did ray mercer take holmesvlightly?

[joseph5620]

Your thoughts

That's what I thought at the time.

[billeau2]

Deontay Wilder won a bronze in the Olympics and his skills are woefully rudimentary. Heavyweights can get by on their power a lot of the time.

I would dovetail on that and add:

the level of olympic competition has been inconsistant at best, and to many it has trended down considerably. I doubt Wilder would have done well against the likes of Savon for example. But that last part is my opinion, the fact of the matter is that in an olympic games where weak boxers are fielded it makes a big difference. Prime example being the boycott Cuba imposed on the olympics and how that year it created a real opportunity (I think it was during Lewis' reign as superheavy?).

[billeau2]

Wilder was clearly not the best. Mercer's olympics were in a stronger era and he won the gold, he was #1. Lets see what those who know about his olympic career have to say about it.

I don't know if 1988 was particularly strong when compared to the great Cuban dynasties, whom did Mercer beat that year that was considered such that it constituted a strong division?

Never the less I would agree that the trend has been weaker with respect to olympic talent in boxing. With that said, olympic sucess usually gives a fighter some advantages, and is usually an indicator that the fighter will be respectable as a pro...but olympic success has never been an indication that a fighter will achieve greatness. mercer was always respectable and had a good career.

[IMDAZED]

I think Mercer turned to boxing late and might have been more mature than most amateurs. Or maybe he turned professional late because of the military, I don't remember. But against Holmes, he was taken to school by better thinker with worlds more experience. And the fight made him a much better fighter.

I'm reminded now that what the heavyweight division really needs are journeymen like Jesse Ferguson and even aged old champs like a Holmes. They would sift some of these pretenders out and harden the others.