Early Mike Weaver
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Robert in NYC
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 51
- Joined: 17 Feb 2008, 22:05
Early Mike Weaver
Do any of the California guys on this thread have any stories/memories of Mike Weaver from the early days of his pro career, circa1972-1974?
Hmmm ...
I think your best bet regarding detailed accounts of fights he had THAT early on in his career would be the issues of THE RING magazine from that era. They had some pretty good correspondants back then that provided fairly detailed accounts of even the minor shows. Other than that & maybe some vintage newspaper coverage, I doubt there's much out there.
I began following the sport about as closely as a person could back at that time in 1976 when I was 14 - 15 years old & I didn't really become aware of Weaver until '77 when he lost two close 12 rounders to the then unbeaten pair of Stan Ward & Leroy Jones. Then, I discovered a hardcover book at a local bookstore that I couldn't afford to buy, but which I would look through, page by page every couple of weeks or so. I can't recall the title of it now, but it was about the gritty NYC boxing scene & chock full of dozens & dozens great B&W photos. Several of which documented a fight between New York's unbeaten Bill Sharkey & a young west coast journeyman by the name of Mike Weaver who came in & pulled the upset over the local guy via W10.
It was from those photos in that book & the write ups of his fights in THE RING that I became a fan of his, a good two years before I finally got to see him fight on HBO when he got the title shot against Holmes in the summer of '79.
I think your best bet regarding detailed accounts of fights he had THAT early on in his career would be the issues of THE RING magazine from that era. They had some pretty good correspondants back then that provided fairly detailed accounts of even the minor shows. Other than that & maybe some vintage newspaper coverage, I doubt there's much out there.
I began following the sport about as closely as a person could back at that time in 1976 when I was 14 - 15 years old & I didn't really become aware of Weaver until '77 when he lost two close 12 rounders to the then unbeaten pair of Stan Ward & Leroy Jones. Then, I discovered a hardcover book at a local bookstore that I couldn't afford to buy, but which I would look through, page by page every couple of weeks or so. I can't recall the title of it now, but it was about the gritty NYC boxing scene & chock full of dozens & dozens great B&W photos. Several of which documented a fight between New York's unbeaten Bill Sharkey & a young west coast journeyman by the name of Mike Weaver who came in & pulled the upset over the local guy via W10.
It was from those photos in that book & the write ups of his fights in THE RING that I became a fan of his, a good two years before I finally got to see him fight on HBO when he got the title shot against Holmes in the summer of '79.