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Top 10 Heavyweights of the 1980s


WelshDevilRob

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The decade's best
by Mike Goodpaster

Okay, I know what your thinking; why would you pick the heavyweights of the 1980s to rank? This is the era I grew up in. Sure, they were not always the most action-packed fights, but you did have two all-time greats dominate the division, and you had many fighters with unreal talent. Guys like Tony Tubbs, Gerry Cooney, Greg Page, and Tim Witherspoon, who, for whatever reason, fell well short of being all-time greats. Almost all of these guys’ problems were in their own heads and their own worst enemies. Not all, but most. So let’s take a look at the top heavyweights of the 1980s.

10) Greg Page

Page was ultra-talented, and being from Louisville, Kentucky with fast hands and feet, he had people hyping him as the next Ali. Page had wins over Alfredo Evangelista, Jimmy Young, who was well past his prime, Quick Tillis, Renaldo Snipes, and Gerrie Coetzee. His losses were many, and his ability to take a punch in the long haul was a bad thing for his health.

Read more: https://thegruelingtruth.com/boxing/top10-heavyweights-1980s/?fbclid=IwAR1CLeH4_sDs_g3SM78ZnMNfofeQmPInbSsRAs4grFB2qHh1_DY46xRG7QY

Who you got as the No.1? Anyone missing from the list or someone too high/low?

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--- Painful to follow the stink of the 80s, but it was Mike Tyson who brought Dempsey excitement back into the ring that chased away the stink that single belt holder in a multibelt era of Lar that helped to create so he could avoid his mandatories.

Lar an incredibly bitter feller had an insecurity streak that limited him. Tyson had the best boxing team ever assembled and knew more about the science of boxing than did Lar because of it.

Cus, Jim Jacobs, and Bill Cayton can't be beat for a young fighter with talent starting out. 

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14 hours ago, WelshDevilRob said:

Mike Tyson for me. Larry didn't beat prime people. He never unified either - he stayed on his side of the street. Larry is overrated. Mike fought anyone there.

Yeah, agree. I hate how much credit Larry gets today, it's not for real. ONLY because people feel bad for him not getting credit back then because of Ali.

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On 2/28/2023 at 10:47 AM, robprosser said:

That's an odd top 10. No way was Mike Weaver a better HW than Tim Witherspoon. I'd probably have Tyson at number one as well though I think Holmes was a better fighter than you guys do!

Tim was darn good, its just that his career suffered because of the Don King BS. The only one to get the better of a prime Tim was Pinklon Thomas-in a close fight. Pinklon was very talented but another case of a guy throwing his career away, this time on music as well as drugs, after reaching the top.

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TBH a lot of these Heavyweights suffered under Don King.

What shocked me about Holmes (I didn't get into boxing til 1985), was the amount of opponents who had few fights: Tim Witherspoon, Marvis Frazier, Bonecrusher Smith, Carl Williams, Ossie Ocassio and David Bey. All under 20 fights.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 3/30/2023 at 8:21 PM, slasher092 said:

Michael Dokes absent is a bit harsh , id have him in top 5 , maybe even 3

 No way! He didn't achieve enough to be in the top 5, much less 3. All he did was beat Mike Weaver by a premature stoppage and beat a slow unpolished Tex Cobb. That's pretty much it.

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