After famously retiring the great Muhammad Ali, Berbick went on to claim the WBC belt by outpointing the solid Pinklon Thomas in a riveting affair. He took Mike Tyson into deep waters before being KO'd 3 times by one punch. His name remains one of the biggest wins on Tyson's record. How would today's HW ruler, Wladimir Klitschko, fare against one of the 80's best?
Depends on which Berbick shows up. The Berbick that came mentally and physically prepared against Larry Holmes, and went 15 rounds, takes Wlad into deep waters and drowns him. The Berbick who got flattened in one round by Bernardo Mercado would be smashed by Wlad even faster. On the average, Wlad's more consistant and focused , but best performance against best performance, Berbick stops Wlad late.
Berbick would be running against a brick wall all night, until Wlad makes him quit on the stool in Round 8.
yeah, i think he's ****ing around just a little bit with that first post. anyway, wlad would beat berbick the same style he beat rahman. methodically breaking him down with the jab until he felt like opening up. Berbick was alright and his surviving against Holmes in the ring is his second greatest achievement: getting dropkicking by Holmes in the parking lot is his crowning moment though. Berbick's adequate technical skills, decent athleticism and wholly unmemorable perfomances would fit perfectly in today's top 10
Berbick couldn't even lead a shot to pieces Ali into something to be called "deep water", he would eat jabs and 1-2s like popcorn from someone as fast as prime Wlad. Just because he was black and fought in the 80s he isn't some superskilled powerhouse. The question when Berbick is going down just depends on how much he can take. I'd guess he has some solid recuperation powers seeing how prime Tyson bounced his head around without that one going down immediately. But when Tyson can't miss with his jab, Wlad would let it look like speedbag practice. The "big man" from the Tyson fight would be the small man like Rahman and Brock with Wlad in the ring.
****ing quality I still voted Berbick KO though, that's what I'm supposed to do after all. Berbick actually had an ATG chin, he got up every time Tyson decked him, that other KO in the first was a stamina issue.
Berbick has the durability to last. he has the punch to stop Wlad. However, Wlad's reach keeps him off and wins a decision, as the nuthuggers cannot take anymore Wlad lambasting.
If that Berbick that won at least 3 rounds against Holmes turned up against Tyson then he may have ended Iron Mike's meteoric rise to the top before it really got started.