I appreciate the historic relevance but... Wow. That passed for elite at one time. Fighting heart and an occasional non telegraphed right hand that looks nice. I just don't see a modern heavy who doesn't pick this guy apart with uppercuts or is faster to the mark, more fit, stronger and bigger.
Layne was a 6 foot nothing, 190 pounder with bi tch tits, who hated working out, didn't possess a single cell of fast twitch muscle fiber and got off balance on nearly every attack. God bless him, earlier in his career he came to fight and gave it his all but he's levels below what passes for elite today.
I really don't think technically speaking for all of what you said he was much worse off then some guys who pass for elite today. The occasional telegraphed right hand and being off balance on nearly every attack sounds a lot like Wilder.
Dillian Whyte is a 6-4, 250 pound, fast fighter with good skills. Gets good angles to land the hook and avoid his opponent's punches. Not a lot of people in the history of heavyweight boxing I'd feel confident picking to beat him. I haven't seen the fight, but apparently Fury handled him, but with a guy the size of Whyte with that speed and left hook not many would be able to do that. Fury (a one of his kind) has been able to beat athletic big men like Wilder and Whyte, but not many could duplicate what Fury has done. If it was possible to match Whyte vs. a lot of legends of the past, a lot of past legends would be knockout victims.
Layne is underrated as all hell on this forum simply for having the audacity to having been a Marciano victim. Funny how 195 is ok weight for some fighters unless they happen to be a Marciano opponent. At his best he beat the likes of Walcott, Satterfield, Thompson, Charles. More contenders then Whyte even faced let alone beat. Walcott Satterfield and Charles FYI are faster twitched then any heavy today. Layne had a good chin good one two in his prime. His def got super sloppy late in his career. But was ok at his best. Doesn’t get nearly enough credit for being a solid contender despite having the wins to back it up. Was he a world beater? no was he arguably a top 15 contender ever? Certainly.
@Gazelle Punch! I was expecting you to be here. He's one of your favorite fighters correct? Number #14 right?
Guys are being way too harsh on Layne. His resume isn’t bad. Sure he leans forward with his assaults but it worked for him. He’s in shape had good chin and good punch.
Its bizarre to me that Layne gets **** on all over this forum but Cleveland Williams has pages and pages of fanboys drooling over his pecs and paper thin resume. Layne has better wins than Williams ever did by far. How many hall of famers did Williams beat? How many top contenders? Layne beat two hall of famers. When Layne beat Walcott Walcott was the #1 contender. When Layne beat Satterfield Satterfield was the #3 LHW in the world (he probably would have been rated at HW as well but the NBA didnt typically rate fighters in two different categories). When Layne beat Charles Charles was the #2 HW in the world. Cleveland Williams never beat anyone rated as highly as those three and never beat an ATG HOFer much less two.