Leon Spinks challenges Mikey Tyson, both prime.

You need to read what part i quoted again Bill.

 

Oh, I hadn't even noticed u only quoted the 1st point. My mistake. So u think most of the forum members think that if Leon was prepared to fight Coetzee, and didn't start so fast, that he still would have lost? Coetzee was not the hottest guy ever either.

 

It doesn't get much more conclusive Will.

 

In all seriousness does anyone expect Leon to make it to round 2?

 

To me personally Richard, would be the same as Tyson v Pete McNeely.
Leon bravely rushes out, gets Tyson against the ropes and throws a shed load of punches.
Tyson counters and Leon goes crashing down. Two kds later and it's ovaaaaa

 

That's ridiculous. Look at Coetzee vs. Tate. Pathetic. Tate won an easy, slow decision and Coetzee had more than one advantage to fighting in his own homeland. If Tate could beat him, Leon could.

 

What's ridiculous is taking a guy that has been pole axed in 2 minutes flat (dropped 3 times) and saying if he was less rusty and didn't start so fast "he would have licked him". Now that's ridiculous.

What happened between Coetzee and Tate has nothing to do with what happened or you imagine what should have happened between Coetzee and Leon. Chalk and cheese. Tate's 6'4, 230+ and had an 80" reach and could box. He was actually very talented but ended up lacking durability, certainly post Weaver. He was one of these guys that never came back from their first stoppage. His win over Coetzee is likely better than Leon's win over the underprepared shell of Ali. I'd take the Tate that beat Coetzee over Leon any day.

 

See the Frazier thread. Or think of Marvis v Tyson

 

There's nothing ridiculous about it. Leon had been out of action for 9 months, which is entirely too long. And Leon did start to fast as it was not suited to his weaknesses. Lots of great fighters lose because they fight the wrong kind of fight. Ali thought he could outslug Frazier and Holyfield thought he could outslug Bowe. It turns out Ali played into Frazier's hands and so did Holyfield, and Frazier and Bowe exploited their weaknesses. On the other hand, in the return matches, Ali and Holyfield came back and did what they do best- boxed smartly, rather than engaging in exchanges at every opportunity. The first time around, they fought the wrong kind of fight. Another instance of this would be when Ellis thought he could knock out Shavers in the first round. SRL went toe-to-toe with Duran. But he boxed smartly the second time around and won. History is filled w/ examples of boxers going toe-to-toe, but then boxing to win the rematch. Why? The first time they fought a fight not suited to their style. A lesser known example and of the other way around would be when Hurricane Carter attempted to box Dick Tiger after being floored four times in the first four rounds. Unfortunately, I can't think of too many examples where a puncher tried to box and it didn't work it. But I think with all that said, it's not so ridiculous.

 

Check out the 4th round Tyson right that almost paralyzed Larry Holmes. Yeah, Larry was five years past it but...even then I'd pick Holmes over Leon.

Sorry, William, all respect to your taste (and I always make sure to read your posts). Leon was a flash-in-the-pan for me. He just didn't have the strength to keep Joe, Mike, or Joe from batting him senseless. He simply wasn't an ATG by any stretch, while those three fighters indubitably were, especially Joe and George.

 

I'd watch the Frazier fights (besides the FOTC) from 1968-1975 again, especially the Quarry fights (number 2 featured devastating rights by any standard imo). Eddie Futch may have been the world's great trainer ever, but he had a tendency to underrate some of his fighter's attributes at times.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, Frazier had a right hand about the power of a Ken Norton, and that's nothing to sneeze at, period. Both Ali and Holmes were rocked by that right hand.

People pick Joe early because Leon had a bad habit of launching himself face-first at other fighters. That's suicide against Foreman, Frazier, and Tyson. Yes, Joe was more often than not a slow starter...but he wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of a fighter leading with his face. Leon would run into the punches, and Joe was far too powerful not to shake him up bad...real bad.

I just moved to Springfield last November lol. Not a bad state, just very conservative in many ways.

Really? Everyone in this neck of the woods seems ga-ga over Mike.

 

Look at an already well-worn Coetzee against undefeated Michael Dokes, heavyweight champion of the world.

It's obvious William really likes Leon, and I don't think any of us should hold it against him. We all have our favorites, I'm an unashamed Holmes fanatic.

Also, since I'm guessing Michael Spinks is a Missouri homeboy as well, I'm totally aboard the admiration train for his light-heavy accomplishments.

 

Damn i know Cus was a very influential guy in Tysons life, but Cus taking a phone call coming on for 4 yrs after he died, hell that is impressive, respect to him for that

 

You make some valid points in favor of Joe.
Yes, MO is very conservative.
People here do love Mike, but they love Leon a lot too.