Willie Pep is my favorite senior -school warrior. Two hundred and twenty -nine wins compared to 11 losses and one draw, won and regained the title of a featherweight, competed in three decades, and this is my favorite, he defended his title six months after the accident accident and told him that he never boxed again.

His defense and movement were legendary. He wore the nickname “Will about ‘The Wisp” because he slipped and left the ring, stopping to counteract and cause damage. He was stunning for watching and worth a deep diving on YouTube to recognize his championship.

As with many figures larger than life, the legend is surrounded by PEP. Perhaps the most strong legend is that PEP promised writers that he would win the round without throwing a blow. Before fighting Jackie Graves, a very solid opponent, he reportedly announced in the third round that he would win, having a zero crime. He often reports as truth in documentary films about PEP, and even wore two of three results cards in the third night.

The answer is definitely, probably not.

We know that PEP won the fight, but there is no movie. It was before reporters and filmmakers reported official results cards, so we can’t rely on it. In fact, reporting was so inconsistent in this era that AP and UPI did not agree to how many times Graves fell in the fight – one information service said twice and the other reported four charm.

Pep liked to talk about the round and said that he even wore an article about a fight that allegedly verified that he won the round without throwing a blow. Some even claimed that Willie wrote the article himself. At the end of his life, Graves said that he did not remember if he lost the round without throwing a blow, but he said that it was possible because it is hard to hit him.

“I believe he did it. The man was a legend and a star outside of boxing. He spent time spent with men such as Jackie Gleason and Frank Sinatra – why would he have to come up with something to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to seem to see “James Madio says. Madio played Featherweight, Bio-PIC 2024 PEP. Modern Yorker He said in his release of the academy that Madio should have been nominated for the best actor.

Regardless of whether the myth is true, he remains the fact that Willie Pep was one of the most elusive boxers who have ever entered the ring. His defense skills were really something that could be seen and you could see his influence on fighters such as Ali, Camacho and Whitaker. His leg work and lateral movement, his feelings and incorrect management and movement of the head made opponents stunned and often frozen. He slipped, hit, waited and paired with absurd balance.

Or is it all without throwing a blow to win the round?

“While the second boxer did not throw any blows, you can’t win a round without a blow,” says Joe Cusano. Cusano is for many years Pro Ref and a judge who appeared in the film-playing, of course, a judge. “He would have to throw something.” (Cusano’s book, MountainsIN will be released later this year.)

Could charisma Pepa facilitate him win a round without a blow? One part of the legend is that he told the judges what he was going to do.

“Hey, if Willie leaned over the ropes and talked to the judges who could have in their head and maybe influenced them,” says Madio. It would not be the first or last time the fighter influenced the judges.

To justify shooting a round for a warrior who did not throw a single blow, would require quite abstract thinking. After applying four scoring criteria, this would mean that there will be no pure impact and zero aggression, not to mention effective aggression. It seems to me that you can get points for general defense and ring, but usually these two supporting criteria count when they lead to a pure blow. If the warrior simply avoids without counteracting, this is not really worthy of points.

The opponent, as Joe Cusano emphasizes, would have to be complicit in his passivity, losing all his blows, and maybe even throwing. I think that if one warrior does not throw any blows at all, and the other boxer threw the blows that did not land, it is probably enough to give this warrior a round.

“I spent the whole day with Willie in Hall of Fame and we talked a lot about it,” says Mark Baker, a biographer of PEP. “It has always sounded shaky, and the more I caused, the more the story fell apart. In the end, Willie said that he probably stabbed or threw blows, but did not land. “

Ripping and throwing blows that may not land is completely different than not throwing everyone strikes. You can certainly win the round by doing these things.

“Willie was quite a figure and he had some stories of high stories,” says Baker.

Baker also has an insight into how the article was written and how the legend developed.

“At that time, reporters and writers sent their accounts through the wire,” he explains. “Their relations with the fighting were often quite faulty. On the Night of the Pep-Graves fight there was a lot of sun activity that would interrupt the broadcast. It would leave many holes in the relationship with the fight. The guy who wrote the article that Willa was carrying with him was a rather unclear reporter and could take this opportunity to write something sensational. “

Featherweight It will have a wide version in May at various stream points. Marek Baker’s book Willie Pep: Biography 20th The greatest feather knowledge of the century It is available at Amazon and the same applies to the upcoming boxing book Joe Cusano Mountains.