Mike Weaver

On some of his best nights, Weaver was anywhere from a B+ to A- fighter, who would have given most greats some difficulty, perhaps even upset a few on the right occasion. He was always in great shape ( a rare trait among 80's heavyweights ), and gave it his very best in nearly every fight.

Probably not very high if you're looking to give him a rating among great fighters. While I believe that he was certainly far better than his record reflects, he unfortunately lost to a rather lengthy list of fighters. Of course, I also believe that between perhaps 1978 and 1981, there was a brief period in which he may very well have been the second best heavyweight in the world, behind only an all time great who was currently at his peak. This version of Weaver would have been a respectable opponent for any champion.

 

He showed his right cross against Coetzee, and his hook against Tate and Carl "The Lie" Williams. He shut out Scott LeDoux on the Frenchman's home turf behind his underrated jab. He knocked 15-0-0 Bill Sharkey from the unbeaten ranks in 1977, and decisioned 27 year old Bert Cooper over 12 in 1993, a nice stretch of world class competitiveness. He handed Tate, Tillis, Pritchard and DuPlooy their first defeats. He twice avenged his decision loss to Stan Ward with ninth round stoppages.

In the rematch with Bonecrusher Smith, he once again found himself on the floor in round one. But the second time around, he picked himself up, and went the 12 round distance, proving that he was no Floyd Patterson to Smith's Sonny Liston. Fans of Hercules weren't too surprised by this, since he'd previously done the same thing with Dokes.

Weaver can't exactly be accused of being a protected fighter who ducked tough competition. Stepping into the ring with punchers like Mercado, Coetzee, Bonecrusher, Ruddock and Cooper lend some credence to that notion.

Many would argue that he ultimately did make the most of his ability.

Thad Spencer had been a ham and egger who turned his career around to become the number one heavyweight contender in the world after decisioning Ernie Terrell. But once Jerry Quarry got through with him, Spencer was ruined. Mike Weaver was no Thad Spencer in that respect. Bouncing back up from defeat was a career long habit for him. One of the most resilient heavyweights of his generation.

Possibly the most diffident heavyweight title claimant since Patterson. Handled defeat and triumph in much the same way, with quiet class and dignity. Had every reason in the world to blow his cool after the two fiascos with Dokes, but didn't. Nor did he loudly and obnoxiously sing his own praises after his title wins over Tate, Coetzee and Tillis.

"If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same" -from "If," by Kipling.

 

For whatever it is worth he was the most consistently highly ranked contender during Larry Holmses title reign.

This gives him a fair claim to be the best of the bunch and at the least suggests that he should be more highly regarded than he is.

 

Weaver was pretty good, easily as good if not better than most of the other heavyweight beltholders of the '80s on his better nights.

In assessing Weaver's record, it's important to remember that most of his early losses (pre-1975) should be ignored. During those early years, Weaver was not managed well, was overmatched and lost many fights needlessly.

Only during 1975 did Weaver really start getting his act together, beating good fighters such as Tony Doyle, Young Sekona and Pedro Lovell before cracking the top ten.

I think Weaver lost something like seven fights before 1975...forget about them all.

 

Nice post Lobotomy.

 

I always liked Weaver. Kept in great shape, always gracious, did the best with what he had. He worked as a sparring partner with a lot of big names in the ninties as well.

Real blue-collar work ethic and I really respect that.

 

But for a soft chin, his dedication and work ethic was such he could of beaten anyone but Holmes between 78-85.

Even with that chin, he beat some good fighters, and up to Lewis he could give a fair argument to any fighter.

But when I here Weaver's name it angers me; not anything Hercules did, it just reminds me of what could of been if messers Dokes, Jones, Tubbs, Page, Whitherspoon, Tucker and Douglas had, had his dedication.

 

Thanks Pal. Complements always appreciated.

 

Carl was no Lie, and that's the Truth...

Ba dum bump.......I'm here all week folks, don't forget to tip your waitress.

 

Weaver was a fighter with some decent skills such as a good jab, he was very strong, had basic fundamental boxing skills and was a huge puncher with either hand. At times he was not properly conditioned. In addition, he had a shaky chin and was a slow starter ... style match ups would dictate how he would do ... kind of like a poor man's Ken Norton ...

 

He was a very good fighter, he was a contender for a while and on a good night he would give people hell. I almost feel bad for him with some of the hard shots he's gotten KTFO with. The one Lewis hit him with mainly, but the uppercut in that's in my signature did him no good either.

 

Weaver was a good, tough fighter. On my top 50 list I made a few months back I ranked him at 41 for HWs.

 

The fact that he lasted as long as he did against Lewis was a shock to me ... it was a younger, less confident Lennox ... a prime Lennox knocks him out early ..

 

Mike Weaver was a solid fighter, someone who stepped out of the journeyman status and had a successful run. He fought up to his competition. I always wanted to see him fight Ken Norton back in 77-78