How good was Bonecrusher Smith?

Tony Tucker only showed promise when he fought "B" fighters... When Tucker fought "A" fighters he normally choked.... Tucker was a poser....

 

:huh

Smith was a durable fighter that could hit hard. He was slow as molasses however and his skills weren't special due to his late start.

His fight with Ruddock is entertaining, it used to be on Youtube, it's worth checking out. He dropped Razor early on berfore eventually getting broken down and knocked out.

 

****ing awful.

 

The only Grade A fighter Prime Tucker fought was Peak Tyson, after losing there he stupidly took 2 years 4 months retirement which rusted him up badly, got addicted to cocaine & ballooned up in weight in flabby style.

He was no "poser" as you put it.
How many would beat the phenomenal Peak Tyson that Tucker fought?
How many would beat a young hungry Lennox, while badly past prime?

Yet losing to those 2 Grade A fighters makes him a poser?
Prime Tucker would be a ranked force in the top 10 of any era, he had quick hands & feet, good skills, height & reach, iron chin, & huge power.

 

He wasnt that great of a fighter. He reminds me of Hasim Rahman for some reason. Big strong mechanical guy.

 

How does Bonecrusher (Witherspoon II) do against Haye?

 

how good was he was pretty darn good take a look at his resume and you will see who he fought and how he did:yep

 

Big-Foot Martin, one of the greatest journeyman heavyweights ever, said that Bonecrusher hit harder than Foreman or Riddick Bowe. That's saying a lot.
Bonecrusher could indeed punch, but often "didn't let his hands go", as commentators say.
The one time that he came in out of shape, he almost beat Razor Ruddock. If he'd have been in shape, he might've knocked RAzor out.

 

Haye is still a mystery to me. Hard to tell what the guys got besides some fast hands and a big mouth.

 

He had legitimate power, and carried it into the later stages of his fight. Plus, he had good chin, But like everyone else has said, he was ponderous at the best of times and was pretty easy to find with a punch and to outbox.

Still put up some good wins, though and likely would have done so in just about any era simply by virtue of his ability to punch with power.

 

A decent ticker too. But that soft chin is going to hurt him stepping in with prime Bonecrusher.

 

'Stupidly' is a bit harsh, he found out his dad had been secretly swiping vast chunks of his purses and Tucker was already a coke & alcohol addict leading up to the Tyson bout. It was the emotional fallout from that that saw him balloon up and so on.

What got Tucker back on track was becoming a born-again Christian (quite a few American heavies went that route, didn't they?), kicking the habit and gradually fighting his way back into shape, with the build-up to the Norris bout in '91 being the turning point for him. Though no argument from me that he was still past his prime by that point.

Smith was a guy with a real heavy punch and some crafty caginess about him. With the right opponent he could make for a really entertaining fight. But he was also one of these guys that could be in some horribly dull fights, either against someone that would patiently box him as he trudged about or in the Tyson fight when he just went into survival mode. His fight against Moorer is a real sleep inducer too.

 

I always liked and respected the Bonecrusher. I think he was a powerful guy who just wasn't always as committed to his trade as he should have bbeen. I acually liked the way he refused to let Tyson knock him out...he was big and strong enough to prevent that from happening and so he lived to fight another day...he made a statement in that fight..."oh no, you're not going to knock me down or out...you may win but I'm seeing the final bell"...I think he may have been too intelligent to truly fullfil his promise as a fighter.

 

Limited boxing skills,but very durable with a good chin and solid punching power. Was expected to put up short,but sweet resistance against Mike Tyson.