Jimmy Young In The Current Heavyweight Scene

[Russell]

Lets say Young is active and in his prime doing the 90's and into the current boxing scene.

He's well managed, as stark contrast to how he was during his actual career.

What happens?

[ChrisPontius]

I think he'd do really well. He's basically a better version of Byrd - naturall a bit bigger perhaps but his his prime was really short. I'm very impressed by Young and i think the Foreman win was no accident; he'd give a lot of greats trouble. I remember Ali opening up on him in the 3rd or 4th round after doing fuck all in the first two. He threw something like 50-60 punches, and didn't manage to land a single clean blow. Even if that was an old Ali, it was impressive.

[Loewe]

Well, he would grab a belt for sure. I think he would lose to Klitschko but would beat Valuev and Peter and have a 50/50 fight with Chagaev and Povetkin. He would have some trouble with Ruiz also but would beat everybody else and be the consensus number two guy in the division.

[TBooze]

Young is no better than anything around today, boring as hell to boot, who would want to risk fighting him? He was not all that special, and replacing Ali and Foreman on his resume with Klitschko and Rahman makes him suck even more.

Young/Ruiz could lead to mass suicide!

[round15]

Young is no better than anything around today, boring as hell to boot, who would want to risk fighting him? He was not all that special, and replacing Ali and Foreman on his resume with Klitschko and Rahman makes him suck even more.

Young/Ruiz could lead to mass suicide!

Don't even put John Ruiz in the same sentence as Jimmy Young. That's just plain wrong! At least Jimmy Young wouldn't try his hardest to lose a fight on a foul. Have you ever seen Jimmy Young try to fight on his tippytoes seemingly jumping up in order to make a body shot look like a low blow? That comes from the John Ruiz school of boxing that I've seen in his fights and it definitely doesn't belong in boxing.

Jimmy Young was crafty and intelligent in the ring, beating an all time great and arguably getting robbed by an all time great.

John Ruiz mugs, hugs, holds, complains and cheats whenever he can to win a fight. He's horribly awful to watch and gets my vote as the worst excuse for a heavyweight fighter in the history of the sport.

I think Jimmy Young probably do OK if he was fighting today. Can't say if he'd hold a title but he'd win some fights.

[TBooze]

Jimmy Young was crafty and intelligent in the ring, beating an all time great

You could argue the same thing about Ruiz; John made the most of his talent, but that meant being boring, but he was good enough to beat an ancient Holyfield like Young did to Foreman.

[Russell]

You could argue the same thing about Ruiz; John made the most of his talent, but that meant being boring, but he was good enough to beat an ancient Holyfield like Young did to Foreman.

As if the two wins are ANYWHERE near comparable. :lol:

Laughable.

[Loewe]

You could argue the same thing about Ruiz; John made the most of his talent, but that meant being boring, but he was good enough to beat an ancient Holyfield like Young did to Foreman.

Yeah but Ruiz wasn´t fighting in the glory days of the 70s.

[Mendoza]

Young matches up best vs guys his size / slower handed fighters / poor offensive fighters / fighters with limited stamina. The problem with Young is he didn’t throw enough punches, and lacked power. Young was not very aggressive either.

I do not think Young beats Wlad. Povetkin, and Chagaev vs Young would be closer, but I think Povektin's and Chagaev's work rate woudl help them edge it.

I think Young could decision the likes of Valuev, and other fighters who find themselves ranked by Ring Magazine.

[Unforgiven]

I always find it interesting that people like to give Jimmy Young a lot of credit for "getting robbed" against the crappest version of Muhammad Ali ever, whereas Leon Spinks - who actually fought a far more positive and admirable fight against Ali - rarely gets a mention.

I'm not impressed by Jimmy Young. In that respect he'd fit in well with today's top heavyweights.

[janitor]

I think that he would beat anybody except Wlad, and he would have a chance there.

To be honest with you, Young would be a spoiler in any era. He would fight the best and somtimes beat them.

[salsanchezfan]

..............He was fat and boring; he'd fit right in. :good

[Muchmoore]

..............He was fat and boring; he'd fit right in. :good

:lol:

Come on, Young was a good fighter.

I see Young being a definite top 2, 3 fighter. He was so intelligent and his win over Foreman is not one to take lightly. While I think the Foreman of the Frazier fights beats Young, it would always be tough. Young is one of the great defensive fighters of all time, and I think he'd be able to outslick and outbox all of the slow fighters of today. Those are Peter, Virchis, Arreola if you include him. Valuev-Young would be interesting because Young was the better boxer but Valuev may be able to outwork him. The same goes with Povetkin, but I'd still favor Young over them. Wlad beats Young however, Young does not have the style needed to beat Wlad. It would look like a slightly more competitive Wlad-Byrd.

No way Ruiz beats Young. Foreman was not "ancient" like one poster said. He was less aggressive and mentally damaged but he was still a big tough hard hitter with a solid chin. Ruiz get's blown out even by that Foreman within 2 rounds.

[TBooze]

As if the two wins are ANYWHERE near comparable. :lol:

Laughable.

I know; Foreman had lost the plot; Holyfield although way past his best, still had fire in his belly.

Just trying to defend Jimmy a bit!;)

[tommy the hat]

Jimmy Young is very comparible to Chris Byrd. Probably could have achieved as much as Byrd did in his career had he fought in Byrd's era/

[Mendoza]

Well, he would grab a belt for sure. I think he would lose to Klitschko but would beat Valuev and Peter and have a 50/50 fight with Chagaev and Povetkin. He would have some trouble with Ruiz also but would beat everybody else and be the consensus number two guy in the division.

Povetkin with his work rate and skills would defeat Young. I think Chagaev would do the same. I do think Young could decision Valuev, and Ruiz though. Yes, I think Young could be a belt holder today.

Young's main problem was he didn't throw many punches, went backwards a lot and played defense. If he's matched vs an aggressive guy with skills, fast hands and stamina, Young does not have an ideal style to win.

If Young is matched vs plodder or a boxer type without big power, sure he can win.

Though Young beat Foreman and knocked him down, Foreman is so over rated these days its not funny. Watch Young vs Foreman if you dare.

[PowerPuncher]

Young's resume is amazing if you give him the benefit of the doubt in the disputed decisions he has wins over:

Ali
Foreman
Norton
Lyle
Shavers
Garcia (win over Norton)
Richard Dunn (which I'll only mention because after facing Ali my local sports centre that he was working on as a construction worker was named after him. He also fell and broke both legs while working at the sports centre. He had a niece with huge tits too)

So if scoring is fair you could see him knicking a decision over anyone today. Certain guys like RUiz, Chagaev, Peter and Valuev he'd school to quite wide decisions

[ChrisPontius]

I think Povetkin would be a bad stylistic matchup for him. An active swarmer who throws 70 punches a round is always bad news for a skilled boxer who is on the backfoot.

[PowerPuncher]

I think Povetkin would be a bad stylistic matchup for him. An active swarmer who throws 70 punches a round is always bad news for a skilled boxer who is on the backfoot.

Tell Floyd Mayweather that :yep

If the swarmer is throwing shots and missing and getting countered his output goes right down as he has to pick his spots better without being countered. The boxer also lands cleaner than the pressure fighter.

Remember Norton/Foreman had high punch outputs and are better than Povetkin. Young beat Foreman and probably/possibly should have got the decision against Norton. Povetkin can win but its hardly an easy night for him and he isnt a big favourate by any means

[Loewe]

Tell Floyd Mayweather that :yep

When did PBF ever fight a great swarmer? And don´t come on with Ricky Hatten, firstly he isn´t great and secondly there´s prove he was over his head at welterweight.

[ChrisPontius]

Tell Floyd Mayweather that :yep


Hatton was thouroughly beaten, but Castillo, who swarmed Mayweather, gave him all he could handle, despite being less greater a fighter.



Remember Norton/Foreman had high punch outputs and are better than Povetkin. Young beat Foreman and probably/possibly should have got the decision against Norton. Povetkin can win but its hardly an easy night for him and he isnt a big favourate by any means

Foreman high punch output? Are you kidding? Although i haven't done a count, i'll bet you that Foreman averaged (far) below 40 punches a round against Young, especially during the first 6 rounds. And although Norton is more active, he wasn't known for his work rate either.

Povetkin and Foreman are completely different fighters. Foreman is a slow, heavy, clubbing puncher with little technical skill. Povetkin does not hit nearly as hard, but throws a lot more, is technically brilliant and more accurate.

I'm not saying Young would be an easy fight for Povetkin, but i can imagine him winning. I think pretty high of Young, by the way.

[mr. magoo]

Truth be told, I think that although Young had the skills, durability and elusiveness to hold his own today, he would probably be better off dropping a few pounds and fighting at cruiserweight.

Jimmy was a great fighter, but I really don't think that he had the ability to hurt some of these big guys, nor get them to respect him. Sure, I could see him eeking out decisions over men like Ruiz, Toney, Peter, Maskaev, and a few others, but I can also see him dropping a lot of decisions as well.

[PowerPuncher]

When did PBF ever fight a great swarmer? And don´t come on with Ricky Hatten, firstly he isn´t great and secondly there´s prove he was over his head at welterweight.

Chavez - top3 at 130
Corrales - top2 at 130
Castillo - no1 at 135
Hatton - no1 at 140

How can Hatton be over his head at 147 when he weighed around 5lbs more on fight night than Mayweather?

Since when was Povetkin great?

[PowerPuncher]

1. Foreman high punch output? Are you kidding? Although i haven't done a count, i'll bet you that Foreman averaged (far) below 40 punches a round against Young, especially during the first 6 rounds. And although Norton is more active, he wasn't known for his work rate either.

2. Povetkin and Foreman are completely different fighters. Foreman is a slow, heavy, clubbing puncher with little technical skill. Povetkin does not hit nearly as hard, but throws a lot more, is technically brilliant and more accurate.

3. I'm not saying Young would be an easy fight for Povetkin, but i can imagine him winning. I think pretty high of Young, by the way.

1. I haven't seen the young fight but Foreman would Foreman sometimes throw 90-100punches a round. If his output was low it was either a bad night or Young made him think twice of doing so

2. Your right Povetkin isnt in Foremans league. Povetkin is pretty slow himself, Foreman was far more dynamic

3. I don't see it as an easy fight I think its a close 1, but I can see Young outskilling Povetkin who lets not forget hasnt really been in with a world class yet

Povetkin along with been slow is pretty easy to hit as Chambers showed

[Loewe]

Chavez - top3 at 130
Corrales - top2 at 130
Castillo - no1 at 135
Hatton - no1 at 140

How can Hatton be over his head at 147 when he weighed around 5lbs more on fight night than Mayweather?

Since when was Povetkin great?

Where did I write anything about Povetkin?

I just pointed out that PBF never fought a great swarmer. Chavez, Corrales and Castillo are not swarmers, those are brawlers and not great.

[PowerPuncher]

Where did I write anything about Povetkin?

I just pointed out that PBF never fought a great swarmer. Chavez, Corrales and Castillo are not swarmers, those are brawlers and not great.

Bullshit, Castillo, Hatton and Chavez are the eptimomies of a swarmer, bobbing and weaving or sliding in with a tight guard, getting close using the jab (more so with Castillo/Chavez but Hatton jabbed too), and working the body and head from all angles at mid/close range. Now Corrales may not be a swarmer as in he doesn't fight at as close range but he brings a high punch output, works behind a jab, uses fast combinations and works the body. He isn't as good at cutting the ring off though

Brawler is a Gatti

[kickbxn5]

Jimmy Young would be today's Chris Byrd...well, not the shot Chris, but you get the picture.