I'll give it a go! Taurus Sykes George Arias Craig Tomlinson Derrell Dixon Rogerio Lobo Byron The Bear Polley Troy Weida Darnell Wilson Chavez Francisco Scott Conner What does your list look like?
Wow, been a while since I heard the name of Owen Beck. Fact about one of his opponents, Rogério Lobo, he was killed in a armed robbery in his pizzaria.
I didn´t see you listed George Arias too, he was a good defensively sounded fighter in the south american scene..... decent, honest fighter. He has a Boxing gym now.
Yes, you did. Really ? I´ve talked with him before, and way back then with his dad... who was his coach, Santo Arias, good people. He had good skills but lacked athteticism to be bigger in the international stage, imo.
I met him in St Louis right before he fought Monte Barrett on the Spinks vs Judah II undercard. At that point, he was undefeated and getting a push from Don King. He was very personable and excited to be fighting on Showtime. Barret was seen as a journeyman type but after Barrett knocked out Beck, he went on to fight for a world title and had a few nice wins. Beck ended up just being a guy and lost every meaningful fight after.
Owen Beck probably doesn't have 10 TOP wins. But he was a very exciting fighter in a down time for the heavyweight division. Beck fought and lost in two title eliminators, to Monte Barrett and Ray Austin. Both of those fights were very exciting ... at a time when all three of those guys were pretty good. In fact, Beck's fight with Austin could've gone either way, and Sultan Ibragimov drew with Austin right after that. People here love to fawn over Ibragimov, but Sultan really didn't do much better against Austin than Beck did. Which is probably why Barrett, Austin, Beck and Ibragimov all ended up getting title shots with different champs. Because, in that moment, there wasn't a whole lot separating them. I will also always admire Beck for fighting Nicolay Valuev on June 3, 2006. What made that day special was I was on another boxing board that day, and Beck stepped into the ring giving up 80 POUNDS to the 320-POUND defending champ Valuev in Germany, while, in the US, Diego Corrales refused to fight Jose Luis Castillo because Castillo came in four pounds over the limit. (Corrales even ended up suing Castillo.) And in one thread that day, fans were mocking Beck for losing to Valuev, while the same guys were insisting in other threads that Corrales shouldn't fight the four-pounds-heavier Castillo because it would be an UNFAIR ADVANTAGE. To me, a fan who has always preferred the heavyweights, it just showed yet again how much tougher heavyweights are than guys who whine because someone is a few pounds bigger. Heavyweights will fight anyone. Lighter guys sue other lighter guys if they weigh a couple pounds over because "it's unfair." But, I'd say the TWO biggest wins of Beck's career, which sort of launched him into prominence and led to those fights with Barrett and Austin were these two: Derrell Dixon - Dixon was unbeaten (11-0). He had been a top US amateur. Winner of the US National Championship. He'd faced Felix Savon multiple times. And Owen, with only three fights (3-0) under his belt, was supposed to be an easy win for Dixon. And Owen beat him. Totally derailed Dixon's career. And it never recovered. Taurus Sykes - Another unbeaten US heavyweight (12-0), this time out of New York. Sykes was a regular on the televised boxing shows out of the Hammerstein Ballroom. Beck entered the fight with Sykes with a 6-0 record, and proceeded to end Sykes' unbeaten streak. Those two upset wins put Beck on the map. Beck was a good fighter in a fairly average division at that time. And he got his chances. He got his title shot. He stuck around too long, but they all end up doing that. But I have nothing negative to say about Owen Beck. Good pro.
This is, without a doubt, the first ever "Owen Beck top 10 wins" discussion. I doubt Beck himself has ever even thought about this. Well done
Nice post. Yes, I remember him going from a guy I was excited to see perform to a guy I assumed was showing up for a paycheck.