked)
loses to julio cesar gonzalez (#7)

in his career he only beat 5 ranked fighters(calzaghe beat 10 lol). the controversial fights with griffin, rochiagini, and hall really expose him as a protected fighter. anytime he was close to losing some kind of controversy happened. he has a really good win over virgil hill but besides that it's basically sven ottke territory.

Nice post, and most of those guys were uugh, but Ring's ratings (which I assume you're using) arfen't the end all. Rochigianni was surely a better fighter than someone like Rocky Gannon (who was Ring rated around the time). So was Girard. Rocky eventually got as high as 4th. As an even more U.S. centric outfit then, it's fair to say some of his foes could have been lower echelon contenders swapped out.

Still, a lot of junk.

[daggum]

Maybe it's just a testament to how little having numerous title defenses means.

I mean, Dariusz was a good fighter. But, he's nothing special.

Look at this list of fighters with a long list of title defenses;

Johnny Nelson
Dariusz Michalczewski
Felix Sturm
Sven Ottke
Ivan Calderon
Virgil Hill

The list goes on and on. These are good fighters, but nothing special at all. I'd say some have arugments for the HOF. But none are locks, IMO.

I see all the time; "But he had 20 Title defenses" or using them as a reasoning as to why so and so is a great fighter. When there are fighters who are so far from great, with the same amount.

People say Hopkins is a Top 5 MW because he has 20 Title defenses. Bull****.

People say Calzaghe is an ATG because he has 21 Title defenses. Bull****.

If we are going to use that logic then the same must apply for every scrub like Johnny Nelson who racks up a long list of title defenses against mainly bums.

long title defenses are usually a sign of a very protected fighter. if you want to see a legit title defense streak then you got to go to a guy like carlos monzon. he only had 12 or 13 defenses but every defense except 2 was against a guy ranked 1, 2, 3 or 4 and one of his others was against the welterweight champ of the world jose napoles. i think he beat the number 1 guy at least 5 times. that's a lot better than bashing 20 bums in a row. most boxers start their careers 30-0 so why is doing that while holding a title that much better? it's not.

nowadays you got bums like chris john or johnny nelson who steal the belt then defend it like 15 times against unknowns maybe picking off 1 or 2 ranked fighters along the way. joke.

[PAC-BOY]

Dariusz Michalczewski LOL LOL LOL
BUM

[Erik K]

I don't think fighting in Germany is a problem

not fighting top opposition is a problem/ and or robbing fighters who come to your backyard, but I don't think Dariusz is guilty of either

C'mon you cant really say he fought top opposition.