The 80's lost generation of Heavyweights?

Don King had the beating of just about all of them.

 

Ha, true that.

Let's say they were mostly a group of underachievers.
Tate, Weaver, Coetzee, Tillis and Spoon were probably my favourites of the bunch.
The 80's heavies were mostly long of technical ability and short on discipline and motivation.
A real shame. It could have potentially eclipsed the 70's era had more fighters kept it together.

 

I think many of the 80's heavyweights had the goods when on top of their game to be legit challengers to just about any heavyweight champion. Out of the group I think the best were Witherspoon, Tucker, Thomas, Dokes and Tubbs. All five of these guys I feel had great stuff when on top of their games but drugs, lack of motivation and issues outside the ring kept all five the names I mentioned looking far from their best a lot of their career.

Witherspoon had the most longevity of the bunch as far as I know he never was an abuser of hard drugs which might be why he was able to launch a number of decent comebacks and when motivated even well passed his prime he showed he could still take care of some contenders.

Tucker had the physical features and the skills to be a real hard guy to beat but drugs set him back big time, when he came back years later from the Tyson fight he was still a contender but not the same.

Thomas looked very good on his way up to the championship he looked outstanding defeating Witherspoon and Weaver but then a bad night against Trevor Berbick lost him his title he'd then go on to get demolished by Tyson in a fight which he did have some decent rounds in after that he was never a contender again, I know Thomas battle drugs throughout his career and life.

Dokes had a tone of skill, great hand speed and good power. He too looked great on the come up but once he got to the top drugs knocked him off... He declined a great deal at a young age because of his drug problem. Launched a good comeback and came so close in a great fight against Holyfield that fight put him in the mix but after getting destroyed by Ruddock he drifted back into drugs and oblivion.

Finally Tony Tubbs had tremendous ability as a fighter. Very crafty in the ring with lighting fast hands. He looked very good in his prime but like the rest of them drugs took over. Even still he'd gain a lot of good wins throughout his career though showing up out of shape and abusing drugs. All five of these guys I feel could've done so much better for themselves had they stayed consistent. But one of the main things that separates the great from very good is consistency...

Buster Douglas, John Tate, and Greg Page were also very good but like the others inconsistent. I think the inconsistency of all the fighters mentioned allowed guys like Coetzee, Weaver and Berbick who were good tough well conditioned fighters to over achieve.

 

I think Page was the most talented ... he just couldn't maintain interest while waiting for his time and delved into bad outside-the-ring habits.

My favorites were Weaver, a true pro's pro, and Pink ... that jab.

 

The dilution and disillusionment caused by the fractured championship meant that in this period challengers made it to the top far too early. Basically 16 fight prospects got to challenge a champion in the first competative "step up" fight. Often the guy they challenged had only won one of those himself. It's not that they were bad fighters. They were not. But they were under seasoned and not quite prepared to win the second fight having broke into World class. It meant after losing the title most went 50-50 and because the pre title record was non competative build ups each were only ever really 50-50 at best at that level anyway. It's proberbly why the only guy to string better results was Weaver who had at least been around before challenging for belts.

Outside of Holmes and Tyson the rest were kind of an equal level. Scott Frank Drew with Snipes who beat Berbick who beat Thomas who drew with Coetzee who lost to Page who Witherspoon beat before Witherspoon was knocked out in one round by the guy that Marvis Frazier beat. In a round about way The two weakest challengers matched the level of everyone not called Larry Holmes or Mike Tyson.

 

It does make you wonder how/why it all fell apart for the 80's heavies.
The 70's and 90's heavies never seemed to have the discipline/substance abuse problems of the 80's guys.
Why specifically this decade?

Even Tyson, who is either the best or second-best heavy of this era, was a cokehead and alcoholic.

 

Coke and heroine had gotten big on the celebrity scene by the 1980's. and it was also a highly permiscuous decade as well ***ual wise. A lot of this stuff started in the 70's but reached its zenith by the 80's. A lot of fighters of the 70's grew up in the 50's and 60's when most of this stuff had yet to come into fruition. Nevertheless you still had a lot of guys in the 70's and 90's who had their own problems. Jerry Quarry had his battles with Drugs and alcohol as did Oscar bonavena. in the 90's you had guys like Bowe and Douglas who weren't gluttants for training but certainly ate their fill. Bert Cooper had problems with drugs. And so did Morrison. Lot's of guys did things in everyone of those eras.

 

Yeah I guess so.
I forgot that coke and heroine were bigtime celebrity drugs. I remember Pinklon Thomas retelling a few stories in an interview of how he'd get a score and then come to hours later in some strange place not knowing where the heck he was.
Scary stuff.

 

In the United States the 1960's are often given credit as being the biggest drug crazed decade of the 20th century but I disagree. By the 1980's it was no longer just a bunch of long haired teens smoking pot or tripping on LSD while protesting to vietnam.. By the 80's you had businessman in suits and ties snorting lines of coke before going to work in the morning at the lawfirm, stock exchange or car dealership. You had house wives who'd light up a joint or break out the bottle after the last child got on the school bus for the day. Years after I grew up my mother disclosed to me just how many of the adult couples in our old neighborhood hosted parties where joints and mirrors with cocaine were passed around.. These were parents who worked in white collar jobs, lived upper middle class lifestyles and who's children I either played with or went to school with.. It was a crazy time.

 

Tubbs is probably my favorite. Crafty, mobile big man with fast combination punching and great countering abilities. A shame that he did not accomplish more.

 

A sad era to me. Larry Holmes milked and sat on the title, feeling no obligation to defend against the best or unify the title. The WBA guys were inconsistent as hell.

Tyson cleaned things up. He always took on the best and didn't leave it to the judges most of the time.

 

pretty much sums it up

 

I think most of these guys were highly decorated amatuers and they each expected to be entitled to the glamour of the real heavyweight title they watched Ali, Frazier, Foreman and even Leon Spinks enjoy. After all, only America's boycott and Teofilo Stevinson prevented some of them doing so well in the Olympics as Ali, Frazier,Spinks and Foreman had. They saw it as a birth right. Too much ego. But a lot had changed.

They were not brought along right. The title was splintered. A monopoly was going on. Most of them were friends within the same stable. So the infestructure had changed by the time they turned pro. Nobody any good could get near Holmes because nobody could win two straight fights at world level. So Holmes got to pick off the "also-rans". Professional restrictions versus the party lifestyles. the profession proberbly comes second.

 

Best of the group was probably Tim Witherspoon. Most talented, definitely Greg Page, who heart was not in the sport of boxing. For some inexplicable reason, never fought Stevenson, even though he could have whupped him in 1978.