The Alphabet Soup HW Champs Records

[Ambling Alp]

Thought it would be interesting add up the Won/Loss records of the Alpha Heavyweight Champs of the late 1970's and 1980's against each other. (Tony Tucker isn't included since he didn't fight any of the other guys.)

Here are the "Standings":

1.Trevor Berbick (3-0)
2. Tony Tubbs (3-1)
3. Tim Witherspoon (4-2)
4. Pinklon Thomas (2-1-1)
5. Michael Dokes (1-1-1)
5. James Smith (3-3)
7. Mike Weaver (2-3-1)
8. Greg Page (2-3)
9. John Tate (1-2)
9. Frank Bruno (1-2)
11. Gerrie Coatzee (1-4-1)

* I didn't count the 2nd Weaver-Smith fight, which Smith won. Weaver was way over the hill by then.
What jumped out at me right away was Berbick being 3-0. I looked at his record over and over and couldn't believe that he never lost to any of these guys.

Anyone else surprised by this or any of the other fighters records against each other?

[Ezzard]

Surprised that Berbick was #1 on the list. I guess his win over Thomas who many thought was the best best HW in the world at the time shows that he may not always get his due...

[dempseyfire]

Berbick's standing makes sense. He didn't have the skills nor natural talent of the other ABC champs but unlike them he always showed up in shape and ready to fight. Stamina and persistence often beats more talent coupled with laziness.

[Ezzard]

They won their belts, fair enough, but does anyone think of these guys as anything other than contenders?

You can split these guys into 2 groups...

Those who had bodies that jiggled as they walked to the ring

Witherspoon
Page
Tubbs
Tate

and those who didn't

Berbick
Thomas
Weaver
Dokes
Bruno
Coetzee
Smith

[The Great John L]

They won their belts, fair enough, but does anyone think of these guys as anything other than contenders?

You can split these guys into 2 groups...

Those who had bodies that jiggled as they walked to the ring

Witherspoon
Page
Tubbs
Tate

and those who didn't

Berbick
Thomas
Weaver
Dokes
Bruno
Coetzee
Smith

Tate jiggled? I don't remember that.

[Seamus]

Berbick was one of those guys who could look quite good, vs Page or Thomas, or pretty sorry vs Gordon or Snipes.

[Ambling Alp]

They were all pretty inconsistent. Occasionally you would see flashes of greatness.
They all had certain things they did well, but either had big weakness or wouldn't do utilize their stengths often enough. Often they would fight at too slow of a pace.

They all seemed so even. It's really unusual to have so many fighters from weight class be that close for that long. That is one reason I thought I would add up their records to try to make some sense of this. I certainly didn't think Berbick would come out on top. Coetzee clearly has the worst record; though he was competitive in most his losses.
Everyone else is pretty close.

It would have been interesting to see how well Michael Spinks and Cooney would have done. Too bad they didn't have a few fights against some of these guys.

There were some non-beltholders who fought several of these guys and were close to their level. Just for fun, I though I would add in Renaldo Snipes, Carl Williams, and David Bey.
The new "Standings" are:

1. Tim Witherspoon (6-2)
2. Tony Tubbs (3-1)
3. Trevor Berbick (4-2)
4. Pinklon Thomas (4-3)
5. James Smith (4-3)
6. Michael Dokes (1-1-1)
6. Renaldo Snipes (2-2)
6. Frank Bruno (2-2)
6. Mike Weaver (3-3-1)
10. Greg Page (3-4)
11. John Tate (1-2)
12. David Bey (1-2)
13. Carl Williams (1-3)
14. Gerrie Coatzee (1-5-1)

Berbick dropped to 3rd with his losses to Williams and Snipes.
Witherspoon has the most wins (though Tubbs has the same winning %) and is usually considered the best of the bunch. However, it's very close with these guys.

[Ezzard]

Starting to make more sense now.

Though I think the winning percentage idea skews it.