Tweet
re oldgringo:
make no mistake about it; i never said anything about pernell not incorporationg the sweet science. he was the best defensive wizard i've seen since willie pep. i was just hitting home the fact that most of the guys of the 90's (and today) truly aren't well-schooled. i do, however, agree with your point about his power. i think it was somewhat of a myth. no, he did not have great power, but it was adequate. i also think his power (or lacktherof) was more to do with showmanship then anything. he would rather mock and clown his opponent then triple up his punches in alot of cases. surely that's why he was robbed against chavez/ramirez early in his career.
also, not many fighters could outhink pernell at 135, but plenty of fighters would beat him at 140/147. plenty.
another thing that is overlooked with 'great's like pernell - attitude inside/outside of the ring. i have said before that some boxers, due to their antics in or out of the ring, naturally cause fans to pick at them and their legacies as they are perceived (not necessarily real....just perceived) to have either ducked worthy opponents, gone for tough men when they were well past it, arrogant in victory. men whose positives far outweigh their negatives get their weaknesses almost glossed over. hagler - leonard is a perfect example of this. hamed - barrera would be another example. i guess whitaker's whole attitude really affects his legacy with even informed boxing fans. i must admit, i am fairly guilty of this.
finally, in my opinion, the fighters of the 80's (with the exception of mayweather, whitaker ) may just be the final era in which fighters were truly schooled. even the contenders and the coked up HW's could fight and were well schooled. you didn't have guys walking around 20 pounds overweight in between fights the way you do today. and the trainers who were around then were influenced by the earlier era when guys were taught skills that are almost ignored today (feinting, body punching, etc.)
So overall, I think duran/hagler/leonard etc. and the competition of their day is much better than chavez/dlh/mayweather and the competition of theirs.
make no mistake about it; i never said anything about pernell not incorporationg the sweet science. he was the best defensive wizard i've seen since willie pep. i was just hitting home the fact that most of the guys of the 90's (and today) truly aren't well-schooled. i do, however, agree with your point about his power. i think it was somewhat of a myth. no, he did not have great power, but it was adequate. i also think his power (or lacktherof) was more to do with showmanship then anything. he would rather mock and clown his opponent then triple up his punches in alot of cases. surely that's why he was robbed against chavez/ramirez early in his career.
also, not many fighters could outhink pernell at 135, but plenty of fighters would beat him at 140/147. plenty.
another thing that is overlooked with 'great's like pernell - attitude inside/outside of the ring. i have said before that some boxers, due to their antics in or out of the ring, naturally cause fans to pick at them and their legacies as they are perceived (not necessarily real....just perceived) to have either ducked worthy opponents, gone for tough men when they were well past it, arrogant in victory. men whose positives far outweigh their negatives get their weaknesses almost glossed over. hagler - leonard is a perfect example of this. hamed - barrera would be another example. i guess whitaker's whole attitude really affects his legacy with even informed boxing fans. i must admit, i am fairly guilty of this.
finally, in my opinion, the fighters of the 80's (with the exception of mayweather, whitaker ) may just be the final era in which fighters were truly schooled. even the contenders and the coked up HW's could fight and were well schooled. you didn't have guys walking around 20 pounds overweight in between fights the way you do today. and the trainers who were around then were influenced by the earlier era when guys were taught skills that are almost ignored today (feinting, body punching, etc.)
So overall, I think duran/hagler/leonard etc. and the competition of their day is much better than chavez/dlh/mayweather and the competition of theirs.
Comment