Ya know Goo i think Spinks would just be too industrious. I re-watched the first Holmes fight the other day and Spinks was extremely slippery and unorthodox and just so hard to draw a bead on. His sneak attacks were perfectly timed and very accurate. Too many strings to the Spinks bow. He really knew how to win.
I think that given Ernie Terrell's clutch and grab style, not to mention his wrestling on the inside, Ernie takes a hotly disputed decision over 200 lb Michael Spinks. Ernie weighed something like 215 lbs, also Terrell had height, he was 6" 6. Ernie was a natural heavyweight, Spinks had to grow into one. Terrell had beaten the likes of Cleveland Big Cat Williams and Eddie Machen. This fight would prove tedious at best, with Ernie using his entire weight on Michael. Terrell would not score a knockout as Spinks is quite cagey, but his Spinks Jinx would cause little concern to Terrell as Ernie has taken blows from heavy handed George Chuvalo and outpointed the smaller Doug Jones.
At least Cooney made an effort of staying on his feet, and can blame his abysmal performance on hard living. Terrell gets murked for no reason other than he had no business sharing the ring with any Heavyweight champion ever.
Looking for the door after tasting a blown up light heavyweights power? So Gerry Cooney is better than Ernie Terrell? Cooney never became champion. Only champion of Elder Abuse, beating up two ancient relics Jimmy Young and Ken Norton.
No way Spinks was a Light Heavyweight in the late 50's. Patterson quickly became a Heavyweight. Ingo was a Heavyweight. Foster started as a Heavyweight. Quarry remained a Heavyweight. Spinks was bigger than all those men. Did Usyk, who's roughly the same size as Spinks, not prove too much for Joshua? Terrell wouldn't even secure as spot as one of AJ's sparring partners if he offered his services for free. Byrd was smaller than Spinks, look at his Hw career. He never fought anyone as BAD as Terrell. Young, Norton and Lyle weren't ancient. Past their best? Sure, but even at their best they weren't spectacular. In 1981 Young was Ring's Comeback Fighter of the Year, and his winning streak was snapped by the version of Greg Page that everyone wishes to remember. Any one of those men would have beaten Liston.
But I am not talking about the Steroid ingested fighters of today, I am talking of fighters of yesteryear who were not of the Total Diva variety. Why must we always include the fighters of today? How come Gerry Cooney did not fight the Tim Witherspoon, Greg Page, or Pinklon Thomas at their respective peak? Cooney's management used him, they were only interested in the money that they could make fighting Larry Holmes. A title should mean prestige not just money.
Cooney couldn't get fights, he couldn't even get sparring partners. His coach was more of a father-figure/soothe-sayer than an actual coach. Rather than a fighter who went off the rails, Cooney was a fighter who could never really get out of the station. There is no disputing he was more dangerous than those men. Clancy stated he wished he'd gotten ahold of Cooney earlier, no one, not even Holmes, would have beaten him. Those other guys reached their potential. It just wasn't enough. Liston would've never made it out of the amateurs in the 70's. Dude was weak mentally. At least Cooney had an excuse - women loved him, and cocaine came easy. Liston was just a punk who quit on his stool.
Holmes is one of the greatest fighters of all time. Better than the Clay/Ali that caused Liston to quit 2x. Again, not that he would have made it into the ring w/ Holmes in the 80's, but teleport Sonny there and he doesn't make double-digit rounds. Holmes wasn't known as a puncher, but he hit a lot harder than Marshall, Ali and Martin. Put Cooney in with the counterfeit Kimbo Slices that Liston fought, and you'd be charged with homicide.
Now I know you haven't seen that fight. And that gives me good reason to believe you've never seen ANY Sonny Liston fight. That would explain your severe ignorance.
You are calling yourself ignorant, Usyk is a dork along with Fury. Stop calling yourself names you dope.