Tony Tucker

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by heizenberg, Nov 13, 2013.


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  1. heizenberg

    heizenberg Well-Known Member Full Member

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    I'd like to here some of you're opinions on Tony Tucker. Tucker looked to be an extremely promising heavyweight in the mid to late 80's. He was a big man with power, conditioning and a good jab and boxing skills in his hayday. He won a world title beating Buster Douglas who looked to be motivated and in decent shape for the fight, I thought it was a good competitive heavyweight title fight. Tucker and Douglas went back and forth throughout till Tucker caught Douglas in the 10th with a beautiful counter right and followed up with a very nice flurry of punches to finishes the fight. After that Tucker took on a prime Mike Tyson. In the fight Tucker broke his right hand in the early rounds but still gave Tyson a very solid challenge going the distance and winning his share of rounds especially early on before the hand injury. After the Tyson fight I don't know whether he lost motivation or what but his life went into a downward spin with him developing a serious cocaine problem. He returned to the ring over two years later and still was one of the better heavyweights in the world though not being near the forum of his old self,going onto to have beat and have competitive fights with future champions and contenders. I'd like to know how good you guys feel Tucker was in his hayday and how much of a player he could've been in the division had he kept the forum that he had in his early career and even built off that forum.

    Personally I feel the Tucker that fought Tyson and Douglas was the best fighter Tyson ever defeated and could've posed a threat to the top heavyweights of the 90's though we can never know this forsure.
     
    heizenberg, Nov 13, 2013
    heizenberg, Nov 13, 2013
    #1
  2. Titan1

    Titan1 Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    The drugs and that 15 month layoff from 83-84 hurt.Very talented, not as talented as Greg Page, however, and Mitch Green looked better for the first couple of fights early on.
     
    Titan1, Nov 13, 2013
    Titan1, Nov 13, 2013
    #2
  3. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak Full Member

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    Possibly the best Jheri Curl in the history of the division.
     
    Seamus, Nov 13, 2013
    Seamus, Nov 13, 2013
    #3
  4. frankenfrank

    frankenfrank Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Tucker was gr8. top 5 HW/SHW OAT.
    fought: James Broad, James Douglas, Mike Tyson, Oliver McCall, Lennox Lewis, Henry Akinwande and got stopt by how many of them?

    Did better vs Tyson than almost every1 did.
    Did better against McCall than Lewis & Akinwande did.
    Did better vs Lewis than Tyson did (and it was against a better version of Lewis and while being d older man considerably)
    Did better against Douglas than Tyson, McCall, Greg Page, Jesse Fergusson and Mike Williams did.
    Also did better against David Jaco than McCall , Douglas, Bert Cooper, Alexander Zolkin (and Ruddock) did.
     
    frankenfrank, Nov 13, 2013
    frankenfrank, Nov 13, 2013
    #4
  5. dinovelvet

    dinovelvet Antifanboi Full Member

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    Would be a dominant champ in todays ridiculous HW division.
     
    dinovelvet, Nov 13, 2013
    dinovelvet, Nov 13, 2013
    #5
  6. choklab

    choklab cocoon of horror Full Member

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    Tucker was the second best heavyweight of the Tyson era. Thing was if you are good but nobody knows who you are other managers feel it is better left that way.

    Tuckers career was slow burning and it lost momentum. He could never land the kind of Tillis, Snipes, page, Berbick fights that could have established him before the Douglas fight. Nobody was quewing up to fight him once they saw how well he coped against a prime Tyson either.

    So much of a fighters career depends on their managers ability to land enough learning/ meaningfull fights.
     
    choklab, Nov 13, 2013
    choklab, Nov 13, 2013
    #6
  7. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak Full Member

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    I wouldn't pick Povetkin, Pulev, Waldo, old ass Vitali and Stiverne over Tucker, but yeah, he could squeeze in the top ten.
     
    Seamus, Nov 13, 2013
    Seamus, Nov 13, 2013
    #7
  8. ETM

    ETM I thought I did enough to win. Full Member

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    He also went the distance with the great Lennox Lewis a few months after Lewis had just destroyed Razor Ruddock in 2 rounds. Tucker went down a couple of times but he got up and gave the Big Dog a decent scrap.

    He was certainly tough.
     
    ETM, Nov 13, 2013
    ETM, Nov 13, 2013
    #8
  9. SILVER SKULL 66

    SILVER SKULL 66 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    What I remember about him is when he was beaten ,lost and had his eye closed against creampuff, Bruce Seldon.
    Buster D, was stupid for quitting in that fight against him, because he was winning.
    If anything he was over rated I didn't see anything that good about him..
     
    SILVER SKULL 66, Nov 14, 2013
    SILVER SKULL 66, Nov 14, 2013
    #9
  10. Titan1

    Titan1 Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Don't hold the Seldon fight against him.Any version of Tucker after 87 was not up to par.
     
    Titan1, Nov 14, 2013
    Titan1, Nov 14, 2013
    #10
  11. Momus

    Momus Boxing Addict Full Member

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    The fight was very close after 10. More importantly, the momentum was all with Tucker. Even without the stoppage, there was only going to be one winner over a 15 round fight.

    In the years that followed, the story about Douglas "quitting" has grown, to the point where people seem to recall Buster putting on a clinic before inexplicably tanking. This seems to fit in with Douglas' reputation as a talented underachiever, but does a disservice to a good win for Tucker.
     
    Momus, Nov 14, 2013
    Momus, Nov 14, 2013
    #11
  12. heizenberg

    heizenberg Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Tucker was never the same after the Tyson fight and being inactive for over two years. When he made his comeback he had already ravaged himself with drugs and for all I know was still into drugs and still was one of the better heavyweights in the world. The Bruce Seldon fight was long passed his hayday. As for the Buster Douglas fight it was very close going into the tenth where Tucker finished Douglas and Douglas didn't quit at all he got rocked with a good counter right slumped onto the ropes while Tucker unloaded upon him and the ref stopped the fight. I feel Douglas is in the same boat as Tucker if he was always motivated he had the talent to be one of the very best heavyweights in the world.

    The Tucker who came back after the two years never was nearly as well conditioned or as fast and sharp as the prior version of himself and still he was good enough to give the better heavyweights in the world a tough test. I think if he would've stayed motivated and even continued improving through experience he could've possibly been one of the better fighters of his era along with Bowe, Holyfield, Lewis, Foreman, Tyson and Moorer instead of being in the league with the long list of contenders like McCall, Norris, Mercer, Berbick, Ruddock, Seldon etc.
     
    heizenberg, Nov 14, 2013
    heizenberg, Nov 14, 2013
    #12
  13. Titan1

    Titan1 Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    The only reason he got title shots and other things was because of Don King.He was definitely a shot product.The sad part of it was, even as an amateur, he blew it too, losing to Alex Delucia in the Western Olympic Trials, #1 amateur light heavy too.
     
    Titan1, Nov 14, 2013
    Titan1, Nov 14, 2013
    #13
  14. frankenfrank

    frankenfrank Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Did he deserve his decision over McCall?
    Haw du i c zis fait?
     
    frankenfrank, Nov 14, 2013
    frankenfrank, Nov 14, 2013
    #14
  15. fists of fury

    fists of fury Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Please don't tell me you're talking about Wach.
     
    fists of fury, Nov 15, 2013
    fists of fury, Nov 15, 2013
    #15
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