Punch for Pay Hypothetical – HEAVYWEIGHTS 1990 VS 2010

Punch for Pay Hypothetical – HEAVYWEIGHTS 1990 VS 2010
Part 1


We have all heard it a million times before – the constant revisionist history blurb that the previous generation was tougher. The previous generation was smarter. The previous generation was better. Your Grandfather tells you Joe Louis would kick Mike Tyson’s butt. Your Dad tells you Ali would have beaten them both on the same afternoon , in five rounds apiece. The debate goes on ad infinitum.

The adage holds especially true in boxing – the deep talent pool of the 1920’s-1970’s and the sheer volume of fights our heroes engaged in will likely never be broached again. Boxing is a niche sport these days – fans can barely name the heavyweight champion  , let alone the champions of the original 12 weight divisions.

The toughest times have always bred the toughest fighters. It’s easy for our best to fight two times a year when million dollar paydays beckon, unlike the 1930’s when a fighter fought twenty times a year to feed himself – forget buying a Porsche , a hot meal was reward enough.

Do we need to go that far back though , to compare generations – And ask ourselves if we are progressing or regressing? How about a mere 20 years?

Given that the Big Boys have always bred the most interest why not compare the best of 1990 against the best of 2010?

It’s interesting how a few decades and a complete dearth of quality Heavyweight matchups can completely revolutionize the way a fan analyses a time period.

Just recently I was thinking of how many memorable heavyweight matchups from the Year 2000 onwards I could think of.

Off the top of my head apart from Lewis- Klitschko , Sanders-Klitschko and Lewis-Tyson I was really struggling to come up with any gems.

When it comes to the 1990’s the amount of exciting heavyweights in action rivals the 1970’s for pure, unadulterated fun. From Feb 1990 when Buster Douglas rocked the world with his KO of the apparently unbeatable Mike Tyson through to the end of the decade when Lennox Lewis outpoints Evander Holyfield in November 1999 there is a smorgasbord of  brawls , upsets , hellacious knockouts and pure nail biting drama in the flagship division . Just think about it for a moment -

The Bowe – Holyfield Trilogy….Bowe V Golota 1 & 2…. Tyson V Holyfield 1 & 2…. Moorer V Stewart… Foreman upsetting Moorer…. Moorer V Cooper... Lewis V Ruddock... McCall V Lewis….Just about ANY of Tommy Morrisons major fights…

The lists just goes on!

For the hell of it, let’s match the Top 10 from 1990 VS the top 10 of 2010.  Have we gone forwards, or backwards?
 In Part 1 Fighters 6 - 10 face off. In Part 2 the Top 5 will do battle. All bouts scheduled for 12 rounds.

*All fighters records from the 1990’s are to December 1990 – based on Ring Magazine’s Annual ratings.


Bout 10 –     1990 - GEORGE FOREMAN (USA)    69-2(65)
    2010 – ALEX DIMITRENKO (UKR)     29-1(19)

Synopsis :

Poor Dimitrenko has the unfortunate luck to draw one of the top 10 consensus best Heavyweights that ever lived. Although He is taller ( 6’7 to George’s 6’4 ) , Younger ( 27 To George’s 41 ) and apparently fresher ( 30 fights to 71 ) This won’t mean a damn thing. Foreman is one year from a courageous challenge to another All timer , Evander Holyfield , and four years away from an incredible KO win against Michael Moorer to become the oldest Heavyweight Champion in boxing History. All of Dimitrenko’s wins times a billion do not equal the quality of a Joe Frazier , Muhammad Ali or a Ken Norton. Opposition counts here more than anything.

Result :

In predictable fashion Dimitrenko will try to outbox Big George. Fat  chance. Eventually Foreman will close the gap. Crushing uppercuts and big right hands endsthe contest sometime around round 4 , with the Ukranian slightly ahead on the cards.

FOREMAN KO 4 DIMITRENKO
    

Bout 9 -    1990 – RAY MERCER (USA)        16-0(11)
    2010 -NIKOLAI VALUEV (RUS)        50-2(34)


Synopsis :

Ray Mercer will go on to be known as one of the greatest underachievers in Heavyweight boxing. Giving Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield pure hell in losing efforts and nearly beheading Tommy Morrison to score 1991’s KO of the year he is a hard night for any fighter and has a chin of pure steel. At the end of 1990 Mercer hasn’t faced anyone of real note except for Bert Cooper in a 12 round donnybrook.

Valuev is a plodding work horse ; at 7’1 he is a nightmare for any fellow heavyweight and is coming off a 12 round loss against British Sensation David Haye. Arguably at the tail end of his career Valuev still holds massive physical advantages over Mercer – and this will be crucial to the outcome.

Result :

Wether this bout occurs in 1991 when Larry Holmes boxes the ears off Mercer , or in 2001 when he is on the way out of Boxing altogether the result will still be the same – Valuev W 12 Mercer.

Mercer just won’t have an answer to the Behemoth’s jab , and The scorecards will read something along the lines of 116-112 , times three. The bout will be utterly mind numbing in the excitement stakes but hey…styles make fights. Much as I would love ‘ The Merciless One ‘ to win this one I just don’t see it.

VALUEV W 12 MERCER


Bout 8 -    1990 – RIDDICK BOWE (USA)        21-0(19)
    2010 -DENIS BOYTSOV (RUS)        27-0(22)


Synopsis :

Are you starting to see a trend with the matchups so far – USA V Russia all the way – just one indication of how different the Heavyweight division is right now, and globalisation of sport in general. But I digress.

This will be a fantastic fight. Two young unbeaten contenders facing off with nothing to gain except kudos from the fistic community and a sanctioning body ranking.

 23 year old Bowe is still two years away from his career best win against Holyfield but has scored significant wins in 1990 VS ex WBC boss Pinklon Thomas ( KO 9 ) and an excellent drubbing of Bert Cooper ( KO 2 ) who will go on to come seconds away from wresting the championship from Holyfield a year later. He also has a silver Medal from the 1988 Olympics in a losing effort VS one Lennox Lewis who will win a Heavyweight title or two down the line.

24 year old Boytsov has a few quality wins over Vinny Maddalone (W8) , Taras Bidenko ( KO 6 ) and Israel Garcia ( KO 2 ) and a solid amateur pedigree of 115-15. Some writers have hailed him as the second coming of Mike Tyson , citing his exciting style and stature ( 6’1).

Result :

This fight figures to be the polar opposite of Valuev V Mercer. Pure excitement ,bombs away with a knockdown or two along the way. Tipping the balance in Bowe’s favour is his height , ability to work on the inside and outside and another secret weapon – Eddie Futch.

Possibly the greatest trainer that ever lived will keep Bowe composed in the eye of the storm ; Bowe will be shaken and will take a count in the second but will gradually start to work his jab , mixing uppercuts at close and mid range. A mercy stoppage ends the bout in Round 7 with a brave Boytsov game but outgunned.

BOWE KO 7 BOYSTOV



Bout 7 -    1990 – FRANCESCO DAMIANI (ITA)    27-0(23)
    2010 -CHRIS ARREOLA (MEX)        28-1(25)
Synopsis :

This matchup pits two heavyweights of similar size , height and with a shared love of the ‘all you can eat’ buffet. Arreola is 28 , Damiani is 32. Damiani boasts a wealth of amateur experience – a silver at 1984 LA games and the 1982 World Championships , twice European champion -The Italian knows his way around the squared circle.

Arreola doesn’t have the same solid amateur background but his pro opposition is slightly better. A single loss VS perhaps the division best in Vitali Klitschko is no disgrace. Wins over then unbeaten Chazz Witherspoon ( WDSQ 3 ) and three once beaten boxers - Israel Garcia ( KO 3 ) , Travis Walker ( KO 3 ) and Thomas Hayes ( KO 3 ) .

In comparison Damiani’s best scalps are over career sparring partner James Broad ( W 10 ) , Tyrell Biggs ( KO 5 ) And Johnny Du Plooy ( KO 3 ) . The Du Plooy fight crowned Damiani the inaugural WBO Heavyweight champion , although at the time this meant little in the scheme of things. All these key bouts  take place on Italian turf.


Result :

This bout will essentially boil down to one essential ingredient – guts.

Arreola has them in spades, Damiani will prove in time that he falls short at the hurdle necessary to reach the top echelons of the sport. He will quit against Ray Mercer in a fight he is winning handily in 1991 , and then capitulate VS Oliver McCall in 1993. Arreola has risen from knockdowns  ( VS Walker ) and taken massive punishment from Klitschko in a game but losing effort.

This bout is as even as they come for seven rounds , conditioning being even. The Plodding pace will tip in Arreola’s way in Round 8 as Damiani’s mental strength wavers. Round 9 sees non stop hooks from Arreola with no comeback ; The referee waves it off in the ninth with no protest from the Italian.

ARREOLA KO 9 DAMIANI


Bout 6 -    1990 – CARL WILLIAMS (USA)        23-3(18)
    2010 -DANNY HAYE (UK)        23-1(21)




Synopsis :

This fight should simply be renamed ‘ battle of the suspect chins ‘.

Of the two fighters Haye has the superior credentials as a pro ; A freshly won WBA Heavyweight title , and WBC/WBA credentials as a Cruiserweight are nothing to scoff at. He also has an innate confidence in his ability – and the punching power to back it up. His Best Wins have come against Jean Marc Mormeck ( KO 7 ) , Enzo Maccarinelli ( KO 2 )  and Nikolai Valuev ( W 12 ). Sure , the Valuev fight wasn’t thrilling but it was impressive to see Haye execute a perfect game plan against the man mountain and resist the temptation of a fire fight. On the downside, the Carl Thompson defeat revealed a worrying stamina issue ; he has yet to taste a full heavyweight punch so his chin at the higher weight is a question mark,

Carl ‘ The Truth ‘ Williams is an inch taller at 6’4 , with an educated jab and some quality wins over James Tillis ( W 10 ) , Jesse Ferguson ( KO 10 ) and Bert Cooper ( KO 8 ). Two of his losses are to both unbeaten heavyweights Larry Holmes ( L 15 ) who was 47-0 at the time  and the 93 second destruction against a 36-0 Mike Tyson. The other defeat was a ‘KO by 2 ‘ VS erratic but heavy handed Mike Weaver. He is a boxer by nature who can be a handful if allowed to dictate with his jab.

Result :

Unfortunately for Carl ‘ The Truth ‘ will be that he simply cannot withstand the heat that Haye brings to this party. Given the chance , Carl will jab the other guy to death all night long. No such luck this time. At the 2:00 mark Haye will land a laser right hand over a lazy left jab and the fight is waved off without a count. Unlike Tyson V Williams there will be no controversy over this stoppage


HAYE KO 1 WILLIAMS




In Part 2 The Top 5 of  1990 face off against 2010’s best 5 fighters – check out if the class of 90 comes out ahead .. or will the best of the new millennium score a win for the internet age?