How good was Ray Mercer

[paul750]

I think he's underrated.

First of all, I believe he edged the lewis fight, or at the very least deserved a draw. Although it was a close fight; the stats at the end showed he was unlucky not to come away with at least a draw, to say the least.
To say Mercer was just a tough guy with power, would be doing him a great injustice. He displayed one of the best jabs you'll see, against Lewis.

Mercer said that after he beat Tommy Morrison, he relaxed too much and that was the reason he had some bad performances after that fight; it seems like a plausible explanation and I think some people overlook this. Someone said that he failed when he ''stepped up'', but the Lewis fight proved otherwise, and to a lesser degree, the Holyfield fight. He hung very well with two of the top three heavyweights of the 90's, and on other nights, may very well have gotten two wins over them. The knockdown against Holyfield was a strategic knee because he started to gas towards the end of the fight; for anyone who doesn't know; he wasn't hurt.

I'd give Mercer a good shot against any fighter of his era, as long as he was at his best, and that includes Tyson. Mercer had a great chin, great jab, good power, and certainly wasn't the type to be intimidated in the least. He started too late, made some wrong decisions that cost him dearly, but at his best, showed he was a match for anybody.

[K-Nine]

I think he's underrated.

First of all, I believe he edged the lewis fight, or at the very least deserved a draw. Although it was a close fight; the stats at the end showed he was unlucky not to come away with at least a draw, to say the least.
To say Mercer was just a tough guy with power, would be doing him a great injustice. He displayed one of the best jabs you'll see, against Lewis.

Mercer said that after he beat Tommy Morrison, he relaxed too much and that was the reason he had some bad performances after that fight; it seems like a plausible explanation and I think some people overlook this. Someone said that he failed when he ''stepped up'', but the Lewis fight proved otherwise, and to a lesser degree, the Holyfield fight. He hung very well with two of the top three heavyweights of the 90's, and on other nights, may very well have gotten two wins over them. The knockdown against Holyfield was a strategic knee because he started to gas towards the end of the fight; for anyone who doesn't know; he wasn't hurt.

I'd give Mercer a good shot against any fighter of his era, as long as he was at his best, and that includes Tyson. Mercer had a great chin, great jab, good power, and certainly wasn't the type to be intimidated in the least. He started too late, made some wrong decisions that cost him dearly, but at his best, showed he was a match for anybody.

Great post.

What opened my eyes to the guy was when he went jab-for-jab with Lennox. No small feat. He walked through Morrison (took those big punches like they were nothing), and gave Holy one hell of a fight. Against Tyson, I'd have Mercer being pummeled (but fighting back) in the first 6, but gaining a slight edge as Mike lost steam. He'd get UD'd probably.

[scap]

Some good posts above, the key with Mercer to me was he was lazy, whatever he was able to accomplish in the sport could have been much more had he of really been smart about things.

He was consistently out of shape and when your consistently out of shape you consistently refuse to let your hands go, Mercer could have been a much better fighter then he was.

[K-Nine]

Some good posts above, the key with Mercer to me was he was lazy, whatever he was able to accomplish in the sport could have been much more had he of really been smart about things.

He was consistently out of shape and when your consistently out of shape you consistently refuse to let your hands go, Mercer could have been a much better fighter then he was.

Yep. What set him apart (in a bad way) was his lack of drive. A accredit this to his late entry into the sport. He didn't have that "young hunger".

As Paul said, he usually had a stunning win, and then would be content with the money. His next few fights would have to open his eyes up, so he could get that ambition again. Unfortunately, that's not how championship careers are made.

[realheavyhands]

He was a tough one to fight against, but it was too unlucky for him to fight in Lewis era.

he beat lewis ... he was great for his size

[realheavyhands]

Some good posts above, the key with Mercer to me was he was lazy, whatever he was able to accomplish in the sport could have been much more had he of really been smart about things.

He was consistently out of shape and when your consistently out of shape you consistently refuse to let your hands go, Mercer could have been a much better fighter then he was.

if he was in optimal shape he wouldn even be a heavy when he was younger

[Hydro]

Mercer was a good tough fighter with a solid jab, respectable power, and an excellent chin, but as said before, sometimes he was his own worst enemy due to his laziness. He was rather inconsistent as well.

He was fighting poorly against Damiani before his left uppercut caught his nose and broke it. Later that year came his brutal win over Morrison, then shortly after that he get outboxed by a 42 year old Larry Holmes. He could've gotten a title shot a year later against Bowe, but ruined it by losing to Jesse Ferguson, when he allegedly told Ferguson he'd pay him to lay down. And then came the draw with Marion Wilson.

He fought fairly well in a loss to Holyfield, and fought very close (I had it even) to Lewis.

By the time Wladimir and Briggs got to him, he was a shell of what he once was.

He was probably the best HW of the 90s who never fought for one of the big 3 belts.

[Double]

To me he was the one HW that if you could beat him you could compete with the title holders. He was a TRUE gatekeeper of the division.