FIGHT OF THE WEEK #5- Pinklon Thomas vs Trevor Berbick (35th Anniversary edition)

Another great win for Berbick however, I got even greater satisfaction watching Tyson demolish Berbick and the good part is that there was nothing up Dundee's sleeve that could prevent it

 

Without printing all the rounds, I had it 116 to 113 for Berbick. Thomas won four of the first six, but then Berbick came on. Thomas seemed to run out of gas.

Overall, I wasn't that impressed with either. They had good jabs, but very little effective mobility and only marginal head movement. They both seemed to be arm punchers.

 

I can't believe it's 35 years since this fight Philly!!
Jeez, I'm getting old..

 

Lol good old Pinky. But he was actually thought of as the next big thing I recall.

 

It's weird going back and watching this knowing what happened to Berbick later on. He was such an odd guy.

I watched this fight live in college with my roommates. I had been a big boxing fan as a kid and a teenager. Then I lost interest for a few years. I'd catch a heavyweight title fight now and then, but it wasn't a big priority. I was at a party in college the night Spinks upset Holmes for the title. It was playing on a TV in the background. I found myself gravitating toward the TV as Spinks looked to be doing the impossible. So I was starting to get back into the sport when the tournament began.

Pinklon's title win over Spoon and his knockout of Weaver were fights I didn't see live and wouldn't watch until I started collecting fight films in the early 90s. So I wasn't super high on Thomas going into this fight. I knew Berbick was good but "just a guy." My recollections now of when I watched this live was that Thomas wasn't nearly as good as the writers had said he was. Berbick looked the same as he had against Holmes and Tate and Ali and Snipes, but Thomas clearly wasn't Holmes. I have no idea why he was 7-1 favorite. (I also don't think his jab was nearly as intense as they hyped it to be, and some still do.)

What I remember most about that night was the feeling that "Wow, Trevor Berbick is a heavyweight champion?" It wasn't a positive memory. It was more like wow, this division isn't very good (LOL). And I had always been a big fan of the heavyweights, and still am.

When I had been a fanatic about the sport, Berbick won like one out of 15 rounds against Holmes. The idea the division had fallen to such depths wasn't a positive, to me.

The next month, we all watched Spinks defend against an "old" Holmes (to us at the time he was old), and we all thought Holmes won. I remember my roommate being totally shocked by the scores.

It was just a continuation of the perception that the guys on top (Berbick, Spinks) were "not great heavyweights."

So all of us were really excited when Mike Tyson entered the tournament later that year. He came along at just the right time (for me, at least). He made me a fanatic again.

 

Lol, don't worry about it Philly, it happens to us all.

 

Trevor Berbick v Pinklon Thomas

I'd never seen this before and my hopes weren't particularly high but I was pleasantly surprised. The 5th and the 11th were the standout rounds - lots of exchanges.

Berbick edged it in power punches and that was probably the lasting impression. Thomas worked his jab well, more so in the second half of the fight but Berbick edged the exchanges overall I thought.

Good fight.

1 10-9
2 9-10 (close)
3 10-10
4 10-9
5 10-9 (close, terrific round with some great exchanges)
6 9-10 (close. A breather round after the previous round's action)
7 10-9
8 9-10
9 9-10 (Thomas controlled things with the jab)
10 10-9
This fight is close and the punch stats bear it out: Berbick 533 thrown 259 landed; Thomas 530 thrown 259 landed)
11 9-10 (another very good round - thought Thomas edged)
12 10-9

Berbick 115-114 Thomas

 

Trevor Berbick is starting to grow on me ....I’m slowly becoming a fan

 

This fight is so underrated as a heavyweight fight, particularly in the 80s, this was one of the best fights of the decade.

 

Bravo, we'll start a club.

 

I take back my earlier comments about the fight - turned out to be a very good one!

 

Yeah, just took a bit to shape up. I still remember that 11th round. One of the best 11th rounds I can recall.

 

That's a dark path, you tread down. One day, Monzon will be your favourite fighter!

 

Oh, come on, George!