I was watching Terry Norris just now and it got me thinking,who was the best 154 pounder ever? The division is in a bit of a slumber but it's had some great champions. Let me know your thoughts,I want to see what you knowledgeable guys think.
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I was watching Terry Norris just now and it got me thinking,who was the best 154 pounder ever? The division is in a bit of a slumber but it's had some great champions. Let me know your thoughts,I want to see what you knowledgeable guys think.
Hearns comes to mind. Tough to really pick someone, since most of the great fighters who fought at 154 spent most of their careers at 147 or 160.
Good question.
I'm gonna have to go with Mike McCallum. Great boxing skills, good power, and one if not the best bodypuncher I've ever seen. He ate guys up like Pacman. And he's got a pretty good resume of wins. He destroyed a young, prime Julian Jackson in 2. Decisioned the elusive boxing wizard Herol Graham. KO'd Curry. Steve Collins, Michael Watson. Even when he was past his prime in his mid to late 30s he gave James Toney three hard, compeditive fights. I heard him say he idolized Sugar Ray RObinson and tried to be like him. I gotta go with him, I think a prime Mike McCallum beats the shit out of a prime Terry Norris
Terry Norris is the greatest 154 ever
I'm trying to find Curry/Mccallum on youtube but no luck. Mccallum ko'd him with one of the best left hooks you'll ever see. Robinson would have been proud of that left hook
I dont really know cause not too many guys stay there too long... Freddie Little maybe?
CC's for the responses. :)
Hmmm,I think I agree. 154 is usually by fighters as a stopping point to 160 rather than somewhere to settle.Quote:
Originally Posted by SweetPea
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beanflicker
hmmm...although weren't most of his bigger wins like Collins,Watson at 160? I don't know, maybe I'm wrong?I liked the bodysnatcher,have not seen alot of his fights for a long time,may have to go and watch some now.
If I had to say one fighter,that's the one I'd go for too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Violent Demise
Your knowledge is far better than mine,I have not seen Freddie Little in action. Who did he beat and what was his style like?Quote:
Originally Posted by BoomBoom
Guys,how about Winky Wright?Keep the responses coming and cc's all around.
Shit, I checked boxrec and your right, the collins and herol ones came at MW. I guess you'd have to give it to NOrris because he stayed at 154 longer, but I'd still pick Mccallum to beat him at 154
Freddie Little convincingly beat Kim Soo Kim and Sandro Mazzinghi both great Light Middleweights in their own rights, but lost both fights. He was badly robbed againt Kim by SD, and he stopped Mazzinghi but it was ruled a NC. He was a very good fighter but he was plagued. Im a young guy so I only know what Ive seen and read of him but he definately had a plagued career but was a great Lt. Middleweight...and Gamo you dont give yourself enough credit man, you know boxing pretty damn well.
I agree with most that it's either Norris or McCallum.
How comes none of you think Winky is the best? I ask because I thought that would be the general consensus!
Thanks for the response,CC.Quote:
Originally Posted by skyler
Fair enough bro,Macullum may very well hav beat Norris.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beanflicker
Wow,thanks for the info man,just when I think I've seen all the fighters I'm going to see and know all the great fighters I need to know,a new one comes along! And thanks for the positive words,they are appreciated alot.Quote:
Originally Posted by BoomBoom
I'm quite surprised,I thought there would be alot more contenders for atg at 154 but there are not that many!!
What about Winky Wright? Admittedly, I don't know too much about the history of the 154 division, but I'd have a hard time favoring anyone against Winky at 154.
Edit: Didn't see El Gamo's mention of Winky posted above.
as far as pure long-term 154 fighters,where it was not a spring board for a couple of fights,Laugh it up but in the a few names pop up:
Winky Wright
Terry Norris
Julio c. vasquez I Dont Think The Best But He Beat winky Wright (yes yrs ago I KNow)He put him down FIVE times,if you watch close 2 were clearly slips but in argentina they do some DIRTY stuff In Fights.He also beat Aaron davis,A Very Underrated jr.mid.IMO,again at home and split dec.
It comes down to,ON Pure CONSISTENCY Winky Wright Or TerryNorris??
Maybe even Gianfranco rosi LOL.
hmmm...although weren't most of his bigger wins like Collins,Watson at 160? I don't know, maybe I'm wrong?I liked the bodysnatcher,have not seen alot of his fights for a long time,may have to go and watch some now.Quote:
Originally Posted by El Gamo
Yes and no yes some of his best wins come above 154 but he did have some impressive victorys at 154 like.
Julian Jackson
Milton McCrory
Donald Curry
Terry Norris gets the nod from me. The Norris V Waters fight is also one of the greatest 3 rounds you will ever see! What a shame Norris V DLH never happened. Norris lost a few fights but he was exciting and was never in a dull fight.
As a Self Described "FanAddict" when it comes to boxing and a stickler for accuracy,turns out my memory faulters in my old age lol.maybe I should have checked the booksand tapes a little closer on this one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Spicoli Surfs In 'Nawlins
A.Davis won Title At Jr.Welt. vs. Mark breland.His weight was Not as consitent as I though and He spent alot of time at middle too,back and forth.I still think he was a very good fighter who recieves nearly no recognition.
Vasquez W.12 W.Wright was in france,not Argentina.(They still do some dirty things in argentina bouts).
It Comes Down To Terry norris and Ronald wright.Once I Get Past ,IMO His Stiff Legs,The China Chin,and his bad habit of smacking foes when there down,I Would say Terry norris as well.ONconcistency at 154,not for being the best to have ever fought there.He Could Have had the biggest heart there though.
I think Mike would have mopped the floor with Terry. Mike's 1st loss was @ 160, he was 31-0 @ 154 or lighter & was never stopped @ any weight.Quote:
Originally Posted by skyler
Terry has losses @ 154 to Laurent Boudouani (9 TKO), Keith Mullings (9 TKO), Simon Brown (4 KO) & Julian Jackson (2 TKO).
Norris was too up & down for me & his biggest wins @ 154 were against shot fighters (Sugar Ray & Mugabi). He also seemed to feast on blown up welterweights.
It may be Norris or McCallum, but if you matched one of them in their prime with Winky Wright, I'd have had him favourite against either man.
Norris was a good 154 , as was Winky , however Hearns that KOED Duran would beat them both.
Mccallum was also a great 154 and would beat both Winky and Norris.
HEARNS V MCCALLUM WELL WHO KNOWS WHO WINS THAT FIGHT.
McCallum for me. Possibly had the worst luck, there were just no fights for him.
He had a huge fight lined up with the pound for pound number 1 Donald Curry, and what does Curry do? Loses to an unknown named Lloyd Honneygan. Comes close to securing a Hagler bout many times, when he finally thinks he has it, Leonard comes out of his retirement. Then had some injury problems when he finally fought at 160, he came up a tad bit short against Sumbalay.
Most of his real high profile bouts came at 160 after injury problems and well past his best years. Against Toney, you can tell he just didn't have any snap in his punch and he faded down the stretch but still made for a hell of a fight.
IMO, he is the best 154 lber ever and peaked with his KO over Curry. Even though Curry wasn't P4P number 1, McCallum was spectacular that night.
After him, Winky.
Id have to say Hearns is definitely up there.
Nino Benvenutti was great at Lm
Agree with Amat. McCallum, Hearns, Norris and then Winky
ive benn thinking for this for a couple of week ,but knda in tournament styles
154 is a odd weight it had some good 1 time champs like mugabi
also harry simon was a force
imo it was mccallum O0
Floyd will obvisouly claims it's him
Terry Norris had thrill factor.. very strong physically and very explosive , Norris had that warrior mentality win lose or draw he came to fight. he took on all comers.. Terry was very confident in his abilities and was very inspiring to be around in the gym . people like Holyfield and Norris make others around them want to work out harder , make others want to raise their level of performance and so on,Quote:
Originally Posted by El Gamo
Terry Norris was one of those fighters that was good for the sport.
Best Jr Middleweight ever . hell why not?
Norris is one of the most exciting fighters i've ever seen shame he had his demons and suspect chin i would of loved to have seen him fight Hearns that would be Hagler vs Hearns with knockdowns his fight with Waters was one of best 3 rounds ever his fight with Mugabi was brutal did you see his left hook he landed on Mugabi that made him do the Judah dance ?? that was brutal left hook and a brutal finish and his knockout loss to Jackson was brutal aswell man what a punch it was Jackson hit like a truck when you watched Norris you was always guaranteed an action packed fight Norris is best JR Middleweight ever for what he achieved and the excitement he brung.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lords Gym
these are my thoughts exactly.. ccQuote:
Originally Posted by ICE COLD BOXING
:coolclick: LG shame your not on much anymore your one of the top posters here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lords Gym
.Thanks for the kind words mate. . the feeling is mutual .Quote:
Originally Posted by ICE COLD BOXING
I miss this place mate , one of my favorite pass times ... unfortunately I will be very busy the next year or two. . I will log on as much a possible. I do enjoy chatting with everyone a great deal.. nice group of intelligent boxing fans here. This site is very well moderated , everyone utilizes a great deal of discretion, it is very much appreciated.
Hearns, McCallum then maybe Benitez...
#Quote:
Originally Posted by El Gamo
i think possibley harry greb(in his middleweight time) wood because i think he was one of the best 154 pounder he could fight the best out there with only one eye, mr greb takes all men twice his size and eats them for breakfastonly man to beat gene tunney just dont mention kid norfolk he makes my eyes water.
Norris for me
A hard list to make...Mainly because so many great fighters have been there at one point or another...Be it a start off point or passing point on the way to MW....Hearns, Leonard, Duran, Trinidad, etc...Terry Norris might be the number one because thats when he was "Terrible" Terry but others that could make a case for is...
Mike McCallum- The Body Snatcher was a bad man who beat other greats like McCrory, Jackson and Curry at 154 while WBA champion...He was never KO'd and 3 of his 5 losses came way past his best days and were at higher weights...2 of his 5 losses were to James Toney and 1 to RJJ..No shame there
Koichi Wajima- In the He held one version or another of this title. Pretty much for 7 or 8 yrs Wajima was always the man to fight in 154..It was not until the last couple of years of his career his chin started getting soft...He would lose one version of the title in one fight and pick up a defferent version the fight after that...
Fernando Vargas- The youngest JMW champion ever..Beat Wright and Quartey as champion won title from Yori Boy Campas when Yori Boy was only beaten by Trinidad and Lopez up until that point...
My vote goes to Terry followed by Mike.
Due to longevity and being that Terry lived at 154.... While others were there for a short period.
I always wonder why people comment on Greb. I mean how do you really know he was a great fighter?Quote:
Originally Posted by sexyboxer
Forgot about Tito he was awesome at the weight and beat Vargas who beat all the guys Daxx mentioned and Reid too. Although he would have lost to McCallum.
Yeah Norris probably achieved most at 154, maybe.. I would pick Hearns or McCallum at their best to beat him though, wouldn't even consider those pick em's whatsoever. As for McCallum vs Hearns, that would have been one HELL of a fight. They sparred together all the time at Kronk, apparently Hearns gave McCallum his nickname "the bodysnatcher".
though reading about him , and highlights on you tube i have seen but your right i dont have much to go by, but i agree its terry norris i just wanted to be different and the book i read on harry greb really sold him as a good fighter. i wish i could watch his fights , does anyone know why they werent recoreded fully?Quote:
Originally Posted by CutMeMicK
but i do think norris was best at light middleweight>?Quote:
Originally Posted by El Gamo
i think hagler would of eaten him up like pacman
norris had abit of supect chin, look what simon brown did to him
For me this is easy, Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns. Devestating at 154. To all the Norris being the greatest at this weight, didn't he get KTFO by Jullian Jackson at 154?
There was a time when nobody wanted to know Mike none of the big guns wanted to know when he was at his peak which was 154 he was a machine, Funny the shot that Kod Curry that people talk about was a fluke.:o