jeff fenech vs pernell whitaker

[buster007]

i don't care who would have won but it would have been great to see it.

i know most people would pick whitaker but i'm sure fenech would have given him hell.

[flamengo]

Wrong weight for Fenech to tackle with any authority.

[ranser]

i don't care who would have won but it would have been great to see it.

i know most people would pick whitaker but i'm sure fenech would have given him hell.


at what weight would they fight at??

[Phil Austin]

weight is immaterial, Jeff would never have gotten near Sweet-Pea! You are talking about a bloke who never dropped a round against Azumah Nelson

[Phil Austin]

Wahey! A Fucking post of mine actually lodged!

[teke]

weight is immaterial, Jeff would never have gotten near Sweet-Pea! You are talking about a bloke who never dropped a round against Azumah Nelson:deal What this gentleman said

[Rise Above]

I have to agree with Phil. Whitaker is in a different class.

[flamengo]

weight is immaterial, Jeff would never have gotten near Sweet-Pea! You are talking about a bloke who never dropped a round against Azumah Nelson


....whereas Fenech was dropped nearly every round against Azumah. Fair call Phil. :D

[ozziebattler]

Fenech was top shelf but lets be honest Sweet pea is just out of his league..

Fenech ofcourse would of went down swinging..Theres no doubt about that...

[buster007]

never dropped a rnd against nelson? u must have watched a different fight, that's complete rubbish. pernell may have been the better man but nelson managed to win at least 4 rounds.

what weight? well i think it's pretty obvious that it would be at 135.

fenech would have put much more pressure on pernell to make it interesting.

i'm certainly not saying that fenech would clearly win or anything but i think it would have been quite competitive. jeff was expected to have trouble in several fights but he would bulldog his way to victory.

[flamengo]

Bullshit... in the nicest possible way.

Fenech would have toppled against Pernell quicker than Phillip Holiday had 'iced' him. Had Fenech moved up in weigh sooner, he'd still be out of it. As soon as he'd met a strong sF/W (azumah in Melbourne) the impact on himself was clear indication to his future at any weigh class above Featherweight. Grove & Holiday both showed the same.

Fenech was great at pushing around smaller men in lower weight classes. As soon as he met great fighters comfortable in their own weight, he was on the canvas.

Probably find better arguements matching him with feathers.

[buster007]

i don't agree.

fenech was clearly the winner at the same weight against nelson in fight one. so he obviously had the ability. i think u will find it was his change in attitude and his heart wasn't in it amongst otherthings after he was robbed against nelson in the first fight otherwise he would have clearly gone back down in weight again as his body would have allowed him to. he just didn't have the same hunger anymore and had obvious badly damaged hands which made things very difficult for him.

[Ben K]

This fight couldnt be possible, Fenech was at his best at 126, If Whitaker could make 126 Fenech would batter him IMO. Whitaker was a lot bigger. If your going to talk of Prime VS Prime then theres a fair few KGs between them. At his ideal Weight Fenech would give anyone a tough night.

[JOSEY WALES]

This fight couldnt be possible, Fenech was at his best at 126, If Whitaker could make 126 Fenech would batter him IMO. Whitaker was a lot bigger. If your going to talk of Prime VS Prime then theres a fair few KGs between them. At his ideal Weight Fenech would give anyone a tough night.

Good point mate , P4P Fenech was a handful for anyone but in a straight P4P fight ? Sweatpea prevails imo .

[ozziebattler]

Lets all be realists for once..

Sweet Pea would never lose to the Mauler...NEVER....

[WhataRock]

Pea schools him..Jeff holds almost no advantages hear. Even power is pretty close as Jeff's hands and the extra weight takes some sting out of his power and Pea was a better puncher then he is given credit for at lightweight.

[Dr Gonzo]

jesus, sweet pea by rape

[Mr Butt]

i really like watching fenech but this is a scary fight whitaker would really give fenech a beating

[Flea Man]

Fenech would get sparked by Pea.

[brownpimp88]

If lou duva was smart, he would made this fight happen. A win over fenech would have looked great for sweet pea's resume.

[flamengo]

If lou duva was smart, he would made this fight happen. A win over fenech would have looked great for sweet pea's resume.

At Feather??

[COULDHAVEBEEN]

Crikey!

Didn't notice the dates at first and thought for a minute Phil Austin had returned from the ashes.

[perfect jet]

The pea would have beat Fenech at any weight with his shoelaces tied together.

That was the difference between those two.

[flamengo]

???? One could tie shoe laces???

[perfect jet]

???? One could tie shoe laces???

Pea would make Fenech tie his laces. Then own him.

For how long? depends how many lines he snorted beforehand. About 8 rds if he felt pity for Jeffery. :lol:

[htmonaro]

fenech was always big for his devisions and a hell of a punch rate,pernell was always to slick and harder to find than a g-spot,lol,sweetpea by a country mile!

[madmanc3210]

jesus, sweet pea by rape

:deal

[roscoe]

I always thought after Nelson beat Fenech in the rematch that he kind of did him a favour as the winner got the fight against Whittaker. Sweet Pea was head n shoulders above Fenech & would of made him look liek a B grade fighter. No hating on Fenech as a fighter just Pernells style was a nightmare for Fenech.

[woftam1]

Crikey!

Didn't notice the dates at first and thought for a minute Phil Austin had returned from the ashes.

it got you last year and me this year

[madmanc3210]

i always thought after nelson beat fenech in the rematch that he kind of did him a favour as the winner got the fight against whittaker. Sweet pea was head n shoulders above fenech & would of made him look liek a b grade fighter. No hating on fenech as a fighter just pernells style was a nightmare for fenech.


he would have looked worse than b grade

[buster007]

pff!!!!!!!!

[darkhorse]

..one thing I do know is that Fenech was on a streak...and he had that little something...naturally Whitaker was Whitaker 'and' a natural lightweight...'but'...that mongrel and tenacity that Fenech had back then can't be discounted...and he was a master at cutting off the ring..

[smallsteps]

Gee give old Fenech a break,sweat pea is one of the greatest light weights ever.Jeff is one of the greatest super bantums ever.Poor jeff next you will be matching him with oscar,suger shane and RJJ.

[madmanc3210]

Gee give old Fenech a break,sweat pea is one of the greatest light weights ever.Jeff is one of the greatest super bantums ever.Poor jeff next you will be matching him with oscar,suger shane and RJJ.


jeff loses to all 3

[aussie opinion]

even if witaker had a few rumies and a few flutes b4 he came out...give jeff as many caffine tabs and coke he wants and whitaker still stops him

[darkhorse]

Gee give old Fenech a break,sweat pea is one of the greatest light weights ever.Jeff is one of the greatest super bantums ever.Poor jeff next you will be matching him with oscar,suger shane and RJJ.

..not sure what's your era but if you remember back to the day...that was the match up everyone was talkin' about..

[StiffJab]

jeff loses to all 3

So your saying Fenech at lightweight would lose to a Middleweight in Roy Jones Jr??

I think your are onto something :patsch

[ipswich express]

..not sure what's your era but if you remember back to the day...that was the match up everyone was talkin' about..


It sure was. KO and Ring magazine were begging for it at one stage and it looked as though it may happen if Fenech beat Nelson.

[buster007]

that doesn't sound like jeff never had a chance to me.

besides, mijares was suppose to school vic and make him look amateurish at best.
jones jnr was suppose to be so far ahead of green that danny wouldn't be able to land a punch.
if jeff got the win like he should have and then fought, i think pernell's team would be far from overly confident.

[roscoe]

C'mon buster.......I admire your loyalty mate but Pernell was on top of his game back then as well. Sure it wasn't going to a walk in the park but no one was slicker than sweet pea in the whole boxing world at that time. I was a huge Fenech fan but when they spoke about that proposed bout I couldn't see a way he could possibly win. If ya get a chance you should watch the Whittaker v Nelson fight. Not only was it a beauty but it will show you also how good sweet pea was in his prime.

[buster007]

if it was going to be so one-sided, people wouldn't have insisted it be made imo.

[darkhorse]

I think it was a case of the boxing writers tryin' to come up with a opponent who could be any sort of threat to the untouchable Sweet Pea...and Fenech had the style that couldv'e been effective against the super 'cute' Whitaker...

[perko]

best sweet pea versus best fenech at lightweight at melbourne . odds sweet pea $1.20 fenech $4.00. 108% . sweet pea a massive favorite .

[TCboxa]

yall got this sht wrong, what religion are these two? hahahaa



im just kidding haha

[roscoe]

Just like Dark said it was a highly touted superfight in the making that Fenech was denied due to the bullshit robbery in the 1st fight. But he did get a 2nd chance at it but ran into a different Azumah in the rematch. Nelson go the shot but ran into a prime sweat pea who at the time was unbeatable.

[darkhorse]

..I think the intangibles in a Whitaker/Fenech matchup were Fenech's workrate and ability to cut the ring off...as well as he'd be showin' Whitaker no respect and be in there roughin' him up...the ultimate clash of styles really..

[buster007]

Just like Dark said it was a highly touted superfight in the making that Fenech was denied due to the bullshit robbery in the 1st fight. But he did get a 2nd chance at it but ran into a different Azumah in the rematch. Nelson go the shot but ran into a prime sweat pea who at the time was unbeatable.
or azumah ran into a different fenech.

[buster007]

yall got this sht wrong, what religion are these two? hahahaa



im just kidding haha
i like it!

and some people don't think u r great entertainment.

[darkhorse]

..well the Professor was renouned for winnin' his rematches...

[Dr Gonzo]

i missed this thread, glad i did

not only is Sweet Pea far too big for a guy who fought at 130 and below, he is 5 levels above Fenech. Fenech would get peppered with left hands, hooks on the inside and not land a glove on Pernell. It would be embarassing

[roscoe]

Thats the thing I don't get Buster. Fenech was well prepared for the rematch with Nelson on home soil, fit as a fiddle coming into that fight and was definately up for it mentally during the build up. I think he just got caught early & never recovered. Thats the only difference I saw in him.

[zoley]

Thats the thing I don't get Buster. Fenech was well prepared for the rematch with Nelson on home soil, fit as a fiddle coming into that fight and was definately up for it mentally during the build up. I think he just got caught early & never recovered. Thats the only difference I saw in him.

:good

Fenech never did anything different in the second fight than he did in the first. Up until the ko there was virtually nothing it. The difference in the second fight was Nelson. People use this ''Jeff was heart broken after the first fight'' That's bullshit, Fenech's two biggest assets were his fitness and his mental toughness both of which he still displayed in the second fight. He just ran into the real Azumah.

[buster007]

u have no idea about fenechs mental state so don't comment like u know for sure.

lets remember how bad his hands were, maybe he wasn't able to load up as much as he did in the first fight.

that's not azumahs fault, no.

but i think u people underestimate how rip-off decision in fight 1 affected jeff. again not azumahs fault.
u think what jeff went through to the point of fight 1 up to the end of round 12. all the years of pain, only to get ripped off like that.

[darkhorse]

i missed this thread, glad i did

not only is Sweet Pea far too big for a guy who fought at 130 and below, he is 5 levels above Fenech. Fenech would get peppered with left hands, hooks on the inside and not land a glove on Pernell. It would be embarassing

Whitaker was one of the best ever at his style of fighting...and Fenech was one of the best ever at his style of fighting...that clash would've been epic..:deal

[StiffJab]

Whitaker was one of the best ever at his style of fighting...and Fenech was one of the best ever at his style of fighting...that clash would've been epic..:deal

:thumbsup:thumbsupHELL YEAH:thumbsup:thumbsup

[The Spider]

Jeff Fenech never gave anyone an easy fight. Pernell Whitaker would likely have outclassed him but he would have got bruised along the way.

[buster007]

jeff might still make this happen. he got rid of the ring rust last fight.

[TCboxa]

it wasnt the same fenech full stop. And yes buster i know i have many fans lol

[riggers]

Anyone who thinks Fenech had a hope in hell against Pete is dreaming. Fenech was a fantastic pressure fighter. Pete was one of the top 3 ish defensive geniuses of all time. Now think about it. He utterly neutralized Chavez, who was better than Fenech. He survived the course when past his best against a peak Trinidad, so you think Fenech can stop him ? He ran a prime De La Hoya to the wire , again when past his best. He beat Nelson. He beat Ramirez. He beat McGirt. Fenech had no advantages over Pete. Not even chin, because no way in hell he goes 2 with Trinidad let alone 12. He held off 154lbers so he will hold off Fenech. This is not putting Jeff down. But its a bit like saying Lamotta beats Ali becsuse he had a good chin and closed the ring down well. Fenech is too small, slow, hittable, light punching etc etc to beat Whittaker .

[darkhorse]

Anyone who thinks Fenech had a hope in hell against Pete is dreaming. Fenech was a fantastic pressure fighter. Pete was one of the top 3 ish defensive geniuses of all time. Now think about it. He utterly neutralized Chavez, who was better than Fenech. He survived the course when past his best against a peak Trinidad, so you think Fenech can stop him ? He ran a prime De La Hoya to the wire , again when past his best. He beat Nelson. He beat Ramirez. He beat McGirt. Fenech had no advantages over Pete. Not even chin, because no way in hell he goes 2 with Trinidad let alone 12. He held off 154lbers so he will hold off Fenech. This is not putting Jeff down. But its a bit like saying Lamotta beats Ali becsuse he had a good chin and closed the ring down well. Fenech is too small, slow, hittable, light punching etc etc to beat Whittaker .

yep that's your opinion and I'll respect that but I'm sure your opinion was formed with plenty of hindsight...but lets remember back to the day the fight was actually bein' touted...it was 'THE FIGHT'...maybe not as big as a Mayweather/Pacquiao but still a fight of similar proportions...now I'm not gunna disagree with anything you've said about Whitaker..that's true...but Fenech had that little something...he wanted it...he was a fighter and he forced fighters to fight his fight...I don't think the result was a foregone conclusion...JMO :good

[Bollox]

There's absolutely no way Fenech comes remotely close to Whitaker, he'd be hitting air all night. Then he'd get frustrated. Then he'd perhaps try to knee Whitaker in the balls as he tried doing to Nelson in the rematch. Fenech was a sook when things didn't go his way and Whitaker would have made it that Fenech wouldn't haven't gotten anything his way. If it went the distance Fenech would barely have won a round

[buster007]

sorry, but that sounds like a haters opinion.

[Bollox]

Nah, not a hater of Jeff Fenech at all. Infact I followed his career closely from the very start and thought he was a fantastic fighter. Then through the years I started to question him and his standing in the game. In reality he was a mini Tyson in that he was a bully and when someone stood up to him he was found wanting, and especially when he didn't have advantages to fall back on....fighitn at home, being a massive bantam / junior feather come fight time, defending against the likes of Greg Richardson who couldn't even make it to anywhere near 122. His antics after the Zarate fight though, was the one which made me seriously question him. He had a massive dummy spit when he thought Zarate had been awarded a technical decision due to a cut

I stand by my claim that Fenech is beaten easily by Whitaker, to the point of embarassment. Whitaker was bigger, faster and a much better fighter

[buster007]

he fought in vegas thousands of k's away from home against a warrior and beat the crap out of him.

[Bollox]

Yep, fantastic performance from Fenech in that one. If there was fair judging in that fight he would and should have won a close UD. One of the traits of a great fighter is how he handles adversity in the ring and Fenech handled it badly during most of his career. After being robbed he thought the rematch would be a walk in the park (that's a direct Fenech quote) . He didn't do any homework and Nelson obviously did. I was there for the Nelson rematch and he was humiliated by a great fighter

[TCboxa]

Yep, fantastic performance from Fenech in that one. If there was fair judging in that fight he would and should have won a close UD. One of the traits of a great fighter is how he handles adversity in the ring and Fenech handled it badly during most of his career. After being robbed he thought the rematch would be a walk in the park (that's a direct Fenech quote) . He didn't do any homework and Nelson obviously did. I was there for the Nelson rematch and he was humiliated by a great fighter

spot on m8, its the same with most fighters he trained as well.

[darkhorse]

Nah, not a hater of Jeff Fenech at all. Infact I followed his career closely from the very start and thought he was a fantastic fighter. Then through the years I started to question him and his standing in the game. In reality he was a mini Tyson in that he was a bully and when someone stood up to him he was found wanting, and especially when he didn't have advantages to fall back on....fighitn at home, being a massive bantam / junior feather come fight time, defending against the likes of Greg Richardson who couldn't even make it to anywhere near 122. His antics after the Zarate fight though, was the one which made me seriously question him. He had a massive dummy spit when he thought Zarate had been awarded a technical decision due to a cut

I stand by my claim that Fenech is beaten easily by Whitaker, to the point of embarassment. Whitaker was bigger, faster and a much better fighter

...there's alot of merit in what you say but the thing with Fenech at that particular time that he was 'peakin''...that is something that no-one can see when you look back and compare records...and I'm not sayin' Whitaker wasn't red hot at that time either because he sure was...either way you look at it..it was a juicy matchup..

[Trumpy]

You know its amazing how people get there perceptions of things , especially after time goes by . So let me refresh your memories , Fenech was a freak , Jeff had this uncanny ability to drop down weight and retain his strenght , This is what made Jeff a great , he was awsome , people say he got stronger has the fight went on , not true , they got weaker and he stayed the same , his fitness and his strenght allowed him to out muscle and outwork guys with superior skills .

This remarkable ability to retain his strenbht whilst dropping weight was simply the thing that made him so good , I distinctly remember having a concversation with another trainer at the time who said Fenech wil beat Lester , my answer was , NO HE WILL NOT because it will never happen , has i suggested then it will not happen because , Mordey and Lewiss are not stupid , they know Jeff will never ever throw Lester around and Lester will be too big for him .

How anyone can ever assume that Jeff Fenech a guy who got knocked out every tiome he fought at lightweight , would beat a all time great in Pernell is ridiculous he would off been knocked out quicker , .

Jeff was a great fighter at the lower weights but at lightweight , stuff the excuses he did'nt have the one big advantage he had in the lower weights , strenght and did'nt have the skills to compensate for that lack of strenhgt at the higher weight .

Jeff Fenecch great fighter ,,,, Certainly

Hall of Famer ,,,,, Certainly

Slayer of giants ,,,, Definetly not

[zoley]

he fought in vegas thousands of k's away from home against a warrior and beat the crap out of him.

Gee Buster that's a big statement. Lets be a bit real. It was a draw, Aussies will always call it a robbery but not everyone saw it that way. The rematch was given without hesitation and Nelson travelled thousands of K's and ended any arguement about bout 1.
As for Whitaker, what fight did Jeff have at 135 that convinced anybody that he could compete with Whitaker ?

ps. Not a hater, just a realist.

[The Spider]

he fought in vegas thousands of k's away from home against a warrior and beat him.

I took 3 words out of your earlier post (the crap out of) and what is left above I agree with wholeheartedly.

[ipswich express]

Gee Buster that's a big statement. Lets be a bit real. It was a draw, Aussies will always call it a robbery but not everyone saw it that way. The rematch was given without hesitation and Nelson travelled thousands of K's and ended any arguement about bout 1.
As for Whitaker, what fight did Jeff have at 135 that convinced anybody that he could compete with Whitaker ?

ps. Not a hater, just a realist.

Anyone with a pair of eyes that work and an ounce of ability to judge a fight knows that Fenech was robbed that afternoon in Vegas. US boxing publications saw it no differently.

[TCboxa]

It was Aussies introduction to Don King, well atleast it was for me lol ^

[buster007]

Anyone with a pair of eyes that work and an ounce of ability to judge a fight knows that Fenech was robbed that afternoon in Vegas. US boxing publications saw it no differently.
he's a realist? lol

he knows who really won, but...

[TCboxa]

everyone knows who won m8 even the american commentators had Fenech winning, one of the biggest robberies in the sport of boxing. He made a great fighter look adverage and almost knocked him out in the last round. It was one of the best performance of Fenechs career.

[darkhorse]

You know its amazing how people get there perceptions of things , especially after time goes by . So let me refresh your memories , Fenech was a freak , Jeff had this uncanny ability to drop down weight and retain his strenght , This is what made Jeff a great , he was awsome , people say he got stronger has the fight went on , not true , they got weaker and he stayed the same , his fitness and his strenght allowed him to out muscle and outwork guys with superior skills .

This remarkable ability to retain his strenbht whilst dropping weight was simply the thing that made him so good , I distinctly remember having a concversation with another trainer at the time who said Fenech wil beat Lester , my answer was , NO HE WILL NOT because it will never happen , has i suggested then it will not happen because , Mordey and Lewiss are not stupid , they know Jeff will never ever throw Lester around and Lester will be too big for him .

How anyone can ever assume that Jeff Fenech a guy who got knocked out every tiome he fought at lightweight , would beat a all time great in Pernell is ridiculous he would off been knocked out quicker , .

Jeff was a great fighter at the lower weights but at lightweight , stuff the excuses he did'nt have the one big advantage he had in the lower weights , strenght and did'nt have the skills to compensate for that lack of strenhgt at the higher weight .

Jeff Fenecch great fighter ,,,, Certainly

Hall of Famer ,,,,, Certainly

Slayer of giants ,,,, Definetly not


Trumpy...my opinion is one that I formed back then...weighed heavily against the worlds biggest boxing brains...during them years I was reading 4 or 5 boxing magazines a month...cover to cover...when Fenech was on the cover of KO magazine just about everyone in the game had a opinion on that fight...I'm pretty sure amoung the experts that Fenech had plenty of fans...

[ipswich express]

Agreed Darkhorse. They truly were great days for boxing coverage. It'd be normal to see The Ring, KO, Boxing89, Boxing Digest, Boxing Illustrated and The Fist all in one newsagency. I still love digging out some oldies from time to time to have a read. My collection is fucking enormous.

[darkhorse]

Agreed Darkhorse. They truly were great days for boxing coverage. It'd be normal to see The Ring, KO, Boxing89, Boxing Digest, Boxing Illustrated and The Fist all in one newsagency. I still love digging out some oldies from time to time to have a read. My collection is fucking enormous.

..a young mate up in Townsville has probably still got my old collection...or part of my old collection...that'd be probably 10 years of consecutive Ring magazines at least...premo condition too...as well as the others you mentioned Ippy...I probably dumped just as many a few years prior...:verysad

[riggers]

Dark horse I agree fully Jeff was a freak of nature. If you were comparing him to a featherweight or a bantam. I would agree with what you are saying. He has a chance against anyone. But he was no light weight. Let alone an ATG light weight. The only way people are saying he can win is on heart and relentlessness . Some say he had bad hands and a broken heart for the Nelson rematch. No one mentions Nelson had malaria for the first fight. So is that performance in question too if the rematch

is ? It's all opinions, but Pete beat bigger and better men than Fenech . Because he was bigger and better. It's not a slight on Fenech, because Pek

te was better than nearly everyone in history.

[darkhorse]

Dark horse I agree fully Jeff was a freak of nature. If you were comparing him to a featherweight or a bantam. I would agree with what you are saying. He has a chance against anyone. But he was no light weight. Let alone an ATG light weight. The only way people are saying he can win is on heart and relentlessness . Some say he had bad hands and a broken heart for the Nelson rematch. No one mentions Nelson had malaria for the first fight. So is that performance in question too if the rematch

is ? It's all opinions, but Pete beat bigger and better men than Fenech . Because he was bigger and better. It's not a slight on Fenech, because Pek

te was better than nearly everyone in history.

yeah fair enough mate...I never said he'd beat Sweet Pea..only that it was the mega match up of the day...but at the time I doubt I would've backed against him...momentum was the thing...Jeff was on a roll..
..on Nelson...apart from the malaria thing..Azumah had not long lost his wife to cancer before that first fight...Azumah Nelson became one of my favorite fighters through all that

[darkhorse]

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I know i've gone mad copyin' and pastin' but look at Whitakers record...how many championship rounds does he have under his belt?

[ipswich express]

I think the malaria story is absolute bullshit. I don't think the NSAC would let him fight if he were showing the effects.

[riggers]

You can be clear of malaria but it takes a hell of a long time to get over. So he could well have entered the ring physically clear but physically drained !

[ipswich express]

He certainly didn't fight like he was suffering with malaria.

[sallywinder]

weight is immaterial, Jeff would never have gotten near Sweet-Pea! You are talking about a bloke who never dropped a round against Azumah Nelson

jesus!!! he's back!!.......i mean phil is back...:patsch

[sallywinder]

I think the malaria story is absolute bullshit. I don't think the NSAC would let him fight if he were showing the effects.

i agree..

joe frazier with a bout of malaria wouldnt do 12 rounds with fenech. let alone nelson.

[riggers]

Guys he could have been depleted by a bout of Malaria. It may have depleted him by 10% which is a random figure obviously. It may just have taken the sharpness off him, fact is the
Return was a hugely different fight. He was a very different fighter that night, malaria could have been.the reason

[ipswich express]

Possibly but I highly doubt it. He was a fighter known to be the master of rematches.

[Goyourownway]

A fighter suffering from malaria doesn't absorb the type of pasting that Nelson took and last the full distance against a relentless,smothering beast like Jeff Fenech - especially in putting up such a spirited effort in the process.Fighting at that type of pace,in the middle of the summer,out in the desert - it takes a fair bit of conditioning along with a strong will.



Nelson always had an excuse for a mediocre showing,or even in fights where he didn't look completely dominant.What happened to Fenech in the rematch was no different to what happened to Leija several years later.Leija has completely outboxed him in the rematch but Nelson managed to beat the daylights out of Leija in their third fight,despite being alot older and a largely inactive fighter at that point.

[darkhorse]

A fighter suffering from malaria doesn't absorb the type of pasting that Nelson took and last the full distance against a relentless,smothering beast like Jeff Fenech - especially in putting up such a spirited effort in the process.Fighting at that type of pace,in the middle of the summer,out in the desert - it takes a fair bit of conditioning along with a strong will.



Nelson always had an excuse for a mediocre showing,or even in fights where he didn't look completely dominant.What happened to Fenech in the rematch was no different to what happened to Leija several years later.Leija has completely outboxed him in the rematch but Nelson managed to beat the daylights out of Leija in their third fight,despite being alot older and a largely inactive fighter at that point.

..that's why they call him the 'Professor'...:thumbsup

[Liechhardt]

Whitaker's better p4p & would win convincingly.