He had no idea who I was talking about. That being said, if Stevenson is going to win, it has to be by knockout. "Stevenson was better than all of us," the Hall of Famer declared. His ferocious display made the boxing world pause and take notice. He dominated his opponents with an authority that can only be compared to Mike Tyson's knockout streak. In fact, with Stevenson's power and Ali's pride, it may have been dangerous. At this point, you are probably asking yourself: "If he is so great, then why haven't I heard of him?" ... Stevenson won over 300 amateur fights and was a 3 time Olympic gold medalist in 1972, 1976 and 1980. In his heyday, how would Stevenson have fared against the top dogs on the 70s, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman? Stevenson declined. 04-03 Roger Menetrey JAPAN. I posed the question to Foreman. He crushed Biggs with a short right hook (and yes, it was the hook, not a low blow, as Biggs claimed—watch the video repeatedly if you like) in the second round. A short film directed by Brin-Jonathan Butler exploring the Muhammad Ali and Teofilo Stevenson's matchup, one of the great mythical "what-if" fights in heavyweight history. ... Muhammad Ali v Teofilo Stevenson. He would travel often with the team. As an amateur, Tony Tubbs competed in 253 bouts, compiling a record of 240 wins and 13 losses—primarily in the heavyweight division. By 1977, when Stevenson was offered the fight with Ali, it is unlikely the great Ali could have beaten Stevenson. 14-13B Nino Benvenuti . But he was more of an ambassador for the sports programs and for the revolution. 04-03 Roger Menetrey ... 14-03 George Foreman . 15 Sep 1978: Muhammad Ali wins his third World Heavyweight Title against Leon Spinks. Gil Clancy, Foreman’s trainer, said, “It was hot as hell in the ring. Yeah, those could be described as a hybrid between Foreman and Ali as well: Quicker and more fluid than Foreman with more power than Ali. I posed the question to Foreman. Castro loved him. I turned to Bobby Cassidy Jr., a writer-filmmaker-playwrite living on Long Island. SEPTEMBER 21 -- Wide World of … The film contains the last known interview of Stevenson before his death. He had beaten George Foreman in '74 to regain the world heavyweight title and had defended it against Joe Frazier a year later in the Thrilla in Manila to … He might have become a five-time Olympic champion had the Cuban authorities allowed the Cuban boxing team to participate in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics, which … Offensively, Stevenson could land whenever he wanted. He was hallucinating from dehydration.” Foreman retired from boxing with a record of 45-2 (42 KOs) and became an ordained minister. Quite simply, Stevenson looks like someone took the DNA of Muhammad Ali and George Foreman into a lab and came out with Muhammad Foreman. Amateur career. Thanks for reading. It is difficult to tell when his drug problems started to affect his skills, as he was in rehab as early as 1985. Quite simply, Stevenson looks like someone took the DNA of Muhammad Ali and George Foreman into a lab and came out with Muhammad Foreman. Stevenson is one of only three boxers to win three Olympic gold medals, alongside Hungarian László Papp and fellow Cuban Félix Savón. He was the first Cuban athlete to become an international star under Castro.". In spite of this professional embarrassment, it is worth noting that Biggs was an exceptionally talented, 6'5" physical specimen. Simply from looking at skills and physicality alone, Stevenson would have been as difficult a match-up for Ali as any boxer who ever lived. The determining factor: We know Ali can go 15 rounds with the best. He likely would have added a record-setting fourth gold, had Cuba not boycotted the 1984 Olympics. He won the Val Barker Trophy (1972) and was honoured with the Olympic Order (1987). You can follow Alexander on twitter @thesportsdude7 or become a fan on his Bleacher Report profile. In order to cash in on his skills, Stevenson would have had to abandon his country and his people and he was simply too much of a nationalist to do so. Price. His skills as a boxer? Shortly after Stevenson's death, George Foreman told me Stevenson was far and away the best heavyweight fighter of his era. For the rest of us, the outlets of sports media have failed us. Ron Lyle was an élite member of the fighting brotherhood of American heavyweights from the 1970s that included Muhammad Ali, Ken Norton, George Foreman, Jerry Quarry, Joe Frazier and Earnie Shavers. And when Stevenson does land his right hand bomb, Ali, unlike the 19 year old American fighters, is still going to be there, hitting him back. Except that at a … Non Stop Boxing ... Stevenson vs George Foreman Stevenson vs Joe Frazier 12-22-2009, 12:58 PM #2: JOM'S. The fight we can best judge Stevenson, in regards to how his skills would have transferred to the professional level, was that against Tyrell Biggs, best known as the fighter who talked trash to Mike Tyson (a terrible life decision) only to be beaten mercilessly for seven rounds. Acolo îşi fac loc şi amintirile înfruntărilor speciale cu două legende ale pugilatului: George Foreman (SUA) şi Teofilo Stevenson (Cuba). And just how good was he? It's also ironic that one of the biggest stars in the history of Olympic boxing, Cuban sensation Teofilo Stevenson, recently passed. "Basically, he was living the life of a celebrity, as much as you can live that life in Cuba," Cassidy told me. With George Foreman, Leon Gast, Larry Merchant, S.L. He held some perfunctory positions with the boxing team. July 2, 1973: Teofilo Stevenson TKO2 Joe Frazier Smokin’ Joe had, in his last fight, been slaughtered by George Foreman in the “Down Goes Frazier Fight”, and there were a lot of questions about whether Frazier had the chin to handle a big puncher. @tyler. 02-23 Teofilo Stevenson JAPAN . People waved at him and honked their horns all the time when they saw him. Stevenson had later avenged the defeat in style at the 1972 Munich Olympics. 02-23 Teofilo Stevenson . "He was treated like a rock star. Teófilo Stevenson Lawrence (29 March 1952 – 11 June 2012) was a Cuban amateur boxer, who competed from 1966 to 1986. teofilo stevenson vs george foreman? He was Fidel's favorite athlete because, really, he was the face of the machine for so long. Muhammad Ali vs Teofilo Stevenson who would win?. Returned to boxing in 1987 to raise money for the George Foreman Youth and Community Center, which he founded in Houston in 1984. In 1976, after Stevenson won his second gold medal, he was offered $5 million to turn pro and challenge Muhammad Ali for the title. Remember that Ali had knocked out George Foreman in one of the most memorable and shocking fights in heavyweight history only two years earlier. MARCH 31 -- World Heavyweight Championship fight between George Forman and Ken Norton, won by Foreman with a second round TKO. Well, (and Butler's article goes into much further detail of this aspect) Stevenson was Cuban, and it would have taken deserting his home land to become a professional boxer. "Eram convins că produc miracolul" Cu americanul şi-a încrucişat mănuşile la Olimpiada de la Mexico City ('68), prima competiţie majoră pentru ambii boxeri. The press in Cuba doesn't enjoy the same freedom ours does, so when word emerged that boxing star Teofilo Stevenson had died on June 11, I wondered how much of what would emerge would be truth and how much would be propaganda. If the likes of Foreman and Frazier could not keep Ali on the canvas (only Frazier got him there, once), it would do the two of them an injustice to hand a theoretical KO to Stevenson. Ali too was susceptible to the jab, as he held his hands low, so the fighters would likely tear each other apart with their jabs and straights. TEOFILO STEVENSON recibe a Muhammad Ali en La Habana el 18 de enero de 1996. He was 35 years old with his skills in serious decline, as it was just months before his loss to the pedestrian Leon Spinks. It may happen, Spiritual awakening carries Collazo forward, Roach has full slate with Cotto, Provodnikov, Paul Malignaggi strikes a blow vs. obesity. Biggs defeated Lennox Lewis as an amateur and is said to have taken it to Tyson in a sparring match as youths and won the 1984 Olympic gold. It is impossible to compare a legendary amateur, no matter the skill set, to the consensus greatest heavyweight of all time that is Muhammad Ali. 1- Teofilo Stevenson will outbox Big George Foreman in 3 rounds. I consider myself a boxing junkie, and at 23 years old had never heard of Stevenson until I read an article, "Muhammad Ali vs. Teofilo Stevenson and the Fight that Never Was," by Brin-Jonathan Butler. Louis had reason to complain about the seedings after facing under-seeded Teofilo Stevenson in a tough first-round match and then drawing another big under-seed in Jeffries for his second fight. The world had never seen a heavyweight with the tools Stevenson brought into the ring. … Feel free to leave comments thanking me for my work or calling me an idiot for my thoughts. MANILA ICE . Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon are legendary heavyweights – on the amateur level. Stevenson knocked him down three times in the third and final round. He said, with a smile, 'I've spent enough time in gyms.' Stevenson won over 300 amateur fights, three World Championships and three Olympic gold medals. Stevenson was at his peak. 14-03A George Foreman (Tiny bend) 14-13 Nino Benvenuti. Holmes was an inch and a half shorter - but had a 3 inch reach advantage over Stevenson, and Lewis was a 1/2 inch taller, with a 6 inch reach advantage! Incidentally, it is the 40th anniversary of Stevenson winning his first gold medal in Munich Germany back in 1972. He had the best right hand in amateur history. Then he came at you. "I asked him how come he didn't train fighters, like so many of his contemporaries did. He even seemed to buckle Stevenson's knees in the first round with two overhand rights. He'd have kept the heavyweight title the same way he did in the amateurs. He was bigger (6'5″, 220 pounds) and deadlier than George Foreman, yet boxed with effortless grace and intelligence. yes bro stevenson did not beat any big named fighter because he did not turn professional but he surely had the potential of becoming a big time boxer. Foreman was far stronger, and would have simply cut off the ring, and overpowered Stevenson. Winner by first-round TKO, GEORGE FOREMAN.---2 Joe Louis vs. 15 James J. Jeffries. 14-13A Nino Benvenuti . Stevenson's Olympic track record only shows his skills over four two-minute rounds. He created the documentary, "A Fighting Chance," which delves into the Cuban boxer experience. Teofilo Stevenson, who has died of heart disease at the age of 60, was one of the best heavyweight boxers of his generation, and was widely regarded as … But it is fun to think about isn't it? However, these knockouts were against amateurs. ... Con una pegada similar -o quizá mínimamente menor- a George Foreman y una estatura impresionante. His opposition had been undistinguished, however, and a victory over Teofilo Stevenson at the 1971 Pan Am Games was Bobick’s only true claim to fame. Smokin’ Joe Frazier won gold in 1964, and George Foreman grilled all competitors to do the same in 1968. He had won 38 professional fights, 32 by knockout, and was boxing’s latest “Great White Hope”. He never turned pro ... a shame. 2- Wladimir Klitscho is a better professional fighter than Odlanier Solis but as an amateur Solis was better. He drank a lot. ", Trainer: Bujaj 'the best fighter in the world', Brooklyn's Collazo can't beat Khan's best, Tyson: Today's fighters 'have to stand up', Collazo: 'There's nothing intimidating to me', Battle of the Serrano sisters? Mandatory Credit: Allsport UK/Allsport, Muhammad Ali vs. Teofilo Stevenson and the Fight that Never Was. There was more. Defensively, he was vulnerable against a fighter with exceptional reach and a great jab, as Biggs was able to land against the Cuban sensation. ... That means Wilder (42-0-1) has scored a knockout in 98 percent his victories, an all-time record. Ok, if you are over 35, you have probably heard of Teofilo Stevenson. His response, "but what's a million dollars compared to the love of eight million Cubans" is perspective on a country where athletes' talents are government property. I have Ali in an epic, hard-fought split decision. He had the Foreman-like power that would knock opponents silly with punches he did not even step into. Big George always has a puncher chance but 3 rounds isn't long enough for him to get lucky. Bobick did not get out of the quarterfinals. In his heyday, how would Stevenson have fared against the top dogs on the 70s, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman? George Foreman v Earnie Shavers. In a 1976 match between the USSR and the United States, Tubbs lost by knockout in the second round to future Soviet Heavyweight Champion Igor Vysotsky.. It was the same amount that had been offered to Foreman. I think the clsest they came to fighting was in 1977. 02-23A Teofilo Stevenson . Boxing was huge, too, before '76, with American gold medalists Cassius Clay in '60, Joe Frazier in '64, and George Foreman in '68, and IIRC, Duane Bobick losing the '72 heavyweight gold to Cuba's Teofilo Stevenson. "This is what I … In fact, Stevenson was once offered $5 million to fight Muhammad Ali. In the '84 Biggs vs. Stevenson match-up, we get a good look at what the Cuban sensation would have looked like as a pro. "He took his time like a pro. Directed by Brin-Jonathan Butler. How would Stevenson fare against a prime Ali and the rest of greats from the famed 1970s era (Ali, Foreman, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton) of heavyweight boxing? He claimed to be “the greatest”, but it took more than loud proclamations for Ali to win over millions of people and actually be remembered as The Greatest by so many boxing fans [1]. Foreman was an inch shorter than Stevenson, but had a 1/2 inch reach advantage. “Stevenson is the best – better than Foreman or Frazier and as good as Ali,” said Bob Surkein, a former boxer and the head referee at Montreal. Except that at a shade under 6'4," he was taller than both of those legendary fighters. But still, odds are Stevenson's going to come to Ali and like most big, slow hitters (Liston and Foreman) Ali would counter him to death. Since I couldn't dig up much stuff on Stevenson after he left the ring, I asked Cassidy to fill in the gaps for me. In 1978 Tubbs lost in the quarterfinals of the world Cup to Cuban boxer Teofilo Stevenson. thanks for the good answer. After reading Butler's article, I called one of my best friends, the only person I know who can go toe-to-toe with me in boxing history, and asked him if the name Teofilo Stevenson meant anything to him. Update: @mike. Quizá mínimamente menor- a George Foreman grilled all competitors to do the same that! 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