Could Corrie Sanders have been a reigning HW Champ!

[Derranged]

...Sanders was a god given talent with lightening fast hands that were naturaly heavy as ****. He was also a track star in addition to his golf skills in case anyone didn't know that. If he had just concentrated on boxing he would have been the man. Hell, Lennox was technicaly his stable mate for some time and Lennox would never even entertain the idea of getting in the ring with him. Read some of Sanders bio work and you will see that he and Lennox had kind of a running joke about it. LL wanted no part of a fast lefty with power who could drop a guy with a shaky chin.

Good post, Lennox put Corrie on his promotional team. By the way, I know he's South African bc he was born there, but does anyone know what his background is? Dutch, British or something?

[mECHsLAVE]

Yes, he could have been *a* reigning HW champ (Byrd is *a* reigning HW champ, for God's sake), but he could not have been THE reigning HW champ. Some of you are saying Sanders couldn't have defended his belt against the leftovers that Byrd is fighting? I disagree wholeheartedly. A prime 30 year old Sanders would be favored against many if not most of today's top HW's. He went from Wlad to Vitali, though. And had a decent showing in both, and even put Vitali down (should have been ruled a KD, because Vitali going down was a result of that one left that rocked him). But then he just ran out of gas and took too much punishment.

Sanders relied on his power too much. I think he went in to his bouts thinking that if he lands his left, then it's over. Which is fine for the lower ranks, but he never altered his game for the top. I understand that he injured his knee in training for the Rahman fight, and couldn't run or train for extended periods because of it, which might explain why he ran out of gas in the 5th-6th. But regardless, he was having a hard time hitting Rahman clean, and when he punched he left his head in the same spot before and after he punched, a very amateur habit. The only reason he made it as far as he did was because of that brilliant left hand. I don't believe he had the discipline or a trainer to develop in him skills that would have let him reign as the champ, but he always had a puncher's chance, and if you went in with him unprepared or taking him lightly, then you were IN TROUBLE.

[ChrististheAnswer2]

...Sanders was a god given talent with lightening fast hands that were naturaly heavy as ****. He was also a track star in addition to his golf skills in case anyone didn't know that. If he had just concentrated on boxing he would have been the man. Hell, Lennox was technicaly his stable mate for some time and Lennox would never even entertain the idea of getting in the ring with him. Read some of Sanders bio work and you will see that he and Lennox had kind of a running joke about it. LL wanted no part of a fast lefty with power who could drop a guy with a shaky chin.

He may have been a god given talent but he didn't take advantage of it. He was lazy and showed very little interst in the sport, and he destroyed the next heir apparent. Are you trying to justify Wlad's loss to him by propping him up bigger than he was? Rahman beat Sanders, for goodness sake!

[Bozo_no no]

He was overall soft and had a noticeable gut at 230 so I don't know how you can say that. He would be lean at about 200-210.

He was 6'4.

Maybe in his mid 20's he would have been in good shape at 210, but he's a big guy.

210-220 would be a good weight.

200lbs for a guy his size would not.

[Bozo_no no]

...Sanders was a god given talent with lightening fast hands that were naturaly heavy as ****. He was also a track star in addition to his golf skills in case anyone didn't know that. If he had just concentrated on boxing he would have been the man. Hell, Lennox was technicaly his stable mate for some time and Lennox would never even entertain the idea of getting in the ring with him. Read some of Sanders bio work and you will see that he and Lennox had kind of a running joke about it. LL wanted no part of a fast lefty with power who could drop a guy with a shaky chin.

Would you listen to this crap?

Every time Corrie Sanders is mentioned, you have Klitschko nuth Huggers coming out of the woodwork making him out to be He-Man.

Try watching some of his fights Peebdis.

Pop in his figh with Rahman or Nate Tubbs.

[Kid Achilles]

Poor stamina was his glaring weaknesses. That is something that can be improved. The subject of this post was did he have the potential to be a reigning HW champion and I think he did, in theory. Good size and reach, excellent power, and phenomenal handspeed, coupled with the fact that he was a southpaw. Next to Wladimir Klitschko, he was the most talented heavyweight I've seen in awhile that he had a better chin than Wlad.

His problem was that he didn't train very hard (clearly evidenced by his physique). He had the right mindset inside the ring, and the physicality to go with it. His battles were lost in the gym.

Still, one of the more exciting talents in the sport in the last ten years or so.

[ChrististheAnswer2]

Poor stamina was his glaring weaknesses. That is something that can be improved. The subject of this post was did he have the potential to be a reigning HW champion and I think he did, in theory. Good size and reach, excellent power, and phenomenal handspeed, coupled with the fact that he was a southpaw. Next to Wladimir Klitschko, he was the most talented heavyweight I've seen in awhile that he had a better chin than Wlad.

His problem was that he didn't train very hard (clearly evidenced by his physique). He had the right mindset inside the ring, and the physicality to go with it. His battles were lost in the gym.

Still, one of the more exciting talents in the sport in the last ten years or so.

The amount of talent that you say he had, does not match his resume.

[Kid Achilles]

Because he did not train very hard, as I've said.

[PBDS]

Poor stamina was his glaring weaknesses. That is something that can be improved. The subject of this post was did he have the potential to be a reigning HW champion and I think he did, in theory. Good size and reach, excellent power, and phenomenal handspeed, coupled with the fact that he was a southpaw. Next to Wladimir Klitschko, he was the most talented heavyweight I've seen in awhile that he had a better chin than Wlad.

His problem was that he didn't train very hard (clearly evidenced by his physique). He had the right mindset inside the ring, and the physicality to go with it. His battles were lost in the gym.

Still, one of the more exciting talents in the sport in the last ten years or so.

...Good post and pretty much right on with exactly what Sanders was. He was a dangerous fight for anyone who ventured into the ring with him.

[ChrististheAnswer2]

Thats like saying Tyson was the best talent but because other things outside the ring he didn't fullfill his potential. You are judged by what you do in the ring. And it sounds like alot of Wlad fans prop up Sanders to somehting greater than what he was to justify Wlads loss. The bottomline is Wlad got caught by a Sanders punch and couldn't recover.