Gerry Cooney vs Wilders opponents.

Jeez

 

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Would you believe it is Sigourney Weaver practicing using the flame thrower for the movie "Alien"?

What a pro.

 

Holmes was never undisputed. Wtf are you talking about?

 

He was linear. That made him the real champion. Without belts Larry was the only dominant heavyweight of the era and would be considered the number one heavyweight. In the world.

without belts Wilder is #3 contender at best. In no particular order He was always behind Wlad, Joshua and Fury.

The WBC authorised Arreola and Stiverne on a whim. Whoever beat them was never going to be a real champion.

 

Who had good arguments over him in his prime?

 

You keep saying Wilder didn't fight Fury. He fought him twice. Joshua hasn't fought Fury. Povetkin hasn't fought Fury.

Wlad fought Fury and lost. Wilder fought Fury and SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDED HIS TITLE AGAINST FURY, dropping Fury twice along the way.

I know you guys have your head up your butts when it comes to Wilder, but saying Wilder NEVER FOUGHT FURY when he fought him twice (once this year even) is BEYOND DENIAL. (LOL)

Deontay Wilder was the WBC Champion for FIVE YEARS. Frankly, he was the only consistent factor in the division during that time.

It was very similar to Holmes' reign where Larry fought WBC contenders and one guy after another held the other belt.

When Wilder won the WBC title, Wlad was the other champ.

During Wilder's reign,

* Tyson Fury beat Wlad and then was stripped of all his belts for a myriad of reasons, including signing for a rematch with Wlad, failing a postfight drug test, and basic inactivity.
* Charles Martin won the IBF belt over Czar Glazkov.
* Anthony Joshua won the IBF belt from Charles Martin.
* Joseph Parker won the WBO belt against Andy Ruiz.
* Joshua won a vacant WBA belt against Wlad Klitschko.
* Parker lost his WBO belt to Joshua.
* Andy Ruiz knocked out Joshua for his belts.
* Joshua decisioned Ruiz for his belts.

While those belts were changing hands EIGHT TIMES in five years, Wilder continued to hold and defend his WBC Heavyweight Title successfully 10 times.

Frankly, history is going to treat Wilder much better than this board ever has.

 

The only dominant heavyweight over Wilder's FIVE YEAR REIGN was Wilder. The other belts changed hands EIGHT TIMES in five years.

It wasn't much different than when Holmes was the WBC champ for five years, and the WBA belts switched hands over and over and over again.

 

Cooney fought SEVEN TIMES in the final 10 years of his career and went 4-3.

Wilder has fought 30 times in the last 10 years of his career, and went 28-1-1 with 27 knockouts.

Cooney was 33 when he got wiped out by 40-year-old George Foreman in a non-title bout in two rounds. Wilder will be 35 when he faces Fury for the WORLD title at the end of this year.

You couldn't get Cooney in the ring to spar most years when he was Wilder's age, let alone make 10 straight successful title defenses.

 

Two guys who lost title fights to Ali fought for the vacant WBC belt that Holmes won. (LOL)

You don't seem to give Holmes any crap for that.

 

You mean the kind Larry Holmes defended his WBC title against. Scott Frank. Lorenzo Zanon. Leroy Jones. Alfredo Evangelista. Scott Ledoux. Ossie Ocasio. Renaldo Snipes. Tex Cobb. What was left of Ali. Earnie Shavers.

I should pull out some old magazines where boxing writers at the time described Larry Holmes' title defenses as they were going on.

Speaking of Tyson, I remember a story featuring a quote from Jim Jacobs about the Holmes-Shavers title fight (that you said yesterday was a fight between the two best.) That fight and the fighters were crucified.

Boxing historian Jimmy Jacobs just couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that the heavyweight division had fallen to the pathetic state manifest last September in Las Vegas, where Larry Holmes was defending his WBC championship against the ultimate mega-banger and lump merchant, Earnie Shavers.

Here's how it went in Vegas: Shavers' thunderous right hand decks the champ in the seventh round. Holmes is out. But wait! Holmes staggers to his feet and, swinging into an old survival tactic, begins dancing in place and shaking his head to clear the fog away. And here comesShavers again. He swings, a roundhouse right, but misses, and nearly catapults himself into the seats. Thus Holmes gets away. And the remainder of the fight is reduced to slapstick—Shavers too limp to defend himself, Holmes too spent to drop him.

"I'd never seen a heavyweight championship fight in which, after it was half over, neither man could throw an effective punch," Jacobs says. "By round eight, if someone didn't know it was for the championship of the world, if he'd just tuned in, he'd have thought it was a comedy. Holmes and Shavers could barely lift their arms. They were throwing punches at phantom heads. Here were two men fighting for a cherished title. It was inept. That is a perfect illustration of the plight of the heavyweight division today."

 

The other guys with belts including several top guys from his era who he declined to fight or give due rematches.

 

Being a belt holder doesn't make you a champion. Again, name me these guys.

 

For starters, Pinklon Thomas who at one point was rated more highly than Holmes and made it on pfp lists.

Holmes basically won a vacant belt (I think it was gifted to Norton a few months before their fight). It was no more valid than the other belts.

 

There was a moment, a brief moment, about the time Larry struggled with. Are Williams where Some might conceivably have favoured Thomas over Larry. Trouble was both lost their next fight. Thomas was good for two fights then he sucked. It was by the second fight people started to think Thomas had a chance to beat Larry. When there was nothing more to come from him. Actually, I would back Carl Williams to beat the Thomas that Berbick fought. I think most people would.

That’s right, the belt was gifted to Ken Norton in the same way it was gifted to Stiverne.

Difference of course is Stiverne was not considered anywhere near the best heavyweight in the world at that time. Not by a long chalk.