I feel like I haven't made a thread since the Great Schism and if there was a time, the time is now. Or something. Let's start with a solid (but not totally limited) definition of what a fringe contender is. To me a fringe contender is someone who hovers around the top 10, breaking in and dropping out regularly. If he is in the top 5, he's usually blasted out pretty quickly. The Fringe Contender can fight but something stops him from reaching the top- a skill deficit, a lack of durability, health issues, or maybe just bad luck. If he is lucky he may have fought for a title. More likely, he never quite got to reach for the gold. He is not a flash in the pan or a fluke, a one win Charley who busts the bubble on some young punk (although a fringe contender is not above playing gatekeeper on occasion) or catches a top guy on an off night never to be heard from again. A fringe contender is around and you know who he is and you know he'll never be champ but he does his job and does it well. So who are your favorite fringe contenders?
From more recent heavies: Bert Cooper Lionel Butler Tony Thompson Light heavies: Graciano Rocchigiani Middles: Merqui Sosa Gilbert Baptiste
I just boxrec'd it out: 1. He was IBF 168 champ from 88-89 2. He won the vacant 175 WBC 175 title from Michael Nunn in 98 3. He never won WBO, but fought for it many times If I remember correctly, the WBC unlawfully stripped him to make way for Jones and Rocchigiani successfully sued them for millions. So he's more of an unappreciated belt holder.
I remember him beating Nunn but moreso remember him giving Maske hell. He didn't have a lot of power but was tough as ****. Forgot that he was 168 champÂ… Guy had a lot of potential but liked to party and get in trouble.
I am thinking hard about it and wondering if Ken Norton would qualify like fringe contender, but I think he is something above and different than that. Sure Kenny meets some of the conditions to be called a fringe contender, but on the the other side I feel he was in a class of his own among the 70s HW crew: certainly he was not the top dog, and he had more than his fair share of ugly defeats, but somehow he managed to hang around with the big guns and sometimes give them a run for their money, becoming a sort of nemesis for an ATG like Ali. Not exactly what you would think a fringe contender should be..... Ringo Bonavena on the other side is for me the hispanic poster child of "fringe contender"
I'll give a couple quick examples of what I consider a fringe contender Corey T-Rex Sanders - had a tough bloodbath with Andrew Golota, ko'd future WBC champ Oleg Maskaev, also stopped Olympic Superheavyweight Silver medalist Wolfgramm. Yet not top 10 material. Lionel Butler - blasted out former champs Bonecrusher Smith and Tony Tubbs, was at one time rated in the top ten briefly by the boxing mags despite a record of something like 23-12. was ko'd by Lennox Lewis. Good wins but not a solid contender. I also think of minor belt holders, WBF, WBU, etc....
Tony Thompson was a fringe contender in 05/06......he's been a bonafide contender since his first IBF eliminator. And even at 42 he's still hanging with contenders.
Marty Monroe Lynn Ball Scott Ledoux All made some noise in the late 70's early 80's period heavyweight division