90's - Early 00's Heavyweight Division - Greatest Wasters of All Time?

[JAB5239]

The 80s and 90s were equally bad for wasted talents. Drugs, poor conditioning and inconsistent form were usually the blame. There really are too many to name. Many of them would give the ATGs a good fight when they were on form. Consider:

James Buster Douglas: The form he showed against McCall and Tyson was excellent.

Tony Tucker: An excellent amateur pedigree, the form he showed against Buster Douglas and Tyson was good.

Riddick Bowe: Had everything an ATG needed except the focus to stay on top.

Tim Witherspoon: Gave Holmes a good scare in something like his 18th fight. Far too inconsistent.

Ike Ibeabuchi: Could have been the next Sonny Liston. Seemed to have size, chin, power, workrate and even a fair bit of speed. I gather that in terms of punch rate, his fight with Tua was one of the highest output in heavyweight history. The Byrd win was excellent. He could have been the next great heavyweight.

David Tua: Weight issues seemed to be his problem. But he was certainly world class when on form. Great power, heart and chin!

James Bonecrusher Smith: Gave Holmes a very good fight, knocks out Witherspoon in a round.............and then timidly surrenders to Mike Tyson.

Michael Spinks: The Holmes fights demonstrate that Spinks was a damned good heavyweight. Nobody really seemed to win either fight, but by any standard to be on par with an 1985/86 Holmes over 15 rounds is impressive when you consider how good Holmes was even a decade later.


There were others, who on form were pretty good. Pinklon Thomas, John Tate, Mike Weaver (rapid handspeed), Gerry Cooney (shame his chin wasn't great), Ray Mercer, Herbie Hide.

God stuff, Sug!

[Sugarj]

God stuff, Sug!

Cheers bud....

[Cloud]

God stuff, Sug!

I agree.

God...its so nice to have sensible people giving their views instead of the usual cluster**** of comments from arseholes and nuthuggers.

[Money Shot]

I'd add Ray Mercer to the list. The guy was a natural talent with some real pop in his fists but he was never in shape after the Olympics when he knocked out every guy. Still a good career, but an in shape Mercer would have been better.

[Sugarj]

I'd add Ray Mercer to the list. The guy was a natural talent with some real pop in his fists but he was never in shape after the Olympics when he knocked out every guy. Still a good career, but an in shape Mercer would have been better.

I actually mentioned Mercer at the foot of my list. Potentially a very very good heavyweight. His fight with Lennox Lewis showed what he was capable of. Fast hands, great chin, excellent amateur pedigree, good power.

[La_Vibora]

Its like I have always said, the 90's had the potential to be just as good or even better than the 70's, but the problem is that most of the guys never fulfilled their potential nor did they all fight each other like the guys in the 70s did.

[Sugarj]

Its like I have always said, the 90's had the potential to be just as good or even better than the 70's, but the problem is that most of the guys never fulfilled their potential nor did they all fight each other like the guys in the 70s did.

I quite agree. Something tells me that if you were to throw prime versions of Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis and 1990/91 Tyson into the 70s mix, they would more than likely hold their own.