The Tony Tucker thread.

I see him as a bit of a “what if” to be honest.

He was denied two shots at the lineal title, against Spinks and older Foreman respectively.

It would be more than interesting to have had these fights.

 

He was very talented

He was mismanaged early on and didn't fight any top 10 guys until over six years into his career.

Got a shot at the vacant IBF title against Buster Douglas, and made the most of his opportunity

Then, peformed very admirably against Tyson

Then, disappeared for 3 yrs - he had rumored coke problem during this hiatis

Returned in 1990 but lacked the movement he displayed in his prime.

The version that Lewis beat was about 75% of the prime Tucker that Tyson beat.

Fought on too long, losing to the likes of Ruiz and Seldon - who he easily would have dispatched in his prime.

 

Tucker had slow start, fighting only few notable guys - shot Jimmy Young and prime James Broad, both fights Tucker won by decision.

His win over Douglas was very good, as was his losing performance vs Tyson. It was the last time we've seen prime Tucker.

Then he retired, and had alcohol and drugs problems.

When TT came back he was never the same. Fight with McCall could've gone either way, and I believe Norris was robbed vs past prime Tucker (Ferdie Pacheco scored the fight 9-3 for Orlin).

Lewis decisioned Tucker and even knocked him down twice, but the fight was relatively close. I had Lewis winning 116-111, judges had similar scores. Tucker landed many punches as Lewis still had major holes in his defence with Pepe Correa in his corner.

Seldon surprised many when he stopped favourite TT on cuts but he was winning the fight anyway. Tucker was obviously not a top-contender anymore as he lost to Akinwande, Norris in rematch and got destroyed in 2 rounds by Herbie Hide.

Tony's a big 'what if'.

He had the size, good speed, fast feet, and he was skilled boxer, too.

Tucker however never was a power puncher. I rate his power as 6 of 10 only. His single good win by stoppage was over Buster Douglas who was never known for having an iron chin.

 

In the early 90's both Holy and Bowe beat him rather easily. Tucker struggled badly vs McCall and Norris and many think he lost both fights.

Now if you're talking about Tucker from 87, he poses more problems for Holy or Bowe or Lennox

 

To be honest I think he was right up there for a time.

Tucker, Douglas, Tyson and Williams were the best heavyweights of the 1986-89 period.

Tyson wasn't just the best, he also got the best breaks.

Nobody was as sensational as Mike but I do kind of think if all four (Douglas, Tucker, Willams, Tyson) had the same guys lined up in the order Tyson beat them and then fought each other Tucker, Douglas, Williams and Tyson might have only lost to each other.

Nobody thinks of that era as being the Tyson, Tucker, Douglas era but it kind of was and should have been.

Spinks, Holmes, Berbick, Smith, Tubbs, Biggs, Bruno Thomas were a level lower and yesterday's news.

 

Good fighter with decent skills, stamina, chin, size and power. He beat some good fringe level guys in Douglas, broad, Norris and McCall and wasn't stopped until he was basically ancient and with about 60 fights of mileage behind him. I concur with those however that some questions were never answered. A fight with Spinks or Witherspoon circa 1986-1987 would have given us a more accurate gauge of where he stood.

 

If I could nominate one fighter to win or lose by three points or less against any top 100 all- time heavyweight, it would be Tucker.

 

Poorly managed, developed drug problems later in his career.

But physically he had all the goods.

Him vs Douglas was a great boxing match between super heavyweight.

Just pure textbook boxing, none of that clinching, leaning and wrestling.

 

The guy he reminded me of was always Joe Bugner. Maybe an "if only he'd let his hands go" type guy. But he'd just pause and wait. Then, pause some more. Never put it in 4th gear, but had that terrific 2nd or 3rd gear he was real comfy in. Fight the whole fight that way. The top opponents would take him out of that preferred gear choice of his and it would change everything.

 

Tony Tucker was one of those fighters who wasted his time in obscurity for too long at the beginning of his career, then just when he was shown to be developing into something good he disappeared for ages, only to resurface as a past-prime imitation of himself.

It's a shame really. If he'd have stayed clean and active in 1988 and 1989 against decent opposition he might have shown to be a very good fighter and contributed to the era. I could imagine him getting a rematch with Tyson, and maybe winning by KO as Douglas did in reality.

 

I think he had some big issues with Don King at the time.

 

I seem to recall he suffered from guilt at not being among the amateur American boxers who were killed in a plane crash in 1980 and never quite got his head together after that. Seemed in interviews to be a really likeable guy. I hope he's doing well now.

Just read up on it to refresh my memory and it seems Bobby Czyz was meant to be on the trip but had had a car crash the week before.