Corrie Sanders vs. Ray Mercer

Come on we all know what happened with Ferguson. Mercer could be very lazy and he went into that fight poor prepared, when we match up guys in these hypothetical fight we match the best versions of each fighter not the worst.

So we are talking about Mercer who fought Holyfield and Lewis and the Sanders who beat Wlad.

 

Mercer was inconsistent no doubt about that

 

Holyfield dropped Mercer with one left hook and a past it Spoon had Mercer in trouble a couple times in their bout. So Mercer can definitely get dropped and KO'd when hit on the sweet spot. Sanders has enough power, and speed, to get it done. Nothing is impossible.

Could go two ways: Mercer-Morrison type with Mercer catching a spent Sanders bent on knocking Mercer out, or Sanders doing enough to tag Mercer throughout without sampling power shots in return.

 

Not to mention Mark Wills, Kimmuel Odum and Marion Wilson.

These guys went the distance but Sanders is getting blown out? OK

 

Even if he could get Mercer into a war like that I wouldn't favour Sanders. The one time he was in such a fight vs Rahman he came out 2nd best and Rahman had a much worse chin than Mercer.

I'd argue that prime Mercer had a better chin than Vitali based on how both responded to Lewis' punches and Sanders hit Vitali hard and couldn't finish him. Sanders hits hard enough to probably drop Mercer if he catches him right like Evander and Witherspoon did but much like in those fights I can't see Sanders keeping him down.

 

I looked through their resumes to find common opponents.

Mike Dixon - Sanders went the distance with him (dropping him) but Mercer stopped him.
Garing Lane - Big fat tank of a guy, they both went the distance with Garing
Bert Cooper - Mercer went the distance with him, Sanders stopped him.
Wlad Klitschko - Mercer was stopped, Sanders stopped Klitschko.

Of course the question comes in about versions of fighters etc. The Bert Cooper that Mercer fought was better than the one Sanders fought. Sanders fought Dixon before Mercer did and before Lewis cracked him open. The Klitschko win is obviously above anything on Mercer's resume although let's be fair, Ray was long in the tooth by then. On the other hand, so was Sanders, I guess.

 

Frankly I feel that if Sanders boxed Mercer he'd probably beat him widely. Mercer has always been a rather limited boxer, relying on his chin and heavy hands to win rather than crafty skills. I think Sanders would be taking a risk trying to blast Mercer out.

 

Sanders was not prepared well for the Rahman fight.

 

Ray Mercer was old as hell when he fought Klitschko why are you using that version of him

 

Because

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And Rahman was overweight, we've already debated this before lets not tread over old ground.

 

But there's no point to mention that fight if you know good and well Mercer looked like a middle aged quickie mart employee

 

Agreed. He was outboxed by Jessie Ferguson, A 40 year old Holmes and Francesco Damiani ( before landing a punch that broke his nose. ) also fought life and death with Bert Cooper. Mercer was a tough fighter and fun to watch but gets overrated

 

Rahman was muscled up, not fat.

My point is that if Rahman is a valid reference area for this matchup, then maybe Mercer / Ferguson is just as valid

 

Maybe but Sanders never really out boxed anyone on Mercer's level.

Mercers was an Olympic gold medalist you don't achieve that being limited. His main issue was always conditioning, he often fought in spurts and would just get outworked like in his fight with Lewis.