Beterbiev vs Michael Spinks

I'm not saying that Beterbiev is not powerful. I'm a fan of his but the previous poster said he was bigger than Spinks and that is simply not true. Spinks was three inches taller and fought AS A PRO over 200 pounds against one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.

While Beterbiev has had a solid career he has not cleaned out his division like Spinks did. Hopefully we will get to see Beterbiev vs Bivol this year as both fighters need it for their legacy.

 

Spinks is a top 3 or 4 atg at 175. Is this a serious question? Spinks wins this easily. Who has Beterbiev beaten that is within 100000 light years of spinks?

 

Your'e right,Spink is bigger no doubt. But Beterbiev beat Gvozdyk who is 6.2 and Brown who is bigger too at 6.1 or 6.2 and he could beat Ramirez at 6f3.So no problem beating taller men. Go for the body Champ

 

All do respect to Gvozkyk who I liked a lot but he is not Michael Spinks. Spinks had a resume that was off the charts and could beat a fighter multiple ways. Beterbiev no doubt is powerful but I would take Spinks versatility to win out.

I am looking forward to seeing what is next for Beterbiev who I think is one of the most exciting fighters these days but I am not ready to say he is better in anyway than a guy like Spinks who cleaned out a very tough era.

 

In a previous thread prior were calling Beterbiev a weight bully because he fought at HW in the amateurs. Now he’s too small to beat Spinks. He’s 17-0 with 17 KO’s. Spinks would be shaking in his boots like he was against Tyson. The Beterbiev who beat Gvoz would destroy Spinks. Beterbiev is almost 37 years old. Spinks retired at 31.

Both were very good amateurs. Spinks was a great LH fighter as was AB. It’s hilarious to see guys picking Quawi over AB. Beterbiev would destroy that midget in a firefight just as Beterbiev destroys every guy Spinks beat at LH. He’s not pretty to watch but I think you guys are severely underrating Beterbiev. Just because Spijks beat a coupe washed up HW’s before crapping the bed against Tyson. His knees didn’t look bad against the shell of hypejob Cooney. Cooney was a hypejob drunken bum who never beat a legit HW. That big sloppy body of Cooney would sink like the Titanic after a coupe AB body shots. He wouldn’t last two rounds against Beterbiev.

 

Agreed, I cannot believe how much support Beterbiev is getting here, If you put Beterbiev into a time machine and dropped him into Spinks era with, Qawi, Saad, Johnson, Galindez , Eddie Mustafa ,Spinks, etc. he'd just be one of the chickens not the Rooster. Spinks takes this by wide UD or late stoppage because no ones ever seen Beterbiev in rounds 13-15 have they?

 

You just compared Gvozdyk, Brown and Ramirez to Spinks

 

Lol. What a post ffs. At least if you're going to pick B over Qawi, try to spell Dwight's name correctly, thank you very much.

 

Holy s***, Beterbiev is getting overrated on this site.

 

Just a jailbird midget. Beterbiev would have knocked his ass out in two rounds. Dwight Braxton was his real name and I watched him fight back in those days. Tough little guy but no contest for Beterbiev. You guys give Beterbiev no credit. He’s a brutal fighter at the end of his career. He’s almost 37 and still knocking guys out. He beat Kovalev in the amateurs. No way a 5’3” midget beats him.

 

If you think Beterbiev would win this, and Spinks has no chance, you need to give your ****ing head a wobble. Michael Spinks was levels above Beterbiev and has proven it multiple times.

He might have took a dive and shamelessly went out vs Tyson, but Mike Tyson was about 30x more terrifying than Beterbiev and about 30x better. That wouldn't happen here like it didn't every other time Spinks stepped in the ring. Michael Spinks if from one of the roughest areas in all of America and had a terrible childhood. The man had to explain to his daughter why she wasn't able to see her mother and had a break down before the biggest fight of his career up to that point, then went out and boxed circles around him. That's mental toughness. Beterbiev hasn't been tested like that.

Beterbiev isn't hard to hit with the jab and he ate shed loads of right hands vs Gvozdyk and has always been open. It took Callum Johnson less than five minutes to time him with a left hook and he almost knocked him out. Spinks' arsenal is immense and he'd have no trouble opening up here. He had a wicked counter left hook that came in through the guard as his opponents through a right hand; he had the hardest right hand in light-heavyweight history; was able to time people with wicked uppercuts with either hand and had one of the best jabs of all-time. Beterbiev isn't even the bigger puncher here, nor is he the biggest puncher Spinks has beaten. His power is about the level of Eddie Gregory or Marvin Johnson and well below that of Cooney.

Beterbiev isn't a weight bully. He does cut water weight but he doesn't cut lots and the reason he fought heavyweight in the amateurs is because he couldn't maintain 81kg over multiple days during tournaments, so he fought at a higher weight. It's not really rocket science, and the cut he makes isn't bigger than most light-heavies. If anything, it's smaller. That said, he is a bit bigger than Spinks who started in the same day weigh in era and still managed to come in under the limit. He was tall with light bones and a good frame. In terms of just weight, he wasn't even bigger than Archie Moore or Gene Tunney. Beterbiev being about 185lbs on fight night is just a little heavier than what Spinks himself weighed.

Regardless of the slight weight disadvantage, Spinks would nail Beterbiev and pummel him round after round. It'd be a slaughter and the fact Beterbiev is so tough and keeps coming forward suits the laid back countering style Spinks took. What harms Beterbiev here most is that he isn't good enough to be given a chance, but is too dangerous for Spinks to switch off against. He'd be firing on all cylinders from the jump and Beterbiev's offensive would only work against him.

Beterbiev would also lose to Qawi and Eddie.

 

This is embarrassingly wrong. Beterbiev manages to top what Saad, Spinks, Holyfield and George ****ing Foreman but couldn't do it in any of his title fights? Yeah, right.

 

Styles make fights and I don’t see Braxton beating AB. He lost to all those guys except Saad. You guys are criminally underrating Beterbiev. I’ll take a 31 year old version of Beterbiev over Spinks at that age. The Beterbiev who dominated Gvoz beats any version of Spinks at LH. That’s what started this whole thread. He also beats anyone Spinks fought at LH I liked Spinks until the Tyson fiasco but he was a disgrace in that fight. His knees might have been bad but they didn’t look bad in his two previous fights. It was the most disgraceful performance I’ve ever seen in a championship fight. I still remember where I was when I watched it on closed circuit at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago. Sickening display of cowardice. You would never see AB ***** out like that against anyone.

 

Styles do make fights. Qawi thrived on fighters with styles like Beterbiev's. He absolutely loved them. The big, slow punchers who constantly came forward were perfect for him. Somebody like Beterbiev who isn't off-kilter, does things by the book and has the standard Eastern European discipline of resetting after exchanges and then coming on again, is perfect because Qawi wouldn't allow that. He'd do to Beterbiev exactly what he did to Saad, Rossman, Scott or Martin. It'd just take a little longer. Picking Beterbiev to beat him in two is laughable and indefensible. The reason I mentioned those four specifically is because they're the four hardest punchers Qawi fought. None of them stopped him in two, all hit harder than Beterbiev and two of them were all-time great heavyweights for **** sake. Beterbiev hasn't stopped anybody in two rounds since winning his title. He isn't stopping Qawi in two.

No, Beterbiev is not being underrated. Everyone is perfectly aware of how good he is. What's happening here is your massively overrating Beterbiev AND massively underrating Spinks and his opposition. Beterbiev being favoured over an inactive, worn out and injury stricken Spinks means nothing. Comparing levels at similar ages is stupid and doesn't work.

A prime Spinks KTFOs Beterbiev. He doesn't dominate ****.

You're kidding yourself if you think Beterbiev would've done remotely better at heavyweight than Spinks did. Give over with the "his knees didn't seem too bad to me". He actually had a knee brace on vs Cooney

Spinks might have took a dive and shamelessly went out vs Tyson, but Mike Tyson was about 30x more terrifying than Beterbiev and about 30x better. That wouldn't happen here like it didn't every other time Spinks stepped in the ring. Michael Spinks if from one of the roughest areas in all of America and had a terrible childhood. The man had to explain to his daughter why she wasn't able to see her mother and had a break down before the biggest fight of his career up to that point, then went out and boxed circles around him. That's mental toughness. Beterbiev hasn't been tested like that.

 

Beterbiev has looked slow and old in his last two fights. This version is still dangerous but not the one I had in mind. I specifically said the one who beat Gvoz in their fight. That version of Beterbiev would give any 175 pounder big trouble. He wasn’t slow in that fight, he was a beast. He looked slow in his last two fights and fought through a nasty gash on his forehead thst would have stopped lesser fighters. He didn’t miss a beat and put a beating on a bigger faster opponent. Not his best work because the AB of a coupe years ago would have done it sooner. Still 17-0 with 17 KO’s isn’t an accident. He did everything Braxton did, only better and he is much bigger and stronger. AB is tougher than the tough Braxton and would have outlasted him in a slugfest. It’s cool we don’t agree on this but people are writing off AB because he’s slowed down. He’s almost 37. Spinks was retired over six years at this age.