65-1-1 (48 KO), retired undefeated Heavyweight champion. Only blemishes on his record came against Harry Greb, a man he went 3-1-1 against in five contests. Never weighed more than Cruiserweight but fook it, he didn't have to back then. He started at Middleweight and spent the majority of his career at Light Heavyweight. Beat a long list of contenders and title challengers before winning the title.
Gene Tunney doesn't get enough respect around here.
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Tunney was a very good box-fighter, good hand speed, extremely good footwork and lateral movement for his era. He and Benny Leonard where two of the few fighters to truly utilise movement and a “hit and not be hit” backfoot style during that era.65-1-1 (48 KO), retired undefeated Heavyweight champion. Only blemishes on his record came against Harry Greb, a man he went 3-1-1 against in five contests. Never weighed more than Cruiserweight but fook it, he didn't have to back then. He started at Middleweight and spent the majority of his career at Light Heavyweight. Beat a long list of contenders and title challengers before winning the title.
Tunney is a definite Top 5 all time HW IMO. Very subjective thoughComment
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you can see tunney had skills & stamina, was elusive, smart, and fast. on top of that, he was tough and strong too. but his record is full of white fighters, and NO black fighters. during his era, he wouldn't even mention facing any black fighters. and they were most definitely around. in boxing (and elsewhere), the color line was very real, and tunney seemed to utilize it, without saying too much about it. even teak tough Dempsey, would smack bob Armstrong a couple other old past their prime blacks around in sparring, but in his pro record, you'd be pressed to find any black fighters. and he's on record as having turned down a fade with sam Langford, who was well over 40 at the time, and blind in one eye. so their refusal to face black fighters has to always be mentioned, as an asterisk. we can discuss how great a fighter is but must not ever fail to mention his avoidance of all the black fighters from his era. some people may say "but he was just a product of his time". But before and after tunney's time, there were always white fighters who were much more willing than tunney to scrap with black fighters, although some would only do so under ridiculous conditions where everything was stacked in their favor. we all know the history, but yea tunney looks pretty good on filmComment
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Black fighters weren't allowed to compete at that level, most of the great American fighters throughout the history of the sport were black, this takes a lot of credit away from a fighter, we never knew how good he was.Comment
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Yeah this.65-1-1 (48 KO), retired undefeated Heavyweight champion. Only blemishes on his record came against Harry Greb, a man he went 3-1-1 against in five contests. Never weighed more than Cruiserweight but fook it, he didn't have to back then. He started at Middleweight and spent the majority of his career at Light Heavyweight. Beat a long list of contenders and title challengers before winning the title.Comment
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