Heavyweight paper champions who were actually good fighters

he can give guys some hellishly tough fights.

toney and jones (surpisingly only little men) really showe dhim up by playing it fast and sweet. where as bouts like holy they just seemed to slam together.

but yeah i will take that, hard fighter to look good agaisnt. boring of course but tricky to know what to do with him

 

Yes, but in my mind, going the distance with both Smith and Dokes after getting previously stopped in round one against each is itself something of an achievement. (Can you imagine Patterson taking Liston the distance in their rematch? Hercules could demonstrate remarkable mental resilience.)

 

Cheers. I want to express my view that as a defending champion, Hercules actually successfully retained his crown through a couple of title defenses. At their very best, Spoon, Needles, Greg and Tubby may well have been superior heavyweights, but I feel that Mike was the more viable champion, repelling the challenges of Coetzee in SA, and the then undefeated Tillis.

If Weaver had not been prematurely robbed of his honors by Joey Curtis, maybe Dokes would have punched himself out early, leading to a third consecutive successful defense. (Beyond that, I'm one of those who believes Hercules should have at least regained his WBA belt in the Dokes rematch.)

Aside from Holmes, Mike Weaver was the most consistent performer in championship competition between Ali and Tyson. Could Coetzee, he of the fragile psyche, possibly have prevailed in a rematch with Weaver after Gerrie upset Dokes in Akron?)

 

Union Kane wasn't that bad really. Just had a bad night when he lost the title. It's hard living in a past champ's shadow.

 

Max Schemling

 

Ernie Terrell
Jimmy Ellis
Ken Norton
John Tate
Mike Weaver
Greg Page
Michael Dokes
Tim Witherspoon
Pinklon Thomas.

 

You might call Murray and Bivins paper champs. If so, they were damned good.

 

Paper champ? :think