Michael Moorer, how good was he??

[lufcrazy]

Originally Posted by DrMo

Moorer showed in the Swindell I & Cooper fights he could handle adversity, he only got stopped by the very best.



I think's he's the best ever southpaw HW champion & the 5th best HW of the 1990s.

Yeah I'd rank him above iggy and Chagaev. I think it's arguable between him, sanders and Byrd though.

In terms of 90's

I reckon Lewis, Holy, Bowe and Tua rank above him.

So yeah I can live with 5th.

[DrMo]

Originally Posted by lufcrazy

Yeah I'd rank him above iggy and Chagaev. I think it's arguable between him, sanders and Byrd though.

In terms of 90's

I reckon Lewis, Holy, Bowe and Tua rank above him.

So yeah I can live with 5th.

I thought he beat Holy first time round & was doing really well in the 2nd fight until Holy landed a peach of a right hand. Moorer was also beating Foreman far more decisively than Holy did until that punch.

Post Foreman he came back well, beating Schulz in Germany & he really kicked the shit out of Botha. In the early 90's he had 2 very entertaining fights with Stewart & Cooper.

Sanders only really had one great win, Byrd had 2 but overall I think Moorer did more than both.

I have Tyson at 4 & Tua at 7.

[Cachibatches]

Originally Posted by Taylor_brogdon

Personally I think Moorer is one of the most underated HW's of the 90's. The man was an ATG LHW who won all fights by KO/TKO and did more than enough to compete with the HW's of the 1990's. How do you view his career as a HW?

He was extremely overrated.

The idea that he was an ATG at lightheavy is absurd. He beat no one of note, and was rocked by Leslie Stewart. Virgil Hill was the real champ at that time, and even Charles Williams would have made a good fight, though he would have destroyed Dennis Andries/Jeff Harding.

At heavy he beat Evander Holyfield because HOLY HAD A HEART ATTACK. He got knocked out by Foreman, who was still a fine fighter but who had been outboxed by even by weak Tommy Morrison.

Of course, he was destroyed by Tua.

People make a lot of his fight with Cooper- Cooper was a guy who was wrecked by Foreman, Bowe, and all sorts of other lesser guys.

Lets talk about his specific skill set:

Power- often touted as a great advantage, was only above average at heavy
Chin- poor, even shakey at LHW when he was rocked by Leslie Stewart
Boxing- somewhat enhanched by his artificial southpaw style, but even that created problems as it left him open for a right hand (Tua fight! Tua was not a right cross guy).
Heart- sometimes there (Cooper), but affected by huge lapses of concentration- like in the Foreman fight.

On the balance- would have made a great cruiser, but not a natural heavy. Got lucky

[JaimeHuesos]

Mental midget

[lufcrazy]

Originally Posted by DrMo

I thought he beat Holy first time round & was doing really well in the 2nd fight until Holy landed a peach of a right hand. Moorer was also beating Foreman far more decisively than Holy did until that punch.

Post Foreman he came back well, beating Schulz in Germany & he really kicked the shit out of Botha. In the early 90's he had 2 very entertaining fights with Stewart & Cooper.

Sanders only really had one great win, Byrd had 2 but overall I think Moorer did more than both.

I have Tyson at 4 & Tua at 7.

I meant Tyson btw.

The first was very close, did you score the kd round 10-8? And he was beating foreman but so what, the guy was ancient and inactive. MM was good though I just think he was never the best in any of his divisions.

You could argue the wlad blowout is better than anything MM did depending on how you rate fighters. I wouldn't but I don't think it's absurd.

Byrd I rate quite highly and I think they are the clear top 2.

[DREAMCATCHER]

Originally Posted by Taylor_brogdon

Personally I think Moorer is one of the most underated HW's of the 90's. The man was an ATG LHW who won all fights by KO/TKO and did more than enough to compete with the HW's of the 1990's. How do you view his career as a HW?

Moorer was a very skilled fighter but he was never a great HW. He was hurt by just about everyone he faced including Frans Botha.

He matched up nicely with smaller heavyweights, but the big guys would have always done a number on him because he was too easy to hit.

Entertaining fighter to watch and props for the Holy win.

[Scar]

ATG light heavyeight and great heavyweight.

[Ripple633]

A big fan of him, but he's kind of like Eddie Chambers, a natural cruiserweight. At HW he obviously was effected by the weight, he couldn't move as fast, and he had to fight flat-footed to hurt his opponents.

[vargasfan1985]

Originally Posted by Cachibatches

He was extremely overrated.

The idea that he was an ATG at lightheavy is absurd. He beat no one of note, and was rocked by Leslie Stewart. Virgil Hill was the real champ at that time, and even Charles Williams would have made a good fight, though he would have destroyed Dennis Andries/Jeff Harding.

At heavy he beat Evander Holyfield because HOLY HAD A HEART ATTACK. He got knocked out by Foreman, who was still a fine fighter but who had been outboxed by even by weak Tommy Morrison.

Of course, he was destroyed by Tua.

People make a lot of his fight with Cooper- Cooper was a guy who was wrecked by Foreman, Bowe, and all sorts of other lesser guys.

Lets talk about his specific skill set:

Power- often touted as a great advantage, was only above average at heavy
Chin- poor, even shakey at LHW when he was rocked by Leslie Stewart
Boxing- somewhat enhanched by his artificial southpaw style, but even that created problems as it left him open for a right hand (Tua fight! Tua was not a right cross guy).
Heart- sometimes there (Cooper), but affected by huge lapses of concentration- like in the Foreman fight.

On the balance- would have made a great cruiser, but not a natural heavy. Got lucky

GTFO. Got lucky? Cut me a break.

[DrMo]

Originally Posted by lufcrazy

I meant Tyson btw.

The first was very close, did you score the kd round 10-8? And he was beating foreman but so what, the guy was ancient and inactive. MM was good though I just think he was never the best in any of his divisions.

10-8 Holy but Moorer had the upper hand for most of the fight after Holy hurt his shoulder. I was impressed with his performance vs Foreman, looked very good offensively until disaster

I agree he was never the #1 in either division but he did achieve a lot in a deep era, against a good level of opposition & was generally quite entertaining.

You could argue the wlad blowout is better than anything MM did depending on how you rate fighters. I wouldn't but I don't think it's absurd.

Byrd I rate quite highly and I think they are the clear top 2.

Agreed, not overly keen on Byrd but he's #2

[lufcrazy]

Originally Posted by DrMo

10-8 Holy but Moorer had the upper hand for most of the fight after Holy hurt his shoulder. I was impressed with his performance vs Foreman, looked very good offensively until disaster

I agree he was never the #1 in either division but he did achieve a lot in a deep era, against a good level of opposition & was generally quite entertaining.



Agreed, not overly keen on Byrd but he's #2

I scored it 10-8 also I can't remember my other rounds but I know I thought holy just nicked it so it could have been 6-6 with that kd making the difference.

Against foreman he showed good punch variety early doors and a very powerful jab but he took his eye off the ball and history was made.

He achieved a lot and I don't think, for example he was really any worse than Patterson he just fought in a tougher era as a prime fighter.

I love watching Byrd fight, dunno why I just do

[chitownfightfan]

I would put him in the top 10 today. He'd win his fair share of fights against top 10s, but he'd be just another victim to either K2, and he'd have to steer clear of guys like Helenius, Pulev, Fury, and Haye.

He'd beat Potvetkin 5/10 times, and smoke Adamek.

I guess I'd put him about on par with Solis and Potvetkin. A great fighter by all accounts, but an all time great fighter by no account.