Why do you say Trevor Berbick was a "waste of talent"

Its a good thing you fellas stopped it in its tracks before it grew to the levels of the bowe who beat holy in 92 beats,any hw in history

 

Berbick crushed Tate, beast up Greg Page, went a tough 15 w a prime Holmes, beat Bey when Bey was still very tough, beat a tough Mitch Green and beat the undefeated Pinklon Thomas .. what exactly do you expect from him ? He was big, tough, mean, well conditioned, a mauling, very strong and awkward fighter ...

 

He definitely achieved a great deal.

- partook in the 1976 olympics
- challenged an all time great for the crown in a bout that went 15 rounds.
-.won the WBC title from Pinklon Thomas who some felt was the best heavyweight in 1985-86.
- was in the rankings for a number of years and beat a lot of good fighters.
- was Canada’s champion for a while.

these were all good achievements. But I think if he had stayed focused he might have won some more of his fights and perhaps even been a repeat belt holder. He showed up to the ST Gordon bout in a daze like he didn’t even know what he was doing. He was KO’d in one round by Bernardo Mercado at a time when his contemporary prospects were beating him handily . Lost a close hard fought decision to Snipes in a match where he might have turned the tides with different angles. Overall his career was solid. But it could have gone a step further.. that and he hung around too long after his prime.

 

I've never heard anyone say Trevor Berbick was a wasted talent. He did fine. Overachieved, in fact.

His best fight and most convincing win of note was probably the win over John Tate. Against most names of that era, he'd lose a close sloppy fight half the time or win a close one sloppily the other half. But that night, he won outright.

If the Berbick who fought Ali showed up, Tate probably would've won easily. The Ali fight was probably one of Berbick's worst performances. Ali had ZILCH. Nothing. Couldn't even get licensed in most of the world. Thomas Hearns was beating up Ali in a brief sparring session days before. But Berbick was only slightly better.

Can you imagine if Gerry Cooney, coming off the one-round wins over Lyle and Norton, had fought Ali in late 1981 in the Bahamas? That would've been a massacre.

The fact that Berbick achieved what he did, far more than Cooney even, is impressive.

 

This

 

Berbick’s win over Page on the Holmes vs Cooney undercard was a very good win. Had Page won he would have fought Holmes next but since Larry had already beat Berbick there was no need for a rematch. Berbick’s win over Page robbed us of a prime Holmes - Page matchup. In reality Cooney should have fought Berbick right after Holmes instead of sitting on a bar stool for 2 years sulking.

 

Did very well with what he had .Big strong bloke tough..Not a big puncher fit and.completely barmy .Not playing with a full deck obviously helped his career. Only stopped twice which is surprising.. unfortunately his post boxing life didn't go well and ended with a machete in the back of his head.RIP

 

Well, I was pretty certain I read it on here that he was wasted talent, but maybe it was said in jest. I always thought he was a solid contender who would have been a solid contender in any era.

 

This thread is still top 10?

 

Yes. Yes it is.

 

I don't think he was a waste of talent. Quite the opposite. I think he went probably further than what he should have. He got fights with Ali and Tyson. How many guys fought those two? Holmes?

 

Only Berbick and Holmes fought Ali and Tyson.They beat Ali but lost to Tyson by brutal kos.These are the facts but important to mention
Ali was shot to hell

 

So are you trying to tell me that Ali wasn't prime???

 

Berbick was probably the sharpest I've seen him that night.

The fight was not for a match up against Holmes however, that was an eliminator against Snipes a bit later. It was a fight between two contenders with the goal on Pages side to further his development before an imminent title shot. It backfired and he was set back a bit.

 

Berbick was tougher than Gerry and far , far more active .. that said, head to head, prime for prime Trevor was one of the best 80's heavyweights that I feel Cooney would have beaten ..