Rank/rate these 80s heavies (on their best nights)

This is a very hard list to rank, so many guys that are close to each other in skills :nut

oh well, here goes imo,,

Tucker
Spoon
Smith
Truth
Dokes
Berbick
Pinky
Weaver
Page
Tubbs
Tillis

 

Mission impossible hahahaha. Plenty of wasted talent, so many skewed and inconsistent results. Page has lost to three below him, Berbick has wins over some above him, etc. Dokes didn't really have a peak! Berbick was limited but he was also more dedicated and consistent than some above him. If some others had more of his dedication they would have went a lot better. Tucker could possibly move up 2-3 spots, he's a tough one to rate.

Seriously tho, hell to rate. Could have added Snipes and Coetzee just to make it more of a headache

I've done it very quickly, if i sat down and spent tim eon it things might be a fair bit different, argh!

Greg Page
Tim Witherspoon
Mike Weaver
Michael Dokes
Tony Tucker
Pinklon Thomas
Tony Tubbs
Carl Williams
Trevor Berbick
Quick Tillis
Bonecrusher Smith

 

Pinklon Thomas
Tim Witherspoon
Tony Tubbs
Greg Page
Tony Tucker
Michael Dokes
Mike Weaver
Trevor Berbick
Carl Williams
Bonecrusher Smith
James Tillis

Thomas wasn't flashy but the way he easily beat the very good Witherspoon, puts him at the top of my list. I rated Berbick so low because in his best wins, the guys he beat like Page, Tate and especially Thomas looked jaded the night he fought them. Page was prime but apparently broke his thumb and didn't utilize his movement well either.

Page looked awesome in some of his early fights, but the competition in those fights was such that I can't put him at the top of the list.

Smith looked awesome in the second Witherspoon fight, but Tim clearly was mentally and physically not there.

 

spoon is better than tucker

 

Witherspoon.

 

Page looked best against Snipes
Tate was coming right off the Weaver KO when he fought Berbick. His best fight was probably against Coetzee. Thomas was at his best against Witherspoon.

 

I just watched Thomas Witherspoon myself for the first time. It's the best Thomas I've seen but Witherspoon just seemed out of it. He looked tired after 4 rounds. He did some good things later but this was a strange performance. Thomas showed the jab that everyone talks about but even though he clearly can punch, his delivery seems to be that of an arm puncher. He was effective but he's odd to watch. I'm watching his fight with Weaver soon so that will be interesting. Great chin & showed athleticism. Witherspoon was just bad that night.

Every guy on this list had some terribly fights. I always liked Williams but he was blasted by Weaver & Tyson. Thomas had a awful fight against Berbick. Dokes always impresses me in his early fights with his hand speed but he lacked power. He reminds me of a heavyweight Meldrick Taylor. Page I haven't seen much of. Tucker's best fights I watched were against Douglas & Tyson. Tubbs shows speed & plenty of smarts but no power.

When I occasionally watched fights as a kid, I remember seeing fighters standing in front of each other, a lot of feinting, a lot of jabbing, & basically playing chess. I appreciate them now but I understand why Tyson was such a breath of fresh air. Tough for me to rate these guys because they were all capable of beating or losing to the others on this list. They all had similar approaches in that no one was an outright pressure fighter. Berbick was the closest in that area. Smith & Weaver were punchers but they weren't bullies who imposed their will the way Foreman did. Everyone on the list is capable of winning or losing.

 

Witherspoon
Page
Tucker
Thomas
Dokes
Tubbs
Williams
Berbick
Weaver
Smith
Tillis
TBH there isn't a gnats c*ck between most of them.

 

Really hard to rank, I would consider Witherspoon, Page, and Thomas the top 3 on their best nights, Dokes and Weaver are pretty much equal, imo, the stoppage in their first fight being rather b.s.
The rest, you can shake them up and then the order might change, as all of these guys, from top to bottom, could find a way to lose, as well as to win.
Tim Witherspoon
Greg Page
Pinklon Thomas
Michael Dokes
Mike Weaver
Trevor Berbick
Tony Tucker
Tony Tubbs
Bonecrusher Smith
Carl Williams
Quick Tillis

 

Yes. A tough one to call as quite a few of them were pretty close to each other skillwise but there's a good case for making Witherspoon the third best heavy of the 80s.