Who knows more about this guy ? Fighters like this fascinate me .. he was a guy that fought many of the best heavyweights in thew world, often on a few days notice. He rarely won but was never stopped in his 41 recorded losses .. he fought Briggs, Mercer, McCall, Rahman, Maskaev, Donald, Jefferson, Page, Sanders, Ibeabuchi, Norris and many others and no one stopped him .. any more info on this guy ?
I've watched all of his fights that are available. He started his career late (at 33) and fought till 50. Marion Wilson was brave, awkward and tough boxer with iron chin. I've watched his fights against Ibeabuchi, Briggs, Golota (2nd), Jeremy Williams and Ray Mercer among others. Wilson could box too (arguably beat Mercer, dropped Jeremy Williams, beat Mike Hunter and few prospects). How come no one could stop him? As I said, he could take punch even against world class big hitters. Jeremy Williams, Briggs, Ike at some moments tried to get him out there but failed. Wilson was dropped a couple of times in 57 bouts but unfortunately these fights aren't available on youtube. Wilson also used to hold his opponents in clinches so judges often took points off him. But it wasn't Akinwande-like holding, more of an awkward style of boxing. I think his best fights were win over quality boxer Mike Hunter, draw with Ray Mercer and competitive loss to Ike Ibeabuchi (I scored it 8-2 for Ike, and Wilson got a point deduction for low blow).
Fought a draw against peak Ray Mercer, I think it was when Mercer was trying to re establish himself after the Jesse Ferguson fight and only a fight or two before Mercer fought Lennox. I remember when Ty Biggs had a year fighting payday fights in '92 after his best days were gone and he was taking on no names and winning easily, this guy was his next opponent, Biggsy won well enough on points but not before Wilson has knocked him down and roughed him up a bit. I remember him fighting Botha , Golota and several others guys who ended up being names. I recall he fought a guy who ended up being jailwd for throwing a fight..Williams I think his name was..only fighter to be jailed for fight fixing. Marion Wilson's '''peak' was early mid 90's but he kept on fighting for many years , he fought Oliver McCall when Oliver came back and had a long line of low level wins.
If memory serves, there used to be some interesting sparring stories with the guy as well. Kind of a working man's Oliver McCall in his fights.
“I’ve never even been given an eight-count,” he says. (Two of his losses have been in fights that went to judges’ cards early because of cuts from inadvertent headbutts, and another fight was stopped for excessive holding by Wilson.) Washington Journal
I wonder how many guys he could’ve beat but was paid to come in and lose. Similar to the journeyman who could splatter talented prospects who’d go on to be ATGs.
Seems like there’d be a lot more money in beating a bunch of those contenders he fought and getting a title shot (and who knows, maybe winning the heavyweight title) than they could pay him to lose. And if he was that much on the take, surely someone would have sweetened the offer to get him to take his first KO loss to prop up someone’s rep as a big puncher. Why go the distance if you’re not fighting to win, especially if you can make even more by finding a soft spot? He was certainly capable of fighting well when in the mood and properly prepared, but he took short-notice fights (those often pay more because the promoter needs a live body to feed to his up-and-comer/contender and is running out of time to find someone more cheaply) and also often fought from a defensive posture to go the rounds rather than taking risks necessary to try to win. Guys like him are a commodity because they are ‘guaranteed rounds’ guys and thus often fight to survive rather than to win. I saw some of his fights where it seems clear he was more motivated to finish than to try to win.
