80's/90's gatekeepers?

James Tillis

 

Bert Cooper

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Darnell Boone

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"Anybody who's faced Darnell Boone knows what it is to be hit with a brick." -Roy Jones Jr.

 

Mercer was nothing but a glorified gate-keeper.

 

Man. That's a very hard thing to call. Before the 80s there was no gatekeepers only contenders, every fighter had to earn their shot. No weak ****,waiting a title out.
But there was so much talent in the 90s

 

Henry Akinwande.

 

Are we talking about just Heavyweights ? or any weight in general ? if just Heavyweights then.

Mark Wills
Marion Wilson
Bert Cooper
James Tillis
James Broad
Scott LeDoux
George Chaplin
Tex Cobb
Jose Ribalta
Mitch Green
Jesse Ferguson
Maurice Harris
David Izon
Terrence Lewis
Phil Jackson
Quinn Navarre
Lionel Butler
Jimmy Thunder
Everett Martin
Darroll Wilson
Ossie Occasio
Lance Whitaker
Bernado Mercado

 

Nah. Ray was inconsistent but still was a belt holder. You could argue he was a gatekeeper in the 2000's but that's not what the Op was asking. Someone like Jesse Ferguson would be a better shout who fought many top fighters usually losing.

 

Carl "The Truth" Williams.
James "Quick" Tillis

 

just heavyweight? pretty much covered now. i dont know much about the 80s and 90s outisde of the top fighters, so id be interested to hear.

today, i can think of quite a few across all divisions, but derek has been somewhat of an anomaly in that hes been used as the first boss for matchroom before you get i bigger fight lol

 

Quick Tillis was a strange one, he was actually undefeated and very highly rated at one point. But after losing a very close fight to Mike Weaver, his career just nosedived after that. Then had the mentality of just being "an opponent" for upcoming prospects. To be fair to him he would turn in some good performances after that vs Page, Williams, and of course Tyson. But never had any notable wins again just losing efforts against good opponents, quite a contrast from starting out as a 20-0 highly rated contender, then turning into a 42-22 gatekeeper/journeyman.

I was going to mention Carl Williams originally in my list, but i'm not sure i would quite class him as a "gatekeeper" i guess it's a fine line on your definition of what you class as a gatekeeper to be honest. I guess he could fit that definition but i don't know, i always thought he was a bit better than that at his best.

 

Ferguson is a good call. Two Tua victims come to mind, Izon and Darrol Wilson.

 

Agree it has a nebulous meaning gatekeeper. I tend to think of it as guys who are decent but mostly lose to the top guys.

 

I always considered thec"gatekeeper" someone who generally loses against the top ten or prospects heading into the top ten, but will beat the prospects that don't have what it takes to get into the top ten of the division. Generally speaking

 

Yeah that's basically how I see it too. solid test for a top prospect but beat hype jobs easily enough.