Was he ever a real contender?

[5punchcombo]

what was his highest ranking?

No Butterbean only trained for 4 rounders thats why he was so fat. If he went past 5 he wouldve been shot off his ass

[Coonhound13]

Butterbean was a brutal puncher for a club fighter and for a guy that fat he was more athletic than people give him credit for. But yeah Patheticfraud is right. A lot of guys were paid to lay down for Butterbean, most of whom he could have probably beat anyway. And I don't see how he was able to go the distance with Larry Holmes.

[mickey malone]

what was his highest ranking?

He was never in the top 10 (even though he'd have beat most of em)
This was principly due to Bean fighting mostly 4 rounders..
I never understood this, as he didn't have any problems going 10 with Holmes..

Bean can box and ****.. The videos prove this.. It's a real shame, that he's now dabbling in the UFC, thus negating all of his attributes... Tragic...

[money4life]

he was dominated by a very very old holmes though so i doubt he would have beaten a heavyweight champ

[money4life]

would butterbean beat roy jones?

[money4life]

eric is now callin out mercer who jus came off a win over some ufc champ. should be one hell of a fight if it gets made