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WHO WERE THE TEN GREATEST CRUISERWEIGHTS AND DOES ANYONE REALLY CARE ?
The cruiserweight division was born on March 31, 1980. In its twenty five
year existence it has failed to really capture the boxing fans imagination.
The heavyweights of today are monsters and if the cruiserweight division was
not really needed at it's inception. It's needed now.
Marvin Camel became a footnote in history when he outpointed Mate Parlov
over fifteen ( Yes fifteen, the true championship limit ) rounds on that
March day in 1980. Since that time only a handful of fighters have stirred
public interst in this bastard weight class.
Picking the top three boxers at cruiserweight over the last twenty five
years was pretty easy. Numero uno is without a doubt, Evander Holyfield. He
first won a piece of the crown during his classic encounter with Dwight
Qawi. This was truly a great fight. Evander would later stop Qawi in a
rematch while proceeding to clean out the division. He beat Rickey Parkey
and Carlos DeLeon to unify the titles. He also found time to halt the
respected former titleholder Ossie Ocasio.
Number two is Qawi. I feel only Holyfield would have been able to handle
him when he was champion of this class. After his second loss to Holyfield
he began to fade.
Number three would be Carlos DeLeon. Carlos was very agile for a big man
and was a clever boxer. He won the crown on four diferrent occasions beating
Camel, S.T.Gordon who had scored a previous upset KO over Carlos. He beat
Bernard Benton for his third title and finally Sammy Reeson to reclaim the
title after Holyfield moved up to heavyweight.
Rounding out the next seven choices was a little more difficult. Here
goes ;
04) James Toney
05) Ossie Ocasio
06) Nate Miller
07) Orlin Norris
08) Alfonso Ratliff
09) Juan Carlos Gomez
10) Jean Marc Mormeck
Honorable mentions to ; Vassily Jirov, Bernard Benton and LeeRoy Murphy.
Youngstown, Ohio's Jeff Lampkin falls into the ' What could have been "
category.
Mr. Mormeck has the potential to stir up some serious interest but first
he has to get by a rugged test in his bout with O'Neil Bell. We'll soon see.
The cruiserweight division was born on March 31, 1980. In its twenty five
year existence it has failed to really capture the boxing fans imagination.
The heavyweights of today are monsters and if the cruiserweight division was
not really needed at it's inception. It's needed now.
Marvin Camel became a footnote in history when he outpointed Mate Parlov
over fifteen ( Yes fifteen, the true championship limit ) rounds on that
March day in 1980. Since that time only a handful of fighters have stirred
public interst in this bastard weight class.
Picking the top three boxers at cruiserweight over the last twenty five
years was pretty easy. Numero uno is without a doubt, Evander Holyfield. He
first won a piece of the crown during his classic encounter with Dwight
Qawi. This was truly a great fight. Evander would later stop Qawi in a
rematch while proceeding to clean out the division. He beat Rickey Parkey
and Carlos DeLeon to unify the titles. He also found time to halt the
respected former titleholder Ossie Ocasio.
Number two is Qawi. I feel only Holyfield would have been able to handle
him when he was champion of this class. After his second loss to Holyfield
he began to fade.
Number three would be Carlos DeLeon. Carlos was very agile for a big man
and was a clever boxer. He won the crown on four diferrent occasions beating
Camel, S.T.Gordon who had scored a previous upset KO over Carlos. He beat
Bernard Benton for his third title and finally Sammy Reeson to reclaim the
title after Holyfield moved up to heavyweight.
Rounding out the next seven choices was a little more difficult. Here
goes ;
04) James Toney
05) Ossie Ocasio
06) Nate Miller
07) Orlin Norris
08) Alfonso Ratliff
09) Juan Carlos Gomez
10) Jean Marc Mormeck
Honorable mentions to ; Vassily Jirov, Bernard Benton and LeeRoy Murphy.
Youngstown, Ohio's Jeff Lampkin falls into the ' What could have been "
category.
Mr. Mormeck has the potential to stir up some serious interest but first
he has to get by a rugged test in his bout with O'Neil Bell. We'll soon see.
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