80's heavyweights was NOT a weak era

Agreed. On top of the guys you mentioned you had Dokes, Tillis, and Williams bopping around...still had Neon Leon in the first half of the decade, Ruddock & Norris coming along in the back-end...

Plenty of quality match-ups to be made (and some were in reality but those were just the iceberg's tip)

 

The 80s had the components of a strong era, but they didn't quite come together for various reasons.

Between politics, and several key fighters dropping the ball, it was somehow undone.

 

But there was talent in the kitty, is the point.

The way some people speak of it dismissively as though it were a h2h wasteland in which any stinkin' drunk could stumble in from the crowd and win a belt inside 10 fights doesn't ring true.

 

I've often wondered if Holmes hadn't been around and only one belt ,how the majority of the 80 s would have looked. Who'd have been the main man ,at least for a while ?

 

There was plenty of talent in the kitty.

I can't understand how more didn't come of it to be honest!

 

The 1980s were the most undisciplined era.but also one of the most talented with a superb mix of skilled talented athletes and quirky talents.

I think 1970s spoiled writers hated the early 80s alphabet title merry go round and so many next big things imploding quickly (cooney,page,dokes,thomas etc).

Overall thus i think it was a incredible era.

Evidence of that is that if the following hadnt succumbed to drug abuse or poor management ,conditioning....they may well have been top 25 atg heavies (thomas,biggs,dokes,spoon)

I dont think we will ever again see such a talented era.

Holmes benefited by not fightingba peak thomas or dokes but in larrys defence these guys became shot junkies pretty quick after showing such title promise....larrys wins over berbick,spoon,cooney,williams,frazier and smith are a good bunch but his legacy is hurt with fights against cobb,bey, and frank......

Tyson and holyfields 80s record is better.holy beat tillis,thomas,dokes and stewart and rodriguez.

 

Weren’t around then but those that were, the question is, at the time did they all seem like a highly skilled bunch of talented individuals who were fortunate to appear around the same time or are you just looking back now nostalgically and maybe comparing them to today current heavyweight scene, think they were a lot better and more talented than they actually were?

Looking back at times past, you mind can play tricks on you.

 

No. They all blew hot and cold.There B games were horrible & the only guy to win showing up with his B game was Holmes. And it wasn't as if they fought top competition frequently. They'd fight B and C grade guys a lot more often than top five guys. It wasn't until Tyson came along and cleared up the whole mess that things were good.

 

It was a talented era, but the neither Holmes nor Tyson really faced the best versions of, or at all, several of the top talents like Page, Thomas, Tubbs, Dokes and Witherspoon. So while the talent was there, the two best of the 80's weren't really pitted against them as one would like.

 

What most of then had was legs and movement that wasn't just forward and back. Even the hamwallets of the era who had the movement would cause the top guys today all sorts of problems.
Look how that nobody just beat Chisora with a basic movement off the backfoot. Top 10'er Whyte went life n death with Chisora.

 

I agree

There were a lot of good hws in the early to mid '80s. Holmes dominated and then he stopped fighting the best HWs and they fought each other and none dominated. Then, Tyson cleaned house.

 

They spent a lot of time beating each other. And then Tyson fought a faded version of Thomas, and slightly past best and overweight Tubbs.

It's true most blew hot and cold, though.

 

Pretty much.

 

I hope you're joking. Tillis and Thomas were WAY past it, and Dokes, while surprisingly competitive was not near his 81-83 peak. His foot movement was gone. Rodriguez was an overrated latin America based alphabet "contender." Stewart was solid but unknown at the time and supposed to be an easy steppingtone.