top 50 HW's 1980-89.

Tubbs above Pinklon and Weaver?

 

Firstly it's great that you are putting in the effort on these lists Matt. I don't want to come across harsh at any point.

Smith was 16 fights deep when he fought Tubbs. He was coming off a decent effort against a faded Holmes. Tubbs was fight #2 of part of a stretch where Smith lost 4 fights out of 5 and his one win was a split decision over Jose Ribalta. Smith had a nice patch after these losses.

Tubbs was in the middle of a Page stretch where he won 2 fights of 7. Coetzee was an excellent performance but he seldom put two good fights together in a row. Now Page held the title and had been good in his last fight, it's a good win for sure.

You mention "Racette". Racette was never a top 10 fighter in his life and I'd be surprised if he was ever considered top 20, ever. He was non descript.

Jimmy Young looks ok in name, but man o' man. He was a stepping stone post Ossie Ocasio in 1979. By the time he fought Cooney in mid 1980 I'm extremely confident he wasn't even ranked. Starting in 82, Page beat him, then a 190 pounder called Pat Cuillo (20-5-0) beat him followed by Philipp Brown. Tubbs then beat him followed by Tony Tucker to make it 5 losses in a row. He then drew his next fight. Cooney chose Brown for a comeback fight a couple of years later and he wasn't picking him because he was good.

I can promise you Racette and young added a big zero to Tubb's resume. You mention him losing a paper thin decision to Witherspoon. For mine the scorecards were terrible. Tubbs did very little and lacked positivity and aggression. AP scored it 146-139 for Witherspoon which was much more like it IMO.

NYT - Witherspoon dominated the fight throughout the 15 rounds, and the closeness of the judges' decision seemed to miss the mastery he displayed.

Just some food for thought. Tubbs didn't fight (and beat enough contenders) to figure prominently. Loads of these guys picked up their share of losses because the contenders were fighting each other time and time again. Tubbs didn't fight Holmes, Dokes, Weaver, Thomas, Coetzee, Snipes, Williams etc. He only mixed it with two of the fixtures (Page and Tim) and Tyson later. He doesn't have enough big players on his resume to be close to top 5.

 

Good stuff Matt. I'll keep away from most lists but the 80's were my sweetspot so i thought i could offer a bit.

I'd have Tubbs way back. I'd even argue Michael Spinks over him, two wins over Holmes and the first one was irrefutable IMO. Giving Holmes his first loss and only losing to Tyson is decent. Cooney, even a poor version, is better than Racette and the version of Young that Tubbs fought put together.

It's your list tho and i am enjoying them mate.

 

John I watched Tubbs vs Witherspoon probably about 5 years ago ? And I agree i didn't think it was that close either.

Witherspoon was the aggressor and Tubbs was retreating and not doing much.

I know punchstats are not always relevant but Witherspoon had a pretty big edge 264 punches compared to 185 punches landed for Tubbs.

I thought it was a pretty clear win for Witherspoon although I didn't score it RBR.

As for Young yeah after the two upset losses to Ocasio he basically become a stepping stone in the 80s for upcoming young contenders.

It's always surprised me how much Young fell off after the Foreman fight but his record in the 80s was pretty poor it has to be said.

To put it into perspective Young barely had a winning record in the 80s going 10-9 for the whole decade.

 

Good post DP, bang on everywhere. In 1981 he beat a handful of nobodies and Ring awarded him Comeback of the Year. I could never fathom that - it must have been slim pickings. As soon as they gave him the award he proceeded to 5 losses in a row then a draw.