how does michael spinks do in the 40s and 50s

he was probably the same size as most heavies back then.
so how would he do against all the challengers and opponents that were roaming around then. moore,charles,walcott,patterson,johansson,machen,folley etc and then the rest of decent fighters in that era. would spinks be a gate keeper? he would be frightened of liston and probably be another tyson type result. to me spinks probably wouldnt be a 50+ fight plus man, he saw his limitations when he faced a stronger skilled fighter in tyson and he would be beating up a few times in the 40s and 50s aswell.

 

your right he'd be a heavyweight.

he might briefly pass through L-HW but most certainly level off at HW for most of his career.

keep in mind too this WAS the mind set of fighters back then,
they weren't cutting weight for 2 or 3 divisions down, they weighed what they weighed fought there and UP at 'catchweights' and also looking to compete UP where the money & notoriety was, especially among the Big Boys.

he never would have been champion and he too would have suffered quite a few defeats like the rest of them. the only question is would he have been around for a long active career like his peers or would he have been a journeyman fighter that also may well have fallen away after a few hard years.

that is the only question when sending these boys back - Who STAYS & Who FALLSAWAY!

i.e RJJ would have been whisker exposed long, long before he was in his own time!

 

Spinks could make 175 in his sleep, same day. I don't know how transporting him back in time would've changed that; I don't know what makes you believe that boxers weren't cutting weight back then. Lamotta did. Midget Wolgast did. Tons of guys did. These are facts.

Now here is an opinion. I think Spinks could beat any light heavy (and several heavies) of the era. He would lose some for sure, but to think he'd be a journeyman is in my opinion incorrect.

 

^^^ No one said he would be...

it was a question asked of any fighters teleported. WOULD they have remained in the fray as long as the ones that did or would they be on the Fringe, Journeymen or Fall Away completely.

the example of the RJJ was a imaginable scenario IF he had to swim deep every month against the then L-HWs cum Heavies of the time.

Him, Spinks or any others.

yes fighters cut weight, NOT bloody 25 - 40lbs on regular bases, their scheduals wouldn't have allowed it. Thats why most fought much closer to their natural weights.

 

Spinks didn't cut anything like 25 to 40 pounds (there are like 2 guys in history that do regularly) though. He came in to a title fight at 170. This was before the next day weigh in era. Spinks could have made weight pretty easy. Hell he won gold at 165.

 

again Nobody said Spinks did...

but MOST fighters today ARE cutting 20, 30 or 40 lbs - they've got time too, and that's the point. So they all would be a division or two up back then fighting with same understanding or mind set of their peers.

Why would they even be thinking any different from their comrades and fellow athletes of that time. They wouldn't!

 

To say Michael Spinks could beat any lightheavweight of the 1940s,shows lack of knowledge of a prime Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore, Harold Johnson, Jimmy Bivins, Lloyd Marshall, who were in the mix in those
competitive days...Michael Spinks was a top fighter for his times, but
the 1940s spawned greater fighters as the above...Check them out...

 

Thistle jesus who cuts 40 pounds. That's a ton. Even Chavez doesn't come in over 200 pounds. And Spinks sure didn't.

I've seen them burt. They're great. Harold Johnson is one of my favorite of all time. But Spinks could hang with anybody. He wouldn't go undefeated like he did but he could beat anybody. Those guys are legends but so is Spinks.

 

LR, I'm confused. On one hand you proclaim that Spinks would beat any LH
of the 1940s, and then you write Spinks would not go undefeated, implying
that he would NOT defeat every LH of the 1940s...Yipes !atsch

 

He'd be the heavyweight champ.

 

Spinks was a very skilled fighter. he would have some great scraps with Moore, Maxim, Bivins, Bettina, Charles, Conn and Johnson. Good as he was he'd lose a few but win more than he lost for sure.
PS Louis would kill him. Liston would beat him on points, a la Machen only closer. Pattersob... hmm...interesting.. Patterson just too fast?

 

You're misreading my post. I've said that Spinks could beat any of those guys not that he would have beaten all of them. There's not a lhw I would favor to beat all those guys every time out.

 

Spinks would have been highly successful in any era.

We cannot say for sure that he would have been the champion at either light heavyweight or heavyweight, because there were a lot of very good light heavyweights, and a lot of heavyweights that were good at what he was good at. Much would depend on how the cards fell.

He would have had some fun finding out.

 

He could probably make 168 today with no real problems.

 

Chances are, he'd be facing guys like Moore, Charles, Johnson, Marshall, Bivins et al more than once during his career, Burt. He might win every time out against The Row, but he'd certainly be able to mix with that company and hang with the fighters listed.