Who had the most potential?

Id say Tony Tucker.

He had it all, size, chin, style. Only thing missing was the desire, the intent, the aggressiion.

He went the distance with both a prime Tyson and Lennox Lewis (while drugged up). That speaks volumes about his potential.

The only other guy who fought both and was knocked out by neither, was Holyfield.

 

Prety good call.

Tucker is a guy who might just have got his hands on the lineal title, if a couple of things change.

 

I think Tim Witherspoon.

 

Dokes sprung to my mind for some reason.

 

Tyrell Biggs could also be added to that last, couldn't he? What a generation of fighters and what a waste of talent.

 

The only thing with Dokes is that he had a short reach for a man of his height. But as evidenced with his epic fight with Holyfield, he could fight like a wildcat.

My guess (or choice rather) is Greg Page. He had a lovely natural rhythm that you either have or you don't. Solid chin, good punch, very good all-round skills.

The 80's was filled with guys who were long on talent but short on dedication, and you could throw several names into the hat and each would be a good choice as to whom had the most potential.

 

Spot on.

 

gotta be A man called tucker.

he was the champ if only for Tyson.


drugs were soo bad in the 80s, it got to a lot of these guys, Tyson and tucker inclusive.


but give tucker wlads longevity and dedication, and he would have ruled from Tyson going out until lewis became dominant - hell he might have beat him.

 

After watching those guys at the time, and reading about them in the years since, I have come to the conclusion that all of them DID reach their potential.

I know Jack Newfield coined the term "The Lost Generation of Heavyweights" because he blamed everything bad that happened to anyone in the 80s on Don King, but he overlooks two key facts.

Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson were the dominant champs of the 80s.

None of those guys were better than Holmes and Tyson.

If Tony Tucker didn't take drugs, he still would've lost to Tyson. Tyson was better than him. There is nothing Carl Williams could've ever done to beat Tyson.

Page looked great against guys like Evangelista and LeDoux, but he faltered as soon as his competition got better. Same with Dokes. He was lucky to get a draw with Ocasio and he got knocked cold by Coetzee. Spoon looked good against an aging Holmes (who trained for what he thought would be a soft touch), but then he stunk out the joint against Thomas (and Tim was in great shape for that fight).

Thomas looked great against Spoon and the Coetzee fight was pretty evenly matched. Maybe he would've edged an older Larry Holmes - in that very tiny, narrow window when Holmes was on his way out and Tyson was about to break out - but Tyson obliterated him.

None of them had some exceptional talent that would've placed them above either Holmes (during the first half of the decade) or Tyson (in the second half of the decade).

Holmes and Tyson were better than them. Dokes, Page, Thomas, Spoon, Tubbs, etc., all deserve their place on the level just below Larry and Mike.

 

Dubblechin.....i gotta say that's a good post ....saved me writing it !

 

Tucker lacked agression but had it all physically.
Biggs'y too although he lacked power.
Same with Williams and Tubbs.
One of the biggest things that gets forgotten is you have to have a fighters MENTALITY.
Holmes and Tyson had it....alot of these guys didn't...at least not consistently.

 

I gotta go with this call

The guy could have had al long and illustrious career as a champ, but too many things got in his way, including Don King and drugs

 

Doles did not have short arms for his height. He had a +3" "ape factor". The average person is at zero, a square. Boxers tend to be a +, but +3 is about average even for them.

From an article about Dokes-Bowe:

Dokes has survived several bouts with cocaine addiction, and says he is addicted now only to ginseng extract. However, he has never, even in his prime, shown anyone an addiction to the kind of hard gym work necessary to beat a heavyweight champion in his prime.

Even so, Dokes still has some of the fastest hands among the heavyweights. On his superior hand speed alone, some give him a puncher's chance tonight--certainly more of a chance than anyone gave Douglas against Tyson, when he was a 43-1 shot.

Tale of the Tape The tale of the tape for the WBA and IBF heavyweight title fight between Riddick Bowe and Michael Dokes which will be held Saturday, Feb. 6 at Madison Square Garden, New York:

Bowe Dokes Age 25 34 Weight 243 244 Height 6-5 6-3 Reach 81 78 Chest (normal) 46 44 Chest (expanded) 50 46 Biceps 17 17 Forearm 15 13 Waist 36 35 Thigh 26 1/2 25 Calf 16 1/2 15 Neck 17 1/2 17 1/2 Wrist 8 7 1/2 Fist 13 1/2 12 1/2

 

Didnt Foreman drop the WBA title to avoid Tucker?

Which then Seldon won after stopping Tucker.

Imagine if Tucker had won, we would have seen Tyson/Tucker 2 in '96