Twist vs Laraque - What's all this then?

[BaddaBing Badda Boom]

Seems to me that Twist had the where with all to deal with Georges Laraque. I have never seen someone toss Laraque around like this: Apmed up, looks like Twist may have had a decent record against Laraque had they played long enough to establish a consistent rivalry

YouTube - tony twist vs laraque

[T800m101]

Twist said around this time he was 265 lbs...and that was all muscle, too. That's a lot of strength, especially for a 6'1 frame. Twist could rag-doll anybody, and he had a right hand that scared guys ****less.

Laraque on Twist: “Tony Twist was definitely the toughest player I have ever fought. Just hearing that name gives me the shakes, that was was the real thing, and I'm glad I came out of that fight alive!”

[OneilltheGiant]

Laraque was only coming into the league at this stage while Twist was still in his Prime at 30 .. I think Laraque was only 21/22 at the time so Laraque was still learning his trade while Twist was already a legend in the league..

The fight it self is not much of a fight and I had Laraque edging it until Twist gets out of his jersey, Laraque then has nothing to grab onto and as he tries to get a grip of something he is tossed about a bit.. The year before Brashear gave Laraque a proper beating and looked a lot more convincing in his win.. Laraque was a much better fighter a few seasons latter when he started to hit his prime...


I think a series between these two would be very close when both are in their prime.. Twist maybe edges it 4 wins to him, 3 wins to Laraque and 3 draws..

[battleship25]

TT seemed to land a couple of good shots............................. to the shoulders and back of BGL..... Not much of a fight, the reason BGL went down was because TT pulled out of his jersey and slipped to the ice. To me it looked like TT hit the deck with the only punch that counted, a quick flash kdn...but TT was up quick. I see this as all pretty short uneventful fights, a more seasoned BGL would be a physical match for TT. Like most of the TT fights...it would be a lot of flailling and throwing around, looks good from across the arena but often times is pretty uneventful. I liked a pre-roid TT much better ...seem to rely more on good punching and not so much of the throwing around...

[ewen21]

Put ANYONE in front of a prime Twist and Twist has at least a 50/50 shot. There may have been better fighters, but Twist's strength and overall rage/zest for fighting cannot be understated.

[Stan Jonathan#1]

Originally Posted by ewen21

Put ANYONE in front of a prime Twist and Twist has at least a 50/50 shot. There may have been better fighters, but Twist's strength and overall rage/zest for fighting cannot be understated.

Agreed and also like Twist a lot. No doubt.

But here against Kocur he wanted NO PART of fighting. This shows how good Kocur is. You can make the case it was not a great fight but the reality is Twist could not handle Kocur and knew it. WHen a fighter like Clark vs Kocur comes up it is comical...Clark leads with his head and is not beating the great Kocur.

Twist is a great one and I give him the edge here against Laraque. Below it is a diff story.


Can anyone make sense of what Battleship wrote? Can you say overanalyzing?

YouTube - Tony Twist vs. Joey Kocur

[battleship25]

Originally Posted by Stan Jonathan#1

Can anyone make sense of what Battleship wrote? Can you say overanalyzing?


YouTube - Tony Twist vs. Joey Kocur

Sorry BBBB, but I love the " follow the bouncing ball...", ah the always pugnacious SJ! ....I thought this was pretty clear...let me summarize:
1. Did TT land a punch to the head ....???? Probably not.
2. Did BGL land the only meaningful punch ..a short left which dropped him , but quickly rose. Yes.
3. Was it much of a fight .No
4. A more seasoned BGL...stronger , more mature, more experienced BGL would be close if not equal in strength to TT. Yes.
5. Would this be a series I would like to see ...NO.

SJ1 , can you explain where the "great JK" was when he was dropped by light hitting Bob McGill...didn't McGill lead with his chin. Clark hit 5 x harder than McGill.
How is Dave Brown taller than everyone else when his skates are the same height as everyone else?

Here's one I can ask myself....Why build a lighthouse when the Captain is blind??????

[Blues 34]

Originally Posted by Stan Jonathan#1

Agreed and also like Twist a lot. No doubt.

But here against Kocur he wanted NO PART of fighting. This shows how good Kocur is. You can make the case it was not a great fight but the reality is Twist could not handle Kocur and knew it. WHen a fighter like Clark vs Kocur comes up it is comical...Clark leads with his head and is not beating the great Kocur.

Twist is a great one and I give him the edge here against Laraque. Below it is a diff story.


Can anyone make sense of what Battleship wrote? Can you say overanalyzing?


YouTube - Tony Twist vs. Joey Kocur

That fight you show was in Twist's rookie year and he was not nearly as big for whatever reason or experienced at fightng at the time. Not saying this to take anything away from Kocur. Just pointing that out.

[T800m101]

Originally Posted by battleship25

Sorry BBBB, but I love the " follow the bouncing ball...", ah the always pugnacious SJ! ....I thought this was pretty clear...let me summarize:
1. Did TT land a punch to the head ....???? Probably not.

Actually he did. If you watch the fight in slow-mo, Twist landed two nice punches and out landed Laraque.

[Stan Jonathan#1]

Originally Posted by battleship25

Sorry BBBB, but I love the " follow the bouncing ball...", ah the always pugnacious SJ! ....I thought this was pretty clear...let me summarize:
1. Did TT land a punch to the head ....???? Probably not.
2. Did BGL land the only meaningful punch ..a short left which dropped him , but quickly rose. Yes.
3. Was it much of a fight .No
4. A more seasoned BGL...stronger , more mature, more experienced BGL would be close if not equal in strength to TT. Yes.
5. Would this be a series I would like to see ...NO.

SJ1 , can you explain where the "great JK" was when he was dropped by light hitting Bob McGill...didn't McGill lead with his chin. Clark hit 5 x harder than McGill.
How is Dave Brown taller than everyone else when his skates are the same height as everyone else?

Here's one I can ask myself....Why build a lighthouse when the Captain is blind??????

Kocur lost a few for sure but they all do. Kocur is a great GREAT fighter and better than Clark and would beat Clark. That I feel sure of. He looked impressive in most of his fights. Not sure why you bring up a few bads ones. Probert looked terrible too in some fights too. Ali got knocked down a few times. Kocur could take a good enough punch.

Brown is 6"5...you are losing me again like your analysis.

Twist landed some punches. Stop the drinking in the Am.

You see what you want to see Battle.

[Stan Jonathan#1]

Originally Posted by T800m101

Actually he did. If you watch the fight in slow-mo, Twist landed two nice punches and out landed Laraque.

Agreed and obvious. We have been told that Battle drinks early and often. Here is the evidence. Wow.

[ewen21]

Originally Posted by Blues 34

That fight you show was in Twist's rookie year and he was not nearly as big for whatever reason or experienced at fightng at the time. Not saying this to take anything away from Kocur. Just pointing that out.

Those two points have already been applied to Laraque in his fight against Twist. You simiply can't take a 21 or 22 year old version of a guy and compare it to the 29 or 30 year old version of the same guy. In most cases the athlete is physically and mentally stronger and in all cases he is more experienced and smarter. That said, a 30 year old Twist would DESTROY the 21 or 22 year old version. There is no question in my mind. He would probably tell you that. Same goes with most fighters who remain reasonably healthy as they approach 30. The physical strength, experience and smarts you gain make you a much different fighter.

I happen to be a fan of Kocur, but if someone is going to tell me he had his way with Twist....it sort of reminds me of that groupie who bagged Mick Jagger and then the next day drawled to one of her rock n' roll critic friends:
"He was alright, but he was no Mick Jagger"

In other words, the enduring image of a guy is what he was at his peak. If we are going to refer to other versions of the same fighter, writer, rock star, athlete, whatever....let's at least put things in the proper context.
Can we all agree to that?

For now on I will use the "He's no Mick Jagger" line whenever someone is guilty of what SJ just did

[Stan Jonathan#1]

Originally Posted by ewen21

Those two points have already been applied to Laraque in his fight against Twist. You simiply can't take a 21 or 22 year old version of a guy and compare it to the 29 or 30 year old version of the same guy. In most cases the athlete is physically and mentally stronger and in all cases he is more experienced and smarter. That said, a 30 year old Twist would DESTROY the 21 or 22 year old version. There is no question in my mind. He would probably tell you that. Same goes with most fighters who remain reasonably healthy as they approach 30. The physical strength, experience and smarts you gain make you a much different fighter.

I happen to be a fan of Kocur, but if someone is going to tell me he had his way with Twist....it sort of reminds me of that groupie who bagged Mick Jagger and then the next day drawled to one of her rock n' roll critic friends:
"He was alright, but he was no Mick Jagger"

In other words, the enduring image of a guy is what he was at his peak. If we are going to refer to other versions of the same fighter, writer, rock star, athlete, whatever....let's at least put things in the proper context.
Can we all agree to that?

For now on I will use the "He's no Mick Jagger" line whenever someone is guilty of what SJ just did

I agree Ewen that many/most fighters get better for all the reasons you mentioned. I actually even thought of it when I saw the fight as this was not the Twist that we come to expect. Being very young here is an excuse and he would have looked better but he still lost. No doubt that has to be a consideration and a prime Twist vs a prime Kocur is truly a classic matchup between heavies that come to fight and pack a great punch.

[battleship25]

Originally Posted by Stan Jonathan#1

Agreed and obvious. We have been told that Battle drinks early and often. Here is the evidence. Wow.

W- h---a--t ...who's drin--kin'...am not... (hick up!!)...Twist was the black guy in this one ..right !!!!

Jonathan lead with his face, Nystrom did too... I'll try and watch this snoozer again and see if indeed TT landed ...most of the time it was hard to tell if he landed or not....but it looked good...to most.

BTW... what is your drug of choice sj!.... I'm sure if we were to take a poll , pretty sure you'd have me by a country mile as far as who's on the funny sauce . Keep it up , I find it amusing at least .

[BaddaBing Badda Boom]

Originally Posted by battleship25

Sorry BBBB, but I love the " follow the bouncing ball...", ah the always pugnacious SJ! ....I thought this was pretty clear...let me summarize:
1. Did TT land a punch to the head ....???? Probably not.
2. Did BGL land the only meaningful punch ..a short left which dropped him , but quickly rose. Yes.
3. Was it much of a fight .No
4. A more seasoned BGL...stronger , more mature, more experienced BGL would be close if not equal in strength to TT. Yes.
5. Would this be a series I would like to see ...NO.

SJ1 , can you explain where the "great JK" was when he was dropped by light hitting Bob McGill...didn't McGill lead with his chin. Clark hit 5 x harder than McGill.
How is Dave Brown taller than everyone else when his skates are the same height as everyone else?

Here's one I can ask myself....Why build a lighthouse when the Captain is blind??????

Sometimes the term being "one sandwich short of a picic" crosses my mind. Looks like someone is feeling frisky and wants to pick a fight with ya!