You and I might disagree on Witherspoons hitting power. He wasn't a devastating banger, especially when he stepped up in competition his fights went the distance mostly. His knockout percentage is identical to Laynes After I watched Spoons fights with Page Thomas Tubbs I would love to hear why you think Spoon is such a big banger?
Witherspoon was a pretty big hitter if you stood upright and let him hit you flush. Page and Tubbs were cagey enough to take the sting out of most of his punches. Thomas was granite-chinned and jabbed 'spoon's head off besides.
I am a big fan of the 80s and like spoon. very good fighter. he makes my top 35 heavyweights of all time. very skilled fighter, but i never thought of him as some great puncher. Just a decent one, excellent boxer though
Except there's one small detail that KO percentages don't tell you.. pssssttt.. I'll tell you what it is.. Nearly every man Witherspoon ever fought was over 200 lbs and a quite a few of them were quality heavyweights.. Layne fought plenty of men who were under 200 lbs, and whenever he did fight one who was over he was either: A. Losing B. Being taken the distance c. Fighting a 200 lb tomato can... Kinda makes a difference. Now look at what Witherspoon did to guys like Frank Bruno, Jorge Gonzalez, James Broad, and Anders Eklund.
Bruno's mental stamina was shaky. It's less about power when he's up against these guys. I think there's a chance that they might just outlast him. Layne and C0ckell especially seemed capable perhaps of absorbing a beating then coming on. Bruno might suddenly wilt. I know it took some big HW punches to do it during his career, but it's quite possible a flurry of lighter punches could have him dazed and zapped.
I'm not convinced Layne had much more than that . Witherspoon stopped: Stinson Tucker Sims Broad Gonzalez Tillis Ratliff Bruno What are Layne's best stoppages? Bruno lost in the 11 th rd against Witherspoon and he was ahead at the time, Bruno was also ahead when Smith pulled out a hail Mary in the 10th and last round. The idea that Layne is going to out last Bruno is pretty far fetched imo, he is inferior as a puncher and a boxer, and I doubt his chin was as good.