were the 80s middleweights the best?

Sibson would have stopped Benn.


Just sayin'

 

Had jones wanted to, he'd have been mw champ from 93-03. Just sayin.

 

Meh, he'd be a weight drained husk long before then.cue KO losses to Antwun Echols and the lgendary Howard Eastman

people argue for years he was actually much better than Hopkins at his peak and only lost due to weight issues.Others say he just never had a good chin...

 

Jones getting battered by lightning fast hands of Eastman is the most likely scenario.:bbb

 

:hat

just being among the top fighters of this period equates to better than most other periods overall.

also these were 5' 7" - 5' 10" middleweights and the best among them were fighting L-HWs and beyond as well. Times multiple fights for years on end.

middleweights of the last 30years have been 5'10" - 6' and the best they might do is fight a S-MW while still a geniune middleweight... they wouldn't even be allowed to fight the big boys nowadays... and only a handful of fights per year.

these are the differences that make the difference. Case Closed!!!

 

Let's start with Duran, who I believe gave up the belt rather than face McCallum. And Manny Steward, having both he and Hearns, would never let Tommy face Mike.

Also, Roy sure waited long enough to face him.

 

Let's start with Duran, who I believe gave up the belt rather than face McCallum. And Manny Steward, having both he and Hearns, would never let Tommy face Mike.

Also, Roy sure waited long enough to face him.

He was the classic low reward/high risk match-up. He wasn't a household glamour name that fills seats or gets great PPV buys.

 

McCallum was ducking Sibson and(to a lesser extent)Hagler, by staying at 154.

 

And Mugabi, I assume.

 

Going up to hw and back down to lhw wasn't good for him. Nor was getting old and losing his sharp reflexes.

I think he could have stayed at mw, perhaps not as long as a decade which i'd suggested but I was just being tongue in cheek.

Definitely until 96 though.

Even weight drained from that point on, I see noone on hopkins resume who'd beat him aside from maybe tito?

 

Although a weight drained jones would get murdered by g-man.

 

Depends on just how weight-drained. Any on-form version of Jones would embarrass him.

As for the question, the 10's through to the 40's were exceptionally strong for Middleweights in terms of depth.

 

true, i agree he maybe could have stayed a bit longer, but the money and prestige was in the Toney fight(which turned out to be no challenge at all).

I think Jones was always going to be one of those fighters who was most physically comfortableand at peak at an "in-betweener" weight.He's flat overrated as a physical talent at 175 imbviously still excellent and elite physically, but the whole "lightning fast, terrific power, would simply be too athletic for ANYONE EVERZ" schtick was a bit of a myth by the time he was weighing 175.It was actually his oft-underrestimated ring generalship and tactical approach that impressed me more there, usually fighting as clearly the smaller man.

 

Jones would have to be dead from weight draining to lose to Trinidad.

Same goes to G-man.

Or any pressure fighter who doesn't crush Jones by simply overpowering him like much bigger fighters could do.

 

In addition Jones also started to decline during his lht heavyweight reign.

The difference between Jones of Hill fight and him of say Gonzales fight was clearly visible.

Good point.