The punch that stopped Dimiani was to the nose which broke it. Not indicative of a huge puncher for sure. The ko of Morrison was dramatic but Morrisons whiskers were poor. Aside from that one ko his showing of top tier power is absent. In my mind the punching power of Mercer is questionable at best
Here is some info from boxrec about bowe vs mercer: Mercer had been promised a title shot against Riddick Bowe and a guaranteed 1.5 million dollar payday if he beat Ferguson. However, things didnt go his way and Mercer was completely outboxed in this fight. Mercer and Morrison were originally scheduled to fight on August 9, 1991, but Morrison had to withdraw after cutting his right eyelid during a sparring session. [url]Riddick Bowe[/url] stepped in as a substitute for Morrison, but then Mercer withdrew after injuring his left ankle. [url]Bruce Seldon[/url] replaced Mercer and was knocked out in the first round by Bowe. So mercer had 2 chances to fight bowe and he blew it. Hide and cooper could bang, they are similiar to mercer and moorer as far as punching power, and bowe blew them easily and they were in good shape against him. You don't rate golota very high, but at that time when he fought bowe he was a hot prospect, undefetead, self confident, with good skills outside and inside, trained by lou dova... 240 lbs strong with a good punch. Those punches past prime bowe ate were devastating, don't know how can someone doubt his chin and heart after that. Bowe displayed great skills and will against prime evander holyfield, knocked him down and out, something lewis could never do against a past prime holyfield. Lewis couldn't box a lick against tall opponents, vitali, akiwande, grant, bruno etc.. He beat them by bringing the fight to them, and that's where bowe excelled. Lewis was stunned by briggs jab, and knocked out cold with 1 punch x2 times against journeymans. And don't say lewis fought punchers cause he wasn't hit in most of those fights so his chin wasn't checked against them. Mccall and rahman sure checked it though. If bowe had a bad chin than lewis had pure glass. Bowe was a more complete boxer and would have stopped him
OK, so you have excuses about why matches were not made but regardless, they were not made .. your arguments are very 101 .. Cooper could bang but he was a journeyman talent wise. Hide had a lot of KO's but was small and didn't have one significant win in his entire career so my point is that Bowe did not fight any top tier punchers. While we're at it can you tell me one win Golota had against any top fighter ? I like Bowe and feel he sold himself short with poor conditioning after Holyfield 1. Still, spin all you like but he ducked Lewis in horrific fashion and that is why pretty much everyone rates Lennox as the better and far more accomplished fighter ..
Mercer barely beat Jesse Ferguson in the rematch. He was certainly in shape and motivated for that fight. Mercer was a decent heavyweight. Brilliant achievement winning the Olympics. Was a decent durable professional.
None of those guys landed as consistently (or at all) as Mercer, aside from Vitali whom I rate as a quite mediocre puncher. I don't see the issue that you have with my logic. Mercer landed a lot of power punches on Lewis. More than anyone else, and he didn't come close to KOing him. Therefore, I think that Frazier isn't in danger of getting KOd here, since he had a better chin than Lewis.
I think Lewis' chin is under rated ... the two shots that stopped him were monster shots and in the case of Rachman he was out of shape and groggy from the altitude as well .. he was hit many times by Mercer and took it .. he fought many other punchers and took the shots .. not an all time great chin but more solid than given credit for in my opinion .. The biggest quality punchers of the nineties excluding Bowe were (in no particular order) Lewis Tua Bruno Tyson Rachman Ruddock Morrison Mercer Moorer Foreman Grant Bowe did not fight one of them ...
chuvalo looked solid rock at 217 pounds, his big frame was all his weight, mercer was a pig fat. mercer was taller but he was not bigger than chuvalo that was like a cave man like tua or tyson
Again lewis didn't get hit solid vs punchers he fought, ups he did against rahman and mccall and was out cold with one punch, disgraceful. Who did these two journeymans ever knocked out except glass chin lewis? Even old fat holmes ate mccall shots all night no problem like glass chinned maskaev in his two fights against rahman, but it only took one punch to take lewis out. He goes down and stays down. Bowe got hit vs hide and cooper, not to mention golota, only a fool would deny his chin and heart.
In your mind, but nobody else's. Facts: 1) Mercer was tough as nails 2) Mercer could punch damn hard 3) Mercer developed a pretty good jab later on. Mercer would be a stiff test for most heavyweights, and that includes Frazier. Stylistically, Frazier is trying to swarm a guy with a harder punch and a better chin. Not the best style matchup for him. On pedigree, and workrate, I might edge Frazier a decision win, but it would be no walk in the park and Mercer wold be a very live underdog.
ray mercer hitting harder than joe frazier? maybe in narnia world, tell me what fighter did mercer drop with a single shot and left nearly ko like frazier did against a fighter with the quality and chin of 70s ali . come back with a name and then it could be a debate
