If Tank was the same size as Crawford he’d put him in a body bag

Agree 100% on the Gamboa win being overrated, it was one of the first matches I commented on after joining the site, and I picked Bud even then without a moment's hesitation, due to how inconsistent, knockdown prone and fragile Gamboa had looked up to that point. And yeah, everything you said about Spence is correct. That being said, Tank fought a far more decrepit one legged shell of Gamboa than Bud faced 5 1/2 years earlier, and Bud handled him with far greater ease and took him out 4 rounds earlier.

 

All of that may be true, but I don't think his alcoholism had much to do with hs poor showing against Porter. I also have never rated him all that highly, his style isn't very versatile, he's about as up and down a fighter as they come. He was always going to be found out by a guy with Bud's style. So even a healthy version I think would lose, granted.... maybe on points instead of KO. But still, Bud is his stylistic nightmare.

 

Yeah, Porter and Brook would've beaten that version, but... Porter IMO did beat Spence and got robbed and had Brook not come into the fight compromised himself, he'd have probably seen the final bell and won as well. Why? Because Spence's skillset just isn't that impressive, and he'd always struggle against someone with as advanced a skillset as Bud, especially one who's a switch hitter, taking one of his biggest assets away.