Your top 10 Heavyweight rankings from the 1980's and thoughts on the division

That’s a good argument. I agree with you.

 

My confidence in the matter is now shot to pieces

 

Haha. I like your style.

 

Fair enough, i went the other way. Page still beats Dokes tho at the very least imo.

 

Same with any overplaying of Foreman.
The advice is the same.

 

Good post, think Biggs would've been higher if he hadn't ran into peak Tyson so early.
Pre title shot, Biggs reminded me of Ali at the same stage ( skills and movement but seemingly lacking power)

 

Weaver started his career as a journeyman, and stayed too long as a gatekeeper later in his career. In between, however, he was a dangerous opponent, world-class heavyweight, and arguably the second best heavy from 1980 to 1982. Inconsistent as all hell, yes, but also receiver of bad breaks against Dokes.

 

1.) Mike Tyson
2.) Larry Holmes

After this it gets tricky. I'd probably place Michael Spinks for his 2 wins over Holmes and the Cooney KO. Then maybe Pinklon Thomas followed by Tim Witherspoon and possibly Dokes or Page.

After all, was any fighter on the planet better in the 80's than Mike Tyson? It truly was his decade. Leonard, Hagler, Spinks, Hearns, Holmes, Sanchez, Pryor, Arguello, Duran, Curry all round out the rest. But nobody was better than Iron Mike.

 

Take Holmes and Tyson out of there and its a very hard era to rank in my opinion.

 

1. Holmes
2. Tyson
3. Witherspoon

4. Tubbs
5. Thomas
6. Tucker

7. Dokes
8. Smith
9. Spinks
10. Weaver

 

Based on achievements in the 80s alone, and not considering H2H:

1) Tyson
2) Holmes
3) Witherspoon
4) Weaver
5) Spinks
6) Berbick
7) Thomas
8) Bonecrusher
9) Holyfield
10) Tubbs

80s Tyson was far more dominant than 80s Holmes, and there isn't enough between their numbers and quality of opposition to tip it in Holmes' favour. Some of Holmes' signature wins came before the decade started.

Very difficult to rank after the top 2, as very few fighters put a consistent run together and they exchanged losses with each other. Even Witherspoon who seems the obvious #3 with his two title wins, made only 1 successful defence and lost to Thomas and Smith.

I think Weaver's run gets underrated, relative to the other titlists of the era. He was one of the few to actually put a couple of defences together, and could (should?) have become a two-time titlist in the Dokes rematch.

I don't rate Spinks highly as a heavyweight H2H, but he has two wins over Holmes, who while obviously past his prime was still competitive in title fights a decade afterwards.

Holyfield did enough in the decade to find a spot in the top 10, although obviously his major achievements were later.

You could throw a blanket over most of the alphabet titlists of the era. Tucker and Page on their day could beat most of the fighters on this list, but Tucker's resume in the 80s was very thin, and Page's is even patchier than his peers.

The era was full of talented, inconsistent fighters, alongside two division greats who dominated the decade. Most struggled to get a shot at an aging Holmes, and most were beaten up by a prime Tyson. The depth was probably stronger than most eras, and without the fragmented titles it may have turned out a lot differently. The WBA guys may have caught Holmes on the right day rather than playing pass the parcel with the alternative belt, and they may have been hungrier and more dedicated for longer with only one belt to chase.

 

No particular argument with the order but Witherspoon being included in the same tier as Tyson and Holmes is a stretch.

 

Witherspoon defeated Smith, Tubbs, and Bruno. Tyson fought the same guys after Witherpsoon beat them. I would argue the Smith, Tubbs and Bruno Witherspoon beat were in better shape than the same guys Tyson cleaned up on. Plus Witherspoon beat Page, who Holmes and Tyson did not fight.

IMO, Witherspoon has done enough to be enshrined in the boxing hall of fame. I think he's third best of the 1980's.

Promotional issues with Don King held him back from meeting Tyson, and Holmes never gave a somewhat green Witherspoon a re-match. The fight between Holmes and Witherspoon was close. If they re-matched in 1985, I think Witherspoon would have won as Holmes was past his best by that time.

This is why I separated Witherspoon from the rest in tier one, even if he wasn't quite as accomplished as Tyson or Holmes.

 

This is the first time I've seen you make a respectable list...ever. You're a much better poster when you're not discussing anything Marciano related