Coasting - What Fighters Truly...

[Russell]

Took it easy in the ring on their opponents?

George Foreman's second career was strange because I saw him take it easy on so many opponents. It almost nullified what he established during his first career as a coldblooded killer in there.

I think Foreman was very aware of how over matched many of his earlier comeback opponents were. He was literally dancing lightly on his feet making the crowd laugh against Frank Lux. I've rarely seen a fighter be so casual like that. He kept walking away from Lux. Wiping off his face. Taking his time. It was strange.

He'd hit so many of these guys with single shots, and wait to watch them fall. No follow up shots. No attempt at a combination. Just waited to see if his opponent would fight back and if he'd have to hit them again. The killer instinct was gone. I guess he just didn't have much to prove and wasn't the person he was years before.

When he was in a real fight he could still turn it on. His ability to finish against Cooney was scary. But even more often he just cruised.

So, who else, and why?

[bladerunner]

Roy Jones.

[GPater11093]

oscar de la hoya was a bit partial to this

IMO a true fighte would never coast as he could still be losing on the cards by bad jusdging and its a bit whussy

[CottoDaBodykill]

tyson took it easy on biggs ...

does anyone have the foreman vs lux fight

[Rebel-INS]

Chris Eubank.

[Duodenum]

Nicolino Locche. When I watch Locche-Fuji, and see the way Nicolino repeatedly whacks him with deadly left hooks downstairs, nasty counterhooks to the head, and sends Fuji's head almost to the moon with right uppercuts inside, then look at his fantastically anemic knockout record, I can only reach the conclusion that he simply preferred to make most of his opponents look bad. But challenging for Fuji's title on the Champion's adopted home turf, he really beat the shit out of the Hawaiian.

Willie Pep. Again, this is somebody who could apparently hit when he chose to. When he unified the World Featherweight Title, he fractured Sal Bartolo's jaw.

[janitor]

I think Lennox Lewis eased up against Oliver McCall in the second fight when he saw he was helpless.

He could have opened up, but he just jabbed him enough to force a stoppage.

[bladerunner]

I don't think Roy Jones was or is the type of person to purposely not KO a fighter. His ego was tremendous and he seemed to really relish in every one of his KO's with great joy. That does not seem like the type of personality to let things like that slide.

I can't think of any fighters really who I could say purposely did not want to KO another fighter unless perhaps they had been trying to take a dive...

Or maybe two fighters in the twilight of their career trying to just put on an exhibition for one last good paycheck knowing full well their paying days as fighters are over...

You have to remember that a KO would bring in more big money for a fighter as a means for generating interest in future fights so its unlikely for a fighter to not try for one seeing as how his livelihood is at stake.
Roy Jones didnt do it on purpose he did it because he was too cautios specially since he moved up to LHW you can see that in his fights against Reggie Johnson,Julio Gonzalez,David Telesco or even Tito had he pressed the action he couldve easily got the knockout.
some other examples are his fights with Richard Hall,Derrick Harmon and Otis Grant he couldve stopped them way sooner than he did had he not been so cautious.

[TBooze]

Larry Holmes very often took it easy, most famously against Ali.

Bugner made a career out of coasting, and wasting his talent.

Jones Jr should of been up there with Ray Robinson, but coasted though too many meaningless fights.

Whitherspoon, indeed all the lost generation where terrible coasters.

We will probably never know what Floyd Mayweather Jr could of done, because he wasted his talent fighting the fights he could coast.