The_budweiser Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 If I was to tell you there was once a heavyweight who lost his first professional fight by knockout. Also this heavyweight would actually lose half of his first dozen fights. If I told you he would go on to win a piece of the heavyweight crown and be a major player in the division for well over a decade. Would you believe me ? Well this is a true Cinderella story. It is the career of former WBA heavyweight titleholder Mike "Hercules" Weaver. Who in my opinion for nearly a five year period he was the second best heavyweight in the world. Mike turned pro in 1972 and he was matched tough from the very beginning. He lost his debut by knockout to future contender Howard "Kayo" Smith. He would then lose a five round decision to Smith in a rematch. Undefeated Billy Ryan would halt him in two rounds and four fights later unbeaten Larry Frazier would stop Mike in the second. In 1974 Weaver would drop a ten round duke to the much bigger Rodney Bobick. Then Mike would be taken out in seven by the streaking Olympian prospect Duane Bobick. At this point the future of Mike Weaver looked very bleak. Over the next three and a half years though Weaver would put together a fairly impressive eight fight win streak. Among his victims were Tony Doyle,Jody Ballard,Dwain Bonds and hard hitting Pedro Lovell. This put Mike into a fight with the talented Stan Ward for the California heavyweight title. Ward outweighed Weaver by forty pounds and took a twelve round verdict. Seven months later Weaver was matched with Big Leroy Jones for the vacant North American Boxing Federation heavyweight title. Jones outweighed Mike by a whopping sixty six pounds ! Jones boxed his way to a twelve round decision over Weaver to capture the crown. The determined Weaver with resurge his career by reeling off five straight wins in impressive fashion. He took out the very dangerous Bernardo Mercado in five rounds. He then met Stan Ward in a rematch. The vacant United States Boxing Association heavyweight title was on the line. This time Mike took care of Ward in the ninth round and put himself in a position for a shot at the world's heavyweight title. On January 22,1979 Weaver met World Boxing Council heavyweight titleholder Larry Holmes at New York's Madison Square Garden. Although Larry only held a piece of the title he was widely regarded as the world's best heavyweight. Holmes brought in a glossy but well earned 30-0 record into the Garden that night to meet the decided underdog Mike Weaver. Oh what a fight it was ! Read More: http://ringnews24.com//index.php/history/30637-mike-weaver--an-unlikely-champion.html#ixzz1YORlYheM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Galveston Giant Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 I didn't know he had such a bad start to his career. Credit to him for sticking it out and going on to be a success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelchair Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Weaver's greatest moment..... <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-pkCieyaLk?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-pkCieyaLk?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelchair Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Another of Weaver's better performances..... <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydBQoKgbuKA?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydBQoKgbuKA?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greb Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Weaver was one of my favourite heavies from that era. He didn't last long and he was always a KO waiting to happen, but he was tough, exciting and a proper road warrior as well. He fought most of the top fighters around and had a respectable record against them. As a complete unknown he gave Holmes an almighty scare and he was very unlucky to only be 0-1-1 against Dokes. He was great at coming back from the brink. He lost most of the first 14 rounds to Tate before poleaxeing him with a Hail Mary left hook. He took a bit of a pasting from Coetzee in Sun City before flattening him late on. Then when it looked like he was finished he came back and KO'd Carl Williams. Just goes to show that even if someone has a few early losses and an average looking record, they can still be a top fighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelchair Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Just goes to show that even if someone has a few early losses and an average looking record, they can still be a top fighter. That's something many people have forgotten these days, records nowadays are manufactured to be perfect. It's a foolish idea that doesn't give fighters a chance to mature properly, and when things get tough for the first time, they don't know how to handle it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshDevilRob Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Love watching his fight against Carl Williams. I remember a young Lennox boxing carefully against Weaver though took him out with a stunning right hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshDevilRob Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 He was always in tremendous shape and that stood out in an era of out of shape US Heavyweights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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