Which heavy contender from the 70 s came out looking the best?

Hmm, I like all of them. But today I think Bugner is as worthy as any of them. Tomorrow I might think differently. None of these guys were particularly protected like modern contenders are..and in the case of Bugner, he held back a whole lot, he really was better if he wanted to be but the guy just saw boxing as a kind of day job. If he was getting well paid he felt that he was getting enough for it not to matter if he lost or not. He'd be happy to go for a meal afterwards and enjoy his money.

Young was a hot and cold guy. He could mess anyone around too, a nuisance world class journeyman. He got a poor Foreman and a very poor Ali to fight, held his own with Norton then blew both fights with Ocassio.

Shavers? Ron stander beat him but the guy had such a punchers chance you never could write him off. He blew a lot of fights but history has been very kind to him. More kind than other guys. He was half the man Quarry was and he kind of proved it too.

 

I don't think there's a whole lot of difference between the nearly-men of the 70's, in terms of their retrospective standing.

However, Jimmy Young does stand out with that bit extra, due to his two, quite controversial losses against Ali and Norton and some notable W's. Overall and bar the Ocasio bouts he lost, in succession, at the end of the decade, his '70s ledger looks better than the rest, for the period.

Bugner stands out a little but, more because he came out of nowhere and did much better than expected against the likes of Frazier and Ali (and people could see he might have done even better). But he didn't really demonstrate success against any other top heavies, whereas Young did.

I like Quarry, Shavers and Lyle too but their losses (and more the manner of their losses), compared to their wins, are what keep them out of Young's reach, in this respect, really.

 

Young would be number one but his form dipped alarmingly from the Norton fight to the first with Ocasio just a few months later. Obviously motivation went.


I always liked Bugner. If only the seventies had produced a signature win apart from the Henry Cooper one.

 

I've read he went into a depression after the Norton loss. It was the eliminator, which ultimately granted Norton the Title.
Many thought Young had won that bout and it seemed somewhat of yet another duff decision going against him.
Young was effectively done, after Norton.

With regards Bugner's Cooper win, it was 'Enry's very last bout and controversial. I have heard that Cooper never forgave Gibbs for giving Bugner the nod, either.

 

They publicly made up at a charity night,when someone offered a substantial amount of cash if they would shake hands in the ring I think it was Reg Gutteridge who brought them together. The grudge was all on the Wicks/Cooper side. Gibbs had successfully sued Cooper and Wicks over their post fight remarks. Gibbs' book," Box On," is a decent read.I sat next to him a few times and thought him a nice man and an excellent referee..

 

Thanks for that. I did not know they'd finally buried the hatchet.
I'll take a look at Gibbs' book, too.

 

Didn't Gibbs also score another fight against Cooper? I think Henrys gripe was that Gibbs never once scored for Cooper.

Aside from Cooper I have heard everyone else in boxing loved Gibbs. I knew a docker who went on a course with Gibbs and apparently Gibbs was a bit of a legend within his day job too.

 

Earnie Shavers beat Ali in my opinion, and essentially knocked Ron Lyle out despite the ref saying otherwise. He also knocked Young out in three rounds.

 

But there is still the matter of what Quarry did to Shavers, what Ron Stander did to shavers, what Bob Stalings did to Ernie Shavers, what Bernardo Mercado did to Ernie Shavers..

And how good was the Ali that Shavers fought? Leon Spinks beat the same version of Ali that Shavers could not.

 

Jimmy Young is hard to pick against

 

Young. I thought he beat Ali and he took out Foreman and Lyle.

 

Jimmy Young....that's all.

 

That was my quote Joe.
The first fight Earnie blew him away in a round, but it was something like Young's 10th fight it was Earnie's 44th! Not the greatest bit of matchmaking from Young's handlers!
The second fight was a draw, but if my memory serves me right, i'm sure most thought Young had won.
Maybe controversial was too strong a word.