I think both of those fighters were ultimately big disappointments: imo they were just never that good. However, I'll give it to Pinky by 12th round tko. Thomas had a jab that had the potential to rival Holmes' but for some reason he just chose to throw it away and punch way too much (when he just wasn't a super puncher...though his right hand was no joke, for sure). It would have been more than enough to offset and stop Moorer. Pinky's right hand would probably knock the daylights out of him.
pinklon never fought a southpaw like moorer ....michael moorer dec 12 rds over pinky styles make fights and moorer being a southpaw would be bad for pinky
I'll disagree on this one. I think Thomas was very good. He may or may not have been cut out for longevity given his teenage drug intake but he certainly fought at a high level for some time. He did not lose a fight from 1978 the start of 1986. He emerged on the scene when pitted in as a late substitute against James Tillis. He thumped Tillis convincingly in 8 rounds. He then drew with the excellent Gerrie Coetzee, who was at the peak of his powers and upset Dokes in his very next fight. The draw was a tale of two halves and completely fair to both combatants - one of those rare draws that are almost universally accepted. He racked up a few steady wins and then fought Tim Witherspoon, a fighter many rate extremely highly. Tim was at the peak of his powers and had run Holmes close just 15 months earlier. Since then he had won three fights including wins over Tillis and then Page to win the title. Witherspoon came in in top condition and actually a couple of pounds trimmer than he was against Holmes. Thomas bossed him with the jab and came back hard whenever Tim landed well. Witherspoon mixed it up and tried everything but could never figure out the puzzle that Thomas presented. Thomas beat him comprehensively and proved to be the better man. Weaver was next and another very impressive outing and win. Weaver was on a good run after the Dokes farce and Thomas was again too good for one of the very best in the division. I'm not sure if Weaver's durability was affected after being floored by a punch to the back of his head in his prior fight, won by DQ. After the Weaver win there was a fair bit of press - "Pinklon Thomas is a great fighter," said Holmes, the IBF champion, "and one of these days he's going to be a great champion - when I leave." In a way, Holmes has already left the heavyweight picture. The 35-year-old fighter, at the tail end of a brilliant career, is carefully choosing his opponents now and Saturday signed to meet Michael Spinks, the light-heavyweight champion, in September. The 27-year-old Thomas can claim all he wants to be the "real champion," and even Weaver said Thomas would beat Holmes "right now." Unfortunately after this he lost to Trevor Berbick. While it was disappointing it wasn't a flogging as such with the cards pretty close for the deserved winner. Worthy of mention is that Thomas no longer had Dundee in his corner for this fight and was in the middle of a divorce. That's life tho. Even more disappointing is that he slipped back into drugs sometime later and was certainly back on them hard by the time of or just after the Holyfield fight. Truth be told he gave a reasonable account of himself against Tyson too. Thomas was actually a fantastic athlete in his younger day. He got clean in 1989 and has stayed clean ever since. He has his own foundation to help troubled kids and the like and does a lot of charity work, helping misguided youth and the like. He's had some health drama but nothing massive. Great man, great story, and very good fighter.
Thomas wins. He'd always be In front in the fight, constantly catching Moorer with the Jab and right. He'd stop a dazed, beat up MM in around 12.
Great post, @JohnThomas1 and I was too dismissive. I remember being very disappointed with Thomas after the Berbick loss, and was actually angry when he didn't do what he should have against Tyson (as I mentioned in my first post in this topic, he just plain mixed it up way too much when he could have just jabbed, jabbed, jabbed).
Pinky. Real solid set of whiskers in his prime. MM punches are not going to hurt him much. But the Thomas stiff jab and right hand will hurt Moorer. Fun fight to watch while it lasts but once Moorer gets fatigued, he is in big trouble here. He'd be fortunate to hear the final bell and those last few rounds would be very very tough on a Michael Moorer.
Hey all good mate. I like to see guys like Pinky acknowledged for what they did. He was a pretty good fighter that gets dismissed offhand all too often in here.
He had the jab and advanced ability to tie opponents up...I was just a little heartbroken that he didn't employ those potentially winning tactics enough against a guy like Tyson (a fighter who at the time I wasn't wild about).
Tyson was always a level above Pinky. Pink was also taught how to fight on the inside by George Benton, Philly style.