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Mike Weaver
Another guy who spent some time holding a world title belt was Mike Weaver:
http://boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=405
Weaver was 6-6 after his 1st 12 fights having just lost by knockout in July 1974 to 23-0 Duane Bobick. I remember him as a heavily muscled guy, but that was years later. He weighed under 200 lbs. for all of his 1st 13 fights.
After Weaver's loss to Bobick he had a pretty good run for the next few years. He went 13-2 until he was stopped by Larry Holmes in June 1979. Along the way he lost a 12 round decision to Leroy Jones, a giant heavyweight who suffered a detached retina and ended his career with only a single loss to Larry Holmes.
After Weaver was stopped by Holmes, few thought of him as much more than a good journeyman, someone who can give a world class fighter a good fight but probably lose.
However, Weaver was getting stronger as he got older, and got a shot at the WBA heavyweight title in March 1980 against "Big" John Tate. Well behind on points on all 3 cards going into the 15th round, a miracle happened. Weaver stopped Tate and became WBA heavyweight champ. He defended his title successfully twice, 1st against 23-1 Gerrie Coetzee Oct. 1980 and then against the 20-0 James "quick" Tillis Oct. 1981. Winning a decision against Tillis was a notable achievement, since Tillis was a fast, skilled boxer at that time and had never tasted defeat before. He next had 2 memorable fights with Michael Dokes. In the 1st fight he was stopped in the 1st round, but the stoppage was controversial. I can't remember the details. In May 1983 Weaver fought Dokes to a draw in their return match.
Weaver fought for a world title once more in June 1985 but was stopped in the 8th round by the 25-0 Pinklon Thomas.
Weaver fought on for many more years, losing a lot of fights but occasionally getting an impressive win against a world class fighter. He finally called it quits after losing in November 2000 against Larry Holmes. Weaver was 48 years old!
Another guy who spent some time holding a world title belt was Mike Weaver:
http://boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=405
Weaver was 6-6 after his 1st 12 fights having just lost by knockout in July 1974 to 23-0 Duane Bobick. I remember him as a heavily muscled guy, but that was years later. He weighed under 200 lbs. for all of his 1st 13 fights.
After Weaver's loss to Bobick he had a pretty good run for the next few years. He went 13-2 until he was stopped by Larry Holmes in June 1979. Along the way he lost a 12 round decision to Leroy Jones, a giant heavyweight who suffered a detached retina and ended his career with only a single loss to Larry Holmes.
After Weaver was stopped by Holmes, few thought of him as much more than a good journeyman, someone who can give a world class fighter a good fight but probably lose.
However, Weaver was getting stronger as he got older, and got a shot at the WBA heavyweight title in March 1980 against "Big" John Tate. Well behind on points on all 3 cards going into the 15th round, a miracle happened. Weaver stopped Tate and became WBA heavyweight champ. He defended his title successfully twice, 1st against 23-1 Gerrie Coetzee Oct. 1980 and then against the 20-0 James "quick" Tillis Oct. 1981. Winning a decision against Tillis was a notable achievement, since Tillis was a fast, skilled boxer at that time and had never tasted defeat before. He next had 2 memorable fights with Michael Dokes. In the 1st fight he was stopped in the 1st round, but the stoppage was controversial. I can't remember the details. In May 1983 Weaver fought Dokes to a draw in their return match.
Weaver fought for a world title once more in June 1985 but was stopped in the 8th round by the 25-0 Pinklon Thomas.
Weaver fought on for many more years, losing a lot of fights but occasionally getting an impressive win against a world class fighter. He finally called it quits after losing in November 2000 against Larry Holmes. Weaver was 48 years old!
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