Jeff Fenech

[cotto16]

What are your thoughts on Fenech then? Don't hear him talked much round here. At his peak world class little fight, great workate, willi to win and heart.

3 weight world champion and should of been four but didnt get the first nelson fight, which probaly ruined him as he was never the same. Most likely the best aussie fighter of all time!

discuss

[Silencers]

Very good fighter, one of the best pressure fighters I've seen. Great at cutting off the ring and letting his hands go in combination, his hands were quite fragile though, he broke them a few times and he wasn't the biggest puncher anyway with 1 punch so he had to let his workrate, bodywork and intensity wear his opponents down and knock them out for the most part.

[mhager91490]

A fit and focused Fenech at 118-130 is a tough fight for anyone in history, I would of loved to see him take on Chavez at 130 or Sanchez at 126. I remember when I first watched him the thing I was most impressed with is how skilled defensively he was on the inside, he was excellent at slipping and blocking punches and countering with his own. On the outside he was good defensivley as well but he had a habit of focusing too much on it and not throwing enough punches. He was always fun to watch, everybody knows of his great first fight with Nelson but he had some good ones with McCrory, Zaragoza, Callajes and Mario Martinez. I also enjoyed watching him handle Samart Pakayroon.

[Suckmedry]

Fenech was not great technically, but he was a pretty good pressure guy, he was always on you and was very intense. He was huge for 118 and 122 and that helped alot. If i was to compare him to anyone today it would be Margarito.

But like a lot of pressure fighters he was never the same once his punch resistance started to leave him.

[Suckmedry]

A fit and focused Fenech at 118-130 is a tough fight for anyone in history, I would of loved to see him take on Chavez at 130 or Sanchez at 126. I remember when I first watched him the thing I was most impressed with is how skilled defensively he was on the inside, he was excellent at slipping and blocking punches and countering with his own. On the outside he was good defensivley as well but he had a habit of focusing too much on it and not throwing enough punches. He was always fun to watch, everybody knows of his great first fight with Nelson but he had some good ones with McCrory, Zaragoza, Callajes and Mario Martinez. I also enjoyed watching him handle Samart Pakayroon.

Sanchez would have handled Fenech at 126 and stopped him late IMO. Pretty good fight but Sanchez more precise and more intelligent than Fenech.

Chavez vs Fenech at 130, would have beena very good fight, two pressure guys who like to mix it up, I think Chavez had the sturdier chin and was heavier handed and that would be the difference, with Chavez knocking Fenech out late.

[HaglerSteelChin]

I thought he was also a good trainer. He was involved in the controversial infamous Hussein vs Pacquaio fight. Nedal Hussein was undefeated Super Bantam that was trained by Fenech. In RD4 Hussein KD Pac with a stiff jab. Some thought pinoy judge gave hometown cooking when he did a slow count and than allowed pac to hold on and not seperating them which forced hussein to elbow pac to get him off. Padilla than took a point away giving pac more time to recover. Than eventually there was a premature stoppage. Fenech was angry at what happened in the philippines.

Fenech had wins over Zaragosa, Nelson, and Zarate. He gave a boost to Austrialian boxing and possibly the second greatest austrailian fighter after Tony Mundine.

[Bad Boy Dazza]

One of the best ever Aussie fighters. And very exciting to watch.

[joneback]

It is sad two legends are still fighting but at lease it is against one another and not an undefeated young fighter where they could seriously get hurt and humiliated.I'll be surprised if this one actually goes down.

[BennyST]

What are your thoughts on Fenech then? Don't hear him talked much round here. At his peak world class little fight, great workate, willi to win and heart.

3 weight world champion and should of been four but didnt get the first nelson fight, which probaly ruined him as he was never the same. Most likely the best aussie fighter of all time!

discuss

Yeah man, that Nelson completely ruined him. The moment they announced that decision, his career was over. Having a piece of boxing history as good as being the first undefeated, four division world champion in history is pretty special and in all reality he was. He won the fight easily but got screwed by King. Sad. It destroyed him.

He gets a lot of flack for some reason but he was really a very special fighter. As a pressure fighter he was second to none. He had good head movement and was able to get in very well with it. He wad actually very skilled for a straight up pressure fighter, which is what made him so good. He had fast hands, good combinations, good defense (for a pure offensive machine, he actually had very good defense) and was able to do all the little things that make a pressure fighter great. Cut off the ring quickly, get inside without being hit too much, work the body, counter off shots inside to keep them working inside and also had better outside fighting than most of the guys he fought apart from the very best boxers he faced.

I think he's actually very underrated in historical terms. A lot of it has to do with the fact that his win over Nelson was forgotten because he got screwed in the decision, was then knocked out in the rematch and had become completely shattered as a fighter. It's funny....If he had just lost. Genuinely lost the fight he would have come back even stronger I think, but winning the fight then getting robbed takes something else entirely out of you. He wasn't beaten by his opponent, the only person who meant to beat you, and no matter what he did, and he did everything bar knock him down or out, he would still not have won. Being beaten not by the guy in front of you but by the corruption of boxing, and knowing that you could not have won, is much more devastating than being beaten by your real opponent.

Considering the great era of smaller weight fighters he was in and the class of fighters he beat, he deserves a bit more respect than I think he usually gets as a pressure fighter.

Prime Daniel Zaragoza
Azumah Nelson (I know, I know, not technically but hey...he beat him)
Carlos Zarate
Samart Payakaroon
Marcos Villasana
Mario Martinez
Greg Richardson
Steve McCrory (great undefeated Kronk prospect, meant to be next big thing having been a triple world amateur champion and Olympic gold medalist, in both guys first big fight. Great fight too. Go watch it)
Victor Cellajas etc etc.

All really good fighters and champions in a great time of fighters.

[BennyST]

I thought he was also a good trainer. He was involved in the controversial infamous Hussein vs Pacquaio fight. Nedal Hussein was undefeated Super Bantam that was trained by Fenech. In RD4 Hussein KD Pac with a stiff jab. Some thought pinoy judge gave hometown cooking when he did a slow count and than allowed pac to hold on and not seperating them which forced hussein to elbow pac to get him off. Padilla than took a point away giving pac more time to recover. Than eventually there was a premature stoppage. Fenech was angry at what happened in the philippines.

Fenech had wins over Zaragosa, Nelson, and Zarate. He gave a boost to Austrialian boxing and possibly the second greatest austrailian fighter after Tony Mundine.

Yeah man, that fight was a travesty.

Second greatest Aussie fighter after Tony Mundine? I'm guessing that's a joke.