80's/90's gatekeepers?

The division seems to have been filled with Chisora types in the 90s.

Chisora would have been one of twenty then, like @Dynamicpuncher pointed out, not sui generis like he is today.

In the later years and early 2000s it started to clear out, in my opinion these guys stopped boxing and started playing football because of the impact of free agency. It took about 15 years for them to filter out, about the time from when you start youth sports to when you go pro.

 

Francois Botha comes to mind for me.

 

Think that is harsh as he was WBO champion

 

But he wasnt a wbo champion when it mattered. Akinwande was a decent fighter but he never made it to world level.

 

Still think he was better than a gatekeeper

 

He lost his biggest fights, an aging Holyfield would have whooped him.

 

I think of a gatekeeper as highly active and able to produce good fights with great fighters. Jesse Ferguson comes to mind in the 80s 90s and nowadays Gabriel Rosado also comes to mind

 

Who mentioned Holyfield?

 

I did. You do realize they were supposed to fight back in 1998, an aging Hoylfield would have beat that Journeyman.

 

Hey we will never know but we do know Henry was a world champion like it or not

 

WBO wasnt recognized as a world title at that time. The NABF had more prestige at that point.

 

Not recognised by who? It was more prestigious than the NABF now your just lying

 

By the WBC WBA and IBF. And not in the 90s. It wasnt recognized as a major world title until 2004ish like it or not.

 

I disagree and think your view of a gatekeeper and mine are worlds apart

 

I think Akinwandes brief title run under the WBO in 96-97 doesnt mean much.