Boxing Photos: some interesting history .....

[H2O Man]

A recent thread had a number of comments from fans of the middleweights and welterweights of a generation ago. A number of people spoke well of Tommy "the Hit Man" Hearns and Marvin Haglar, among others. I have gotten out a few photos you folks might enjoy.

It brings me to a question that might be fun .... actually, several. First, who do you think was the greatest middleweight champion? Welterweight? And who do you think was the most powerful puncher in each of those divisions?

As always, there is no "right" or "wrong" answer.

Here are a few pictures you may enjoy ....

[H2O Man]

1. Here's another of Tommy

training.....

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2. And here is why

his training paid off .... the great Roberto Duran is getting up after the first knockdown...

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3. Here is Mike Nixon

sparring the great Sugar Ray Robinson. Mike was an old friend from Binghamton, NY ...

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4. Nixon went out west

and hung out with Jerry Quarry ....

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5. Jerry was pretty good,

but Joe Frazier was tougher

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6. Note:

The Robinson-Nixon photos are from a magazine cover, not from my personal collection.

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7. One more:

Can you guess who the fighter on the right is? The guy with the flag on his trunks?

[MsUSA]

8. Sugar Ray Leonard........

he never fought at the middleweight class though. Was one handsome welterweight boxer. :) I paid $25.00 and drove to Madison, WI from La Crosse, WI, a 2 hour and 20 min drive, to see the 2nd, No Mas, No Mas, Durand/Leonard fight. I remember it was on grainy black and white movie screen......and I was so pissed when Durand put up his hands and quits. I wanted Sugar Ray to knock his block off. That era was just the best for the welterweight class of boxer....some great fights back then.

[H2O Man]

9. Leonard

fought at the middleweight, actually; he won the title in his fight with Haglar.

I prefered the first Leonard-Duran match. Though he lost, Ray fought a tough, very respectable match.

[H2O Man]

10. My answers:

Greatest Welterweight Champion: Sugar Ray Robinson. Ray was a tall, fast, strong, and very hard-punching welterweight. His record in this weight class stands alone. He was, of course, a great middleweight also, but he lost more fights in that division.

Greatest Middleweight Champion: Marvelous Marvin Haglar. Tough one to choose, because there were so many great champions. But, at his best, he could have beat anyone in a 15 round match. It is possible to say that Carlos Monzon could have taken him, but I'd favor Haglar at his very best.

Hardest Punchers: at welterweight, Tommy Hearns hit very, very hard. His build allowed him the ability to land with full power against people, and the results were intense.

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter would be a jr. middleweight were he fighting today. His power was awesome.

How many people remember middleweight contender Eugene "Cylcone" Hart? I met him when he fought for Cus D'Amato. I hope I can find my photos of him from that period (being a cripple sucks when your photo albums are put away upstairs!). He lacked the self-discipline Cus demanded, and so his connection with the legendary trainer was brief. But man! could he punch.

Although he lost his biggest fight, to Haglar, there was a small middleweight named John "the Beast" Mugabi who punched very hard. My brother sent me great photos from John's training camp when he prepared for Haglar. He told me that one day he watched this guy hitting the bag, and he asked Manny Stewart, "What do you think?" Manny told him that a lot of people believed John was the pound-for-pound hardest puncher they had ever seen.

Mugabi lost a brutal war to Marvin, but he did enough damage that Ray Leonard knew that Haglar would be vulnerable in his next match. If you watch the film of the Mugabi fight, you see John hit Haglar with intense body shots, and some head shots that really would have decked anyone else. Haglar was at an age where he needed to have an easy fight next, then a big match. But he believed Ray would be easy. Marvin agreed to fight in Vegas, big ring, firm canvas, large gloves, and 12 rounds. Shit, he'd have agreed to tie his left arm behind his back, if that's what it took to get Ray in the ring. I scored it 7-5 for Ray, but it didn't prove Ray was superior over-all.

[H2O Man]

11. Another photo:

Rubin gave me a large copy of this one, with a full description on the back: