the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Great summation. Yeah, I cringed every time Lee launched one of those long left hands. Dewitt ducked just about every one of them though.

 

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Just carrying on with the 80s HWs. I've only ever seen Page in slugfests with light opposition, so I'm hoping that this is a mix of his peak and a slugfest. Either way, I'm seeing more of two guys I've seen very little of.

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10 : 9*
9 : 10
9 : 10
10 : 9 (38/38)
9 : 10
9 : 10
8 : 10 (

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Page's style looks, to me, like a less talented mix of Ali and Bowe. It's a weird but entertaining hybrid. Here he was genuinely brilliant. Slick defence, quick feet, well conditioned, and he was just really sharp with his shots. So fast, accurate with good power. Especially from what I've seen or Coetzee's chin, going the distance in a war with Knoteze. Again, Coetzee looks a bit like Froch or Huck, but with a better jab. Page's counter-puncher was probably the worst match up possible for him, but it was definitely an entertaining fight.

I understand this one was controversial? Well, I don't see why. Sure the bell didn't sound on time, but that's not Page or Coetzee's fault, is it? So I think this is a very valid win, and a very good one at that. Fun fight too.

 

Guys, when Sal brought up the DeWitt v Lee fight it got me thinking of all those terrific middleweight prospects that were coming up in the early '80s. And when I started checking out a few, I came across this gem. I knew that it took place, but I didn't know it was televised. Here we go with Robbie Sims v Iran Barkley

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This was a young Barkley with 8 pro fights against a 22 bout prospect who had a lot of 10 round experience. Although I had it 3-1-1 for Sims on New Jersey's rounds scoring system after 5 rounds, I would suggest dispensing with a score as these two really went at it and this fight is meant to be enjoyed, not to look for every nuance. The 5th round alone should have been round of the year. They were like rock-em-sock-em robots that round. It appeared to be more exhaustion that took out Barkley. But don't take my word for it. Just enjoy it.

 

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I've seen extended highlights of this fight before, and it was an excellent fight. Looking forward to this one.

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10 : 9
10 : 9
9 : 10
10 : 9 (39/37)
9 : 10
9 : 10
9 : 10
10 : 9 (76/76)
9 : 10
9 : 10
10 : 9
9 : 10 (

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This was a great, great fight. Quite possibly a top 10 HW fight.

Early on in the fight, Weaver was more aggressive while Coetzee was fighting in spurts. Weaver kept getting nailed with hard fights and kept getting rocked. I've never fought much of Weaver's chin, but that just means I have even more respect for his heart. His body work here was top notch. Actually, his body work was what made him more dominant as the fight progressed.

 

Weaver is good heavyweight value. I also like his fight with Thomas.

 

That was a good one. I always liked Sims, who suffered in comparison to his brother obviously, but who was quite good himself.

 

Is this the one where Coetzee leaned on Weaver and held and tried to throw him over the ropes a couple of times? And got warned like once?

I thought it was unwatchable unless I’m thinking of a different fight.

 

Yeah, but he didn't do it that much.

 

So did I, Sal. Here's how I had it:

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10 : 8
10 : 9
9 : 10
9 : 10 (38/37)
10 : 9
10 : 9
10 : 9 (

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Very good win from a very underrated fighter. Weaver would obliterate Williams in his next fight. Damn good fight too. Weaver had success on the inside and actually out-jabbed Thomas in parts as to get in there, but Thomas was mostly on control. He really did have a damn good jab, and his right hand wasn't too shabby either. Obviously a very tough guy too, although it feels weird saying that while looking at his bright pink shorts. He's probably Tyson's best win.

 

Again, we must have watched two different fights. He damned near threw him out of the ring twice. The only performance worse than Coetzee’s was the (conveniently) South African referee.

 

I remember the boxing magazines at the time were very heavily invested in the idea of Thomas as The Next Great Heavyweight since it was obvious to everyone by '84 that Holmes needed a successor probably sooner than later. Then Berbick happened and there was a palpable air of disappointment about it. They threw him on the trash heap of fat, under-motivated should-have-beens but didn't have to wait long for the next great heavyweight. As a result of being kind of an in-between belt holder Thomas gets forgotten a lot now.

 

Yeah, the way the commentary team spoke of him did seem a little strange. They said he had the best jab since Sonny Liston, which I found very strange given they had just said that he probably wouldn't be able to out jab Holmes, but anyway I get your point.

I tend to think of Witherspoon and Pinky as the third and fourth best HWs from the 80s. Maybe Weaver at #5.

 

I definitely have 'Spoon at #3, yeah. Dokes is frankly unimpressive, very strange blend of great habd speed with terrible legs. Odd to be so fast with the hands and so labored with the bottom half.

 

Yeah, definitely a weird one. I always tend to lump him near the bottom of that group. He may have given Holyfield an awesome fight, but aside from the Weaver stoppage (which I thought was ridiculous, although I understand how jumpy the ref was with the recent death of Kim), he hasn't actually got much on his résumé.

 

Was Page vs Witherspoon any good, anyone? It seems like a good match up but I've also heard a few negative things.