Mike Weaver - Most underappreciated heavyweight of the last 35 years !!

Have an awful lot of time for Mike.........One of the few that does the rounds of radio stations when a fellow heavyweight passes away......An intelligent guy and excellent piano player......But most of all a shining example and role model in a dark drug stained era......

Weaver or Hercules...Was a superbly conditioned heavyweight (best physique I've seen since Norton) in an era of slobs..........A heavyweight who made the transition from journeyman to respected heavyweight champion...........Basically by getting completely outclassed for 15 rounds against the underachieving John Tate and then knocking him out in the last 15 seconds in 81.......(remarkable turnaround)......He then showed his talent by beating the then unbeaten and respected Tillis and future champion Coetzee before being scandalously stopped against Mike Dokes after 60 seconds of their title fight in 83............This error was compounded by being ripped off in their rematch at the Riviera a few months later with a draw......he won at least by 3...Struggle to find anybody who didn't think Weaver won !!

After being stopped by Thomas in 85...Weaver went back to suspected journeyman status or at least so Truth williams the top contender thought......and he ended up being stopped by the former champ in 2...............He then fought the unbeaten South african prospect Duplooy and stopped him in 6.......

Alas It went downhill from there................Unlike many of his era...Weaver never got into trouble......Didn't do drugs........Got into shape and
Overachieved !!..

A credit to a heavyweight division and with .......Tate, Coetzee, unbeaten Tillis and Williams.......A quality heavyweight..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Have an awful lot of time for Mike.........One of the few that does the rounds of radio stations when a fellow heavyweight passes away......An intelligent guy and excellent piano player......But most of all a shining example and role model in a dark drug stained era......

Weaver or Hercules...Was a superbly conditioned heavyweight (best physique I've seen since Norton) in an era of slobs..........A heavyweight who made the transition from journeyman to respected heavyweight champion...........Basically by getting completely outclassed for 15 rounds against the underachieving John Tate and then knocking him out in the last 15 seconds in 81.......(remarkable turnaround)......He then showed his talent by beating the then unbeaten and respected Tillis and future champion Coetzee before being scandalously stopped against Mike Dokes after 60 seconds of their title fight in 83............This error was compounded by being ripped off in their rematch at the Riviera a few months later with a draw......he won at least by 3...Struggle to find anybody who didn't think Weaver won !!

After being stopped by Thomas in 85...Weaver went back to suspected journeyman status or at least so Truth williams the top contender thought......and he ended up being stopped by the former champ in 2...............He then fought the unbeaten South african prospect Duplooy and stopped him in 6.......

Alas It went downhill from there................Unlike many of his era...Weaver never got into trouble......Didn't do drugs........Got into shape and
Overachieved !!..

A credit to a heavyweight division and with .......Tate, Coetzee, unbeaten Tillis and Williams.......A quality heavyweight..

Its pianist

seriously tho he was a decent boxer but more of a gym rat from what I remember. Not cut out to be a real fighter.

It's !!! .... pianist....

Thanks for your opinion...I'll cherish it !!

Massive guy wasn't he? Apparently never hit the gym. Probably a little less aesthetic than Norton, but he won a world title in the ring...

Only about 6ft 2 and 220 ish...........Just looked massive.....

I still have the KO Magazine that reported 'The "Truth" about Carl Williams' - it was many years later that I saw the fight.

Huge respect for Mike Weaver and he was well up there with the best of the 1980's.

I like Mike... A game boxer, strong as an Ox but with a limited skills set! Should be fondly remembered for his contributions to the division. However I think to have him down as most under appreciated in the last 35 years is perhaps a tad too much!!!
More worthy claimants to that crown exist. For starters, form the sameish generations, Terrible Tim and Pinky!!! Amazing technicians , brilliant stand out components to their armory, for example Tim's right hand and Pinkys jab rate amongst the best the division has ever seen.

Witherspoon and Thomas have higher profiles and are respected more...

Unfortunately one was a slob and the other fought like a zombie on valium for much of his career........

Bar the Witherspoon win....Thomas didn't really do much..........Berbick loss was a shocker and he drew with Coetzee that Weaver beat...

Did beat a fading Weaver though.......

Weaver didn't fight much when he became champ. I think while he defended his WBA title twice, Holmes defended his WBC title four times during the same time period. Weaver must have made too much money for his two defenses for him to be as idle as he was. He would have been much more appreciated if he'd been more active while a champion.

Still, a decent fighter for the time and a guy who always showed up in good physical shape.