Third best heavyweight of the 1980s.

Witherspoon would trade his heavyweight career for Spinks’ in about two seconds.

 

From another thread I did, here is how all the 1980s title claimants at heavyweight fared against each other (this includes fights outside the 1980s but among the group who held 1980s titles):

For the full discussion, here is that thread: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/1980s-heavyweight-champs-vs-each-other.723917/

Larry Holmes (6-3)
Mike Weaver W TKO 12, W TKO 6
Trevor Berbick W UD 15
Tim Witherspoon W SD 12
James Smith W TKO 12, W TKO 8
Michael Spinks L UD 15, L SD 15
Mike Tyson L TKO 4

Mike Tyson (7-0)
Trevor Berbick TKO 2
James Smith W UD 12
Pinklon Thomas W TKO 6
Tony Tucker W UD 12
Tony Tubbs W TKO 2
Larry Holmes W TKO 4
Michael Spinks W KO 1

John Tate (1-2)
Gerrie Coetzee W UD 15
Mike Weaver L KO 15
Trevor Berbick L KO 9

Mike Weaver (2-6-1)
Larry Holmes L TKO 12, L TKO 6
John Tate W KO 15
Gerrie Coetzee W TKO 13
Michael Dokes L TKO 1, D MD 15
Pinklon Thomas L KO 8
James Smith L TKO 1, L UD 12

Michael Dokes (1-1-1)
Mike Weaver W TKO 1, D MD 15
Gerrie Coetzee L KO 10

Gerrie Coetzee (1-3-1)
John Tate L UD 15
Mike Wever L TKO 13
Michael Dokes W KO 10
Greg Page L KO 8
Pinklon Thomas D MD 10

Tim Witherspoon (3-4)
Larry Holmes L SD 12
Greg Page W MD 12, L TKO 7
Pinklon Thomas L MD 12
James Smith W UD 12, L KO 1
Tony Tubbs W MD 15

Pinklon Thomas (2-2-1)
Gerrie Coetzee D MD 10
Tim Witherspoon W MD 12
Mike Weaver W KO 8
Trevor Berbick L UD 12
Mike Tyson L TKO 6

Greg Page (3-4)
Trevor Berbick L UD 10
Tim Witherspoon L MD 12, W TKO 7
Gerrie Coetzee W KO 8
Francesco Damiani L UD 10
Tony Tubbs L UD 15
James Smith W UD 10

Tony Tubbs (2-2)
James Smith W UD 10
Greg Page W UD 15
Tim Witherspoon L MD 15
Mike Tyson L TKO 2

Michael Spinks (2-1)
Larry Holmes W UD 15, W SD 15
Mike Tyson L KO 1

Trevor Berbick (3-2)
John Tate W KO 9
Larry Holmes L UD 15
Greg Page W UD 10
Pinklon Thomas W UD 12
Mike Tyson L TKO 2

James Smith (3-6)
Larry Holmes L TKO 12, L TKO 8
Tony Tubbs L UD 10
Tim Witherspoon L UD 12, W KO 1
Mike Weaver W TKO 1, W UD 12
Mike Tyson L UD 12
Greg Page L UD 10

Tony Tucker (0-1)
Mike Tyson L UD 12

Francesco Damiani (1-0)
Greg Page W UD 10

Of note, John Tate was only a champion in the 1980s for three months at the start of the decade before losing to Mike Weaver, and Francesco Damiani held the WBO belt (which at the time was not recognized, but I threw him in here anyway) for less than eight months at the end of the decade

 

This line of reasoning implies that before the 80's the heavyweight division was ruled by athletes who would today be NFL or NBA guys.

So, you're telling me that 6-3, slow of foot Ali, little Rocky Marciano, little, half-crippled and weak Joe Frazier, short and lumbering Sonny Liston, scrawny Floyd Patterson, etc... would have been in the NFL or NBA had the money been better?

This assumption that guys who pass the eye test or perform well in the Underwear Olympics would make great fighters just isn't proven out. Firstly, the guys who are any good and over 6-5 are so few and far between as to be considered edge cases, almost irrelevant. And we've seen plenty of these guys come along and try to show the world. And we've seen the gym strong guys come around and get their asses whupped, too, all the time. Let's not forget that carrying 265 of muscle into the ring means you usually have only a couple rounds to turn the trick and that you are meanwhile as stiff as a board.

And just one final note, the US is only about 4% of the world population.

I know that Max Kellerman tries to spout this nonsense. Let's just say he has certain biases. Let's remember that we don't play boxing. They call it a sport but it is fighting first.

 

I remember speculation from their day that Ali and Norton would have been prototype linebackers (Ali outside/Norton at middle) if they had taken up football from the start instead of boxing. Frazier probably wasn’t that kind of athlete. Sonny for his day probably would have beefed up to be an interior lineman on one side of the ball or the other.

NBA is a different kettle of fish and would depend on ball-handling and shooting ability. No tall heavyweights of note from those eras would have been big enough for NBA back-to-the-basket guys, but there were tons of good guards in the 6-1 to 6-3 range so it would have depended upon them developing that skill set.

 

Young prime Ali couldn't even beat a girl in a footrace. Good luck making the NFL.

Norton is a case of another underwear model trying to box. I'll give him credit. He was a lot tougher than most of his mold, probably from being a Marine. But really, who was his second best pelt? Jimmy Young? A shot Quarry? In ways, he was a lot closer to a Maskaev type, a guy with a style that really caused one guy problems.

As far as Liston, OL need very quick and nimble feet. Think dancing bear types. That was not Sonny. And at 6-1 (allegedly) he would be too short for the position.

If only boxing were just a skill set. The vast majority of men, including top flight athletes, have no appetite for getting hit in the face. Have you seen those guys when they get in a "fight" on court? I'd take baseball players, and certainly hockey players, any day of the week and twice on Sunday.