How does Michael Moorer rank as a light-heavy?

He was a very good one, but his resume is not too deep as far as talent. I think Moorer would have always been "chinny" against the better fighters though, so its really hard to tell how he stacks up against other great LH's.

 

H2h better than on greatness.

 

bang on:good he looked amazing against limited opposition and h2h, he ranks highly as a result.

 

He also very ordinary against some ordinary opposition. I believed at the time, and hindsight proves him to be the weaker than Hill, Williams, Harding and Andries for the 89/90 period.

 

not up there with guys like foster and conn, but he had a lot of ability and power

 

His resume isn't great but I have him rated very highly h2h...I only see Spinks, Moore and Charles being betting favorites against him h2h.

 

I'd hope you weren't a betting man, in that case.

 

:-( because opposition means nothing when judging a fighter h2h right?

 

I think he had the ability to be an all-time great at LHW but I don't rate him at LHW.

He beat the crap out of everybody he faced at 175Lbs but did not fight the best LHWs of the day like Virgil Hill and Charles Williams. With that said, Moorer was willing to fight anybody at LHW.

He went 22-0 (22) at LHW and 10-0 (10) in WBO LHW World Title fights.

His notable wins at LHW-

Ramzi Hassan KO5- won the newly created WBO belt

Frankie Swindell KO6- they fought again at HW, KO3

Freddie Delgado KO1- Delgado dropped Hearns and lasted 12 rounds in '94

Leslie Stewart KO8- his toughest fight at LHW

...that's not much to go one. With Moorer, it's all about what could have been.

 

At 6'2" and a 78" reach Moorer was a big LHW. He was strong, had awesome power, and IMO his chin would have been able to stand up to most LHW punches.

I really wanted to see him fight Virgil Hill. I could see Hill winning a decision but he'd have to be at his very best that night. I would have picked Moorer had they fought back in the day.

Hearns had the ability to win a decision as well but he would also have to be at his very best. Hearns had more power than Hill but his chin was no better. His power might allow him to set up combinations but I don't see him hurting Moorer very much. Huge Hearns fan but I would have picked Moorer had they fought at LHW.

I think Moorer would have stopped Charles Williams, Dennis Andries, and Jeff Harding in the late rounds.

I think he would have also stopped Bobby Czyz, Frank Tate, and Adolpho Washington among others.

Moorer could have ruled 175 for a while.

 

He could have ruled 175 for a while, but he never ruled it at all! Never even held a world title. WBO was not a title, it was no better than todays WBF title, it was nothing. Moorer was considered a good fighter, probably the best WBO champion of any at the time, but he still wasnt considered a real world champion. His status at light heavy went up only after his World heavyweight championship win.

Without this win, he would not even be remembered as a light heavyweight. In many ways, his light heavy career is not much better than say a Chris Byrd. Saying that, I do agree that he might do better head to head than his light heavy legacy suggests.

 

Not nearly as much as fighting styles, pedigree, physical attributes and talent do...

 

You can use level of competition and things like this to determine atg lists but I always use fighting styles, physical attributes and pedigree when analyzing MATCHUPS.

Remember that I'm not saying that Moorer was an ATG LHW... I'm simply saying that he matched up well with almost every LHW in history.

 

Based on what? He was made to look terribly ordinary by a washed up Leslie Stewart, and possibly saved by the bell against the terribly limited Frankie Swindell. I wouldn't count out a prime Stewart against him, much less an actual elite Light Heavy. I think he'd get out-pointed or stopped by the vast majority of the top Light Heavies of the 70's and early 80's (the Muhammads, Galindez, Conteh, Marvin Johnson, Eddie Davis, Richie Kates, even guys like Lonnie Bennett and Jesse Burnett at their best, etc.).

Bottom line, Moorer had some awesome physical tools, but he wasn't a versatile enough fighter to compete with the elites, which was proven against even the sub-standard competition he did face. A basic stand-up stylist with little defensive awareness or adaptability, not to mention lacking in sturdiness at the weight. I think he clearly improved from the move up.