Michael Spinks vs Tyson Fury resume comparison

Post prime Larry Holmes in the first Spinks fight should be on the top of the list as I rate him higher than Wlad. After these it's Wilder II & III from Fury and then Cooney from Spinks. I'm not counting the second fight with Larry Holmes as it was a robbery in my book.

 

Holmes 100% the better win and I would pick Cooney to beat Wilder
Spinks loss to Tyson was way more destructive, but I may be in the minority, but despite Usyk being great, I would not pick him over an 88 Tyson, no chance imo

Fury obviously has more longevity at HW, but Spinks has the higher quality

 

I would still rate Fury higher probably, cause he does have more depth. In the HW division of course, as overall I consider Spinks one of the best to ever lace up the gloves.

 

Yeah I agree, but fury was a waste
Just because I am a fan doesn't mean I pardon him fighting so many bums and ducking Wlad

 

When he was still at his peak of popularity in 20-23 me and my friends were always wondering why he's not fighting the fights fans want to see or not even fighting at all! He fought only 5 times through these 3 years and 2 fights were more than forgettable. Such a waste of talent.

 

\Wladimir Klitschko? How did he duck him? He was at rock bottom and also got done for nandralone so he was snookered either way.

 

The narrative about being at rock bottom came out after all of that. In June 2016 he was doing itnerviews in the gym saying he will beat Klitschko, Wilder, AJ etc. and that he's in the best shape of his life. After that, he was caught on coke, the failed test for nandrolone was published and he had an "ankle injury" to postpone the fight with Wlad. He called it off few months later.

He could have fought through the investigation for nandrolone just like his cousin Hughie, who was a defendant in the same case, but he was active and even fought Parker for the WBO belt. He just chose not to and induce in a coke binge.

 

He retired to avoid Wlad.

 

Also Spinks has the better resume.

I'm not sure about Tyson being that big a waste of talent. His movement everyone told me was like Ali got him floored against a guy everyone says can't box for **** and wouldn't touch any skilled fighter.

Seems like Spinks would whoop his ass all day everyday and the only reason that's even a question is because they keep sizing talent out of the division for fatties while claiming it's to protect the lighter end of HWs.

LHWs becoming HW champions is a staple until Spinks/Tyson

They made up CW and promptly a CW became undisputed HW champion.

They made up BW and the CW champion just skipped that hoe to displace a 40 pound heavier fat man.

But back in the LHW era giving up 40 pounds isn't unheard of, in fact beating up fat men is what padded most records.


So now we got a fat man with nothing but other fat men to fight who gets floored by a lighter HW who apparently has no skills at all and certainly not even ****ing close to Spinks in skills being totted as a maybe, might be, comparable despite getting his ass handed to him by a man just cracking that BW limit.


Pretty sure Spinks kicks his ass. Pretty sure beating up a 40 year old Wlad who never beat anyon of note himself is the peak of Fury and always was going to be. That's why he wnt and cried about it so, so, much.

 

Spinks has the best single win i think Holmes is the better win because he went on to actually win fights after that loss and was still a force a decade later. Plus Spinks also moved up in weight and it was his first fight at Heavyweight which is even more significant.

But the 2nd Holmes fight was a robbery and I consider that a loss for Spinks and outside the two Holmes fights there isn’t alot of substance to Spinks's Heavyweight resume.

Cooney was a decent win I guess and I think he was actually the favourite but I don't think that version of Cooney is the same one who gave Holmes a competitive fight 5 years before.

 

Basically in this order.....

1. Holmes 1
2. Wladimir
3. Wilder 2
4. Wilder 3
5. Cooney/Whyte

Obviously Fury has a better Heavyweight resume overall but if you compare Spinks's Light Heavyweight resume aswell then it's no contest.

 

I disagree.

Holmes was NOT the best heavyweight in the world in 1985. He was avoiding legit challengers at this point, especially Pinklon Thomas and a rematch with Tim Witherspoon. Both Thomas and Witherspoon would have likely beaten this version of Holmes.

Wlad, much as i dislike him, was the best heavyweight in the world in 2015. Despite being close to 40 years old, he still had the aura of being unbeatable. And because Wlad still retained his exceptional punching power, it made fighting him more dangerous than fighting Holmes whose speed had declined and Larry didn't have the exceptional punching power to compensate for the decline in speed.

I will take beating an aging Wlad (who was considered close to unbeatable) over beating an aging Holmes who was no longer the best in the world.

Aside from the Holmes wins, Spinks has a win over Cooney. Would i take peak Cooney over Wilder? Sure. But i will take 2020 Wilder over 1987 Cooney any day of the week. Cooney was simply too inactive at this stage.

Look, i love Spinks. Pound for pound, he is ten times the fighter Fury is. But purely at heavyweight? Aging Wlad > Aging Holmes. Wilder> inactive Cooney.

 

You're also not taking into account Spinks moved up in weight and beat Holmes in his first ever Heavyweight fight which is very significant.

I also consider Spinks's win as the better performance as he was the smaller man and landed way more punches. Fury for example landed less than 100 punches in a very dull affair where neither man threw a punch in anger.

Holmes also won fights after the loss to Spinks he beat a prime Mercer, a very competitive fight with a prime Holyfield, and came within 1 point of winning a title at age 45 vs McCall.

Wladimir never won another fight after the Fury loss and retired not long after.

As for Holmes not being the best Heavyweight ? Debatable. Yes Thomas could've beaten Holmes but he seemed to peak vs Witherspoon in 1984 and then quickly eroded after he struggled vs a past it Weaver then lost to Berbick.

If you're matching up the 1984 version of Thomas I think he could win a decision but his form after that is hit and miss.

 

sure that is significant in determining Spinks's P4P greatness. But when it comes purely to heavyweight resume, we are looking at what they accomplished in terms of quality of opposition regardless of their own size.

You make some good points about Holmes's subsequent success. Wlad didn't have subsequent success. So it depends on what you value more. Do you value beating the best heavyweight in the world at the time in a dull boring affair over beating perhaps the 3rd best heavyweight in the world in a more exciting affair?

You make some good points. While i still think beating the #1 guy is better (Wlad), you can make a case that Spinks's win is better due to what Holmes did subsequently.