Top 5 best win of 2012.

[and the NEW]

Fitz Wrote:He got dropped against Whitaker as well, but it was a weak knockdown where he was not hurt at all. I also watched a fight not long ago where he was dropped in the first round against Valenzuela, though very early in his career (with about 10 fights) and he went on and stopped him in the same round anyways. Off memory, that was probably the most legit knockdown he suffered and it was a nice shot. But very early in his career.
He has an excellent beard though.

Correct. Early in his career he was put to the deck hard. He was also put down by Campanella. And I remember many commentators questioning whether he had the beard for pro.

Gamboa's beard could prove to be much more stern than we (including myself) are giving him credit for.

[ViperSniper]

Seeing Gamboa dropped the way he did in his last fight put more faith in his ability to take a punch! That was a big, timed shot that rocked the shit outta Gamboa & Gamboa didn't even hit the deck hard when most woulda been out for the count.

Not to mention Gamboa was moving up in weight, his opponent was a heavy hitter & it was late in the fight when Gamboa was far from being cold.

[Fitz]

I'm going to see if I have the Campanella fight, if not try and download it.
Yep, I was pretty impressed how Gamboa rebounded from the knockdown. I remember the punch being connected perfectly and seeing his neck push back hard in one of the replays.

[BrutalBodyShots]

DLH's chin was always first class.

Flash knockdowns don't always equate to a shitty chin.

[blackbelt2003]

There was a big "?" over Oscar's chin when he was a young pro...but I think that was a case of him being a young man boiling himself down to super featherweight when he was too big for the division. By the time he was up at jr welter/welter, where he belonged, he actually had a granite chin.


When you think of all the massive punchers he's faced, it's remarkable that he suffered so little damage over his career. It's testament to his ability to take shots on the jaw and fight back hard.







Black

[BrutalBodyShots]

I think lots of guys when they're just starting out have a tendency to get rocked or even KO due to the fact that they're cutting so much weight. Didn't it happen to Pacquiao early in his career? Cotto got rocked easily when he was melting down to 140 too.

[and the NEW]

blackbelt2003 Wrote:When you think of all the massive punchers he's faced, it's remarkable that he suffered so little damage over his career. It's testament to his ability to take shots on the jaw and fight back hard.







Black

Styles make fights and Oscar was a maestro at adapting. He wasn't a wrecking force in his big wins, but he held his own with absolutely everybody (even Bernard for several rounds when Oscar couldn't bust a grape and had no place as a middleweight).

Although the way he sliced and diced a still very dangerous Chavez up in their first fight, was a very one sided fight! And Chavez wasn't nearly as far gone as people thought at that time. He would still have beat many top level fighters.

[BrutalBodyShots]

Absolutely. I think Chavez was 33 when he faced DLH, maybe 34 at most but you'd think he was like 40 the way people talk about that fight in hindsight.

[torvix2000]

How about the counter left hook from Quartey which found DLH's jaw near the neck. It made DLH cling for dear life.

[Big Slim]

Andre Ward is another guy who seems to have answered some early chin questions. He was put down more than once in his earlier fights too I believe.