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Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS
Hey, I was wondering if any of the ..ahem... more seasoned amoung us may have seen Larry Boardman fight? CONN
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Larry Boardman was a terrific puncher with either hand. He had an average jab, a terrific left hook and a horrific right hand. He was also a lusty body puncher and when in close quarters possessed a beautiful left uppercut. He had a good chin and an average defense. He was fearless and very aggressive.
His biggest drawback was against fast moving and elusive boxers. When he got frustrated he had a tendency to be very wild.
As a kid my dad took me to the fights. The first fight I attended was Boardman against Wallace Bud Smith. Boardman was substituting for Tony DeMarco. Boardman was dropped in the first and ninth rounds, but was competitive through out. He showed a lot of guts, fighting back strongly from each knockdown. Boardman got the decision, but I thought Smith had the edge.
The next time I saw him was against Sandy Saddler. He really dominated Saddler and won an easy decision. He stunned Saddler on several occasions. The next time I saw him was on TV when he made his TV debut against Frankie Ryff. In the ninth round he scored one of the most devastating knockouts I had ever seen. It was a thing of beauty – a terrific right cross right on the button. Ryff was down and out for quite awhile.
He was back in Boston and looked terrific stopping Jimmy Carter. I was surprised at how many times Larry hurt and dropped Carter with sucker right hands.
Then Larry broke this young kid’s heart when Orlando Zulueta boxed him silly at Boston Garden. Zulueta kept his left jab in Larry’s face all night long. He never gave Larry a chance to mount any kind of sustained attack. Larry’s frustration was obvious, as he didn’t land a significant punch at any time. Larry was wilder than I had ever seen him, even falling part way through the ropes on one of his wild rushes.
Against Tony DeMarco he was lucky to go the distance. DeMarco was just too strong. Tony dropped Larry twice in the fifth round I believe, and won going away. Boardman showed a lot of heart in staying the distance.
Johnny Busso dropped Larry twice in their fight in Boston and won an easy decision. I had expected an easy win for Larry, but Busso just outboxed and outpunched him. Thinking about it now, Larry was probably starting to slip after the DeMarco fight.
In his rematch with Busso he didn’t look to be the same fighter I had seen earlier. He was dropped 7 times in suffering his first stoppage loss. He did manage to drop Busso once during the fight. He showed tremendous courage, however, getting up six times. It was a very sad night for me.