Two of the most talented young fighters of the early 1980s in my opinion. Spoon showed up in excellent shape, while page unfortunately did not. I think Page had ATG potential, he really could do it all. By far the biggest underachiever I have read about in the heavyweight division. Still, this was a good fight between two highly talented fighters. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDptKxH02kA[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N_ild7v27k&feature=related[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC4OD45nctY[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5zYEOZYDdI&feature=related[/ame]
I've said it before,and I'll say it again - If both Page and Witherspoon had lived up to their full potential,we'd be talking about FOUR great heavyweights of the 1980s. Holmes,Tyson,Page and Witherspoon.
**** holmes for not taking on more of these guys.. David Bey, Marvis Frazier, Lucien Rodriguez, Randall Cobb, Scott Frank....REALLY?
PAge was out of shape against Spoon, but not really against berbick or Bey. Massively overrated fighter with some good tools that have got so overblown with time.
I have my tape from '84 still in my crate of tapes...... Spoon at around 220 pounds was much better tuned than the slobbish 238 or so pound Page..... Spoon forced the issue and applied the pressure, while Page tried to counter too often off the ropes... Page griped about the loss afterward on HBO, but that's his own sour grapes.... Spoon won fair and square in '84...... bbb Now, in 1999, Spoon sucked ass against Page in the rematch in Virginia... Spoon had no motivation and appeared to just give up after about 7 rds... Spoon was pathetic in the rematch.... atsch:shock::twisted: SR.BILL:hat
If Holmes had honored his obligation to fight mandatory contender Greg Page (instead of giving up his WBC belt), Page might have beaten Holmes and become more than just a footnote in heavyweight history. Holmes was ripe for the taking in late '83 - early '84.
No kidding. A lot of revisionists distort the reality of Holmes' reign by insisting that HOlmes took on all-comers and ducked no one. The truth also gets distorted by the fact that Holmes made 20 defenses of the title, which makes it seem as if Holmes cleaned out the division. He did, if you mean he cleaned out a lot of second-tier and/or unproven/untested guys, but he ducked way too many of the more skilled and accomplished guys. I can see him not fighting a guy here or a guy there, but Holmes's resume from '83 onwards was rather anemic.
Maybe??? Holmes was still very good in Nov. 1984 at age 35 and 220 pounds when he TKO'd Bones Smith on HBO.... Yes, Smith was a hulking lummox, but Holmes hadn't fought for a year going into the fight with Smith..... Page was a lazy slob in March 1984 against a spunky Tim Spoon...... MR.BILL:hat