How good was Eddie Machen?

[DarkTerror88]

I watched his fight with Frazier from 1966 and he looked fairly good.

What are your thoughts?

[Obama]

I watched his fight with Frazier from 1966 and he looked fairly good.

What are your thoughts?

That's when he was washed up. You need to watch him when he was still prime. Machen is easily one of the 50 best Heavyweights ever. I'd say 40 best.

[Scott9945]

Machen was an outstanding heavyweight in the late 50's. He should have gotten a title shot but his style wasn't very exciting and the KO loss to Ingo in Sweden really set him back.

[Greatest1942]

Machen was an outstanding heavyweight in the late 50's. He should have gotten a title shot but his style wasn't very exciting and the KO loss to Ingo in Sweden really set him back.

That loss though brutal , shouldn't affect Machen's legacies. He was a great fighter .MAchen was tough,had a good chin and was a fine boxer.

He was rated in the Top 10 from June 1956 to March 1966, for a total of 109 months. His highest rating was of course, #1. Not a mean achievement and few I believe achived it. I have the Machen-Quarry film, Quarry was very young and inexperienced back then but Machen's win, a sliding Machen's win mind you over him was mighty impressive.

[Greatest1942]

While we all know HowListon did against the ever moving Clay I sincerely believe Machen showed the way to beat Liston long ago. Here is a excerpt from Sports Illustrated :-

"When Eddie Machen fought Liston on Sept. 7, 1960 in Seattle, Machen appeared to be running for his life. If this was his only intention, Machen succeeded admirably. He was on his feet as the 12-round bout ended. Machen claims he fought Liston with only one arm, that he had hurt his right shoulder sparring with Willi Besmanoff a week before the fight. "I needed the money, so I fought him anyway," Machen says. He also says he might easily have won had he punched more, or at all. His excuse is not important but the strategy he developed is.

From the opening bell, Machen retreated, forcing Liston to move and turn, never presenting an open target. It was not a wild, fearful panic; it was clever and effective. And as he moved, Machen taunted Liston. "C'mon, Big Punch," he said. "C'mon, show me that big, terrible punch." Furious, Liston took off in pursuit, swinging wildly."

Machen was a very clever boxer puncher, ultimately he might have showed the world one glaring weakness in Sonny. Still without all this his 109 months in the top 10 more than says about his ability.

[TheGreatA]

He was a solid technical boxer who did most things well. He could punch a little and could also take a punch. Machen also made one of the more impressive comebacks to the sport after suffering a mental breakdown in the early 1960's, which culminated in him trying to take his own life and being sent to a mental hospital to recover. Frustration about not getting the title shot that Machen felt he long deserved may have played a part in it.