Which of the eighties heavyweights could have gone furthest

Weaver reached his full potential IMO once he started taking boxing serious he got the expected results.

 

Chagaev is the first (only?) Asian boxer to win the heavyweight title. Samuel Peter and Joseph Parker emulated have this feat for their respective continents in this century. With increased participation from different countries across the globe, competition should be tougher and not lighter in the 21st century. Professional boxing was banned in the Soviet Union in the eighties - Ivan Drago wasn't real. Yet, the eighties somehow get more love.

 

Chagaev didn’t win the title. He won a belt, in an age where everyone does.

 

Ah, sorry. Can I say he won the WBA title? Would that be inappropriate?

 

Greg Page for me had the most talent. He also brought a lot of baggage, low motivation, very little trust, and not enough focus on settling on a style and technique that was Greg Page, not Ali. He needed to get off his toes some, parry some blows so as not to rely strictly on head movement. He needed less wasted effort, he needed to tighten his game, get more efficient, less lazy. He had oodles of hand speed and a very hard right hand. He needed to earn things rather than think his talent would lay them up on a platter. Witherspoon said he was the best of them and he went into their WBC bout with the aim to at least keep it close as he knew Page was fighting with King and a close fight might not go Page's way, for obvious reasons.

Witherspoon actually had a good technique and plenty of skill and unlike Page, did not rely on physical gifts. Timmy was more consistent than some of the others. Everyone somehow gives him a free pass for the Thomas loss but he was in tip top shape and trying but beaten by a better man. Thomas had the right tools to beat him. He was a very good fighters as well. Thomas was his only loss in a 6 year stretch apart from Holmes the previous year so it's not like he was overly inconsistent like people believe. In that run he had wins over Snipes, Page, Tillis, smith and Bruno for just those two losses. He fought consistently for some years after the Smith capitulation as well which was shrouded in murkiness. In short he lost to two better fighters in a 6 year run so Tim was getting the best out of himself despite the mythology. Where he erred was losing to Smith, for whatever reason one believes. He would have been up against Tyson next instead of being black banned out of serious fights and wasting the last of his prime.

I think Thomas pretty much got the best out of himself. The man had a terribly tough early life and probably wasn't built for longevity. He fought at a high level for a number of years. He blamed suddenly not having Dundee there in his corner to fire him up against Berbick, and a current divorce. Perhaps, Dundee certainly used to put on some motivational screams in them corners and Pink was hardly immune to sleepwalking, which he did too much of agaisnt Berbick.

Tubbs was talented. He was 15 pounds heavier when he fought Witherspoon than he was against Page and that was the story of his career. Poor dedication like Page.

Douglas was a little less talented than Page but far more developed technically. The guy had everything one needed to be a top heavyweight except dedication and drive. I really appreciate how well schooled Buster was, with the exception of the odd right uppercut from too far away.

 

He held a title at a time there was no "real champ" and where the lineal title was considered to be vacant. And of "everyone" in that period to hold a belt Chagaevs was the 2nd most credible after Wlad himself.

 

Was going to say Spoon but yes Thomas had skill, he was good at his best.

 

Maybe Witherspoon,I'd say other than Pinklon Thomas he had the best skillset,snappy power,quick hands and good defense.

 

Tucker, Cooney, Whitearspoon was much better than his career's

 

The thing with Douglas is he was never going to be champ again after losing to Holyfield but he kicked away a good 5 years he could have compiled a really special resume. Witherspoon did the same thing except it was more against his will.

If by "gone furthest" you mean resume building opposed to being the champ then Busters at the top of the list. Busters resume is already amazing btw people act like he was a one day wonder and thats just not historically accurate.

 

Things have gone terribly awry if we consider prizes for second place.

 

Tubbs was 30 by 1988, he would started to decline by the 90`s and his reach would have hurt him against the top fighters of the 90`s, I actually think Foreman would have beaten him, he had a longer, effective jab etc. I feel the same would have applied to Dokes.

 

During a dreadful era, what was his opponents record the night he won that title?

 

Hercules doesn't belong in this poll. Mike is revered today for making the absolute most of his limited ability.

I wonder what Tucker might've done against Tyson if his right hand hadn't been broken. As it was, he lifted Tyson off his feet with a left uppercut as Tyson bore in. He came from nowhere to abruptly stop Buster, who had been dominating with his jab.

John Tate was found at autopsy to have a benign tumor in his brain, That could very well account for the nature of his knockout losses.

What does Tim Witherspoon achieve if he'd kept his weight at 215?