Mercer vs Moorer (1992)

[keithmoonhangover]

Moorer was Mercer's #1 contender when Ray was WBO champ. Mercer decided to vacate and fight Larry Holmes. What would have happened if he'd four Moorer?

Moorer has a fragile jaw, but still has Manny Stewart in his corner which has to be a plus.

I'll take Moorer on points, in a entertaining fight, with a few scares along the way.

[Goodnight, Irene]

I agree.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I agree.

x2, except for Moorer having a fragile jaw. Those kinds of statements about high level fighters that didn't have granite chins are alarmingly frequent. Duane Bobick had a fragile jaw. I've watched Moorer eat too many bombs and come back from them for fragile to be an apt description for anything to do with him.

[keithmoonhangover]

I agree.

x2, except for Moorer having a fragile jaw. Those kinds of statements about high level fighters that didn't have granite chins are alarmingly frequent. Duane Bobick had a fragile jaw. I've watched Moorer eat too many bombs and come back from them for fragile to be an apt description for anything to do with him.

Moorer was down twice against Bert Cooper.

After the Cooper fight I always thought of his chin as fragile.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

That's a very poor example. Bert was a big banger and Moorer won the fight. Fragile should explain someone whose chin virtually explodes into pieces when they are caught flush. Not guys who get hurt by huge punchers and come back and knock them out.

[keithmoonhangover]

That's a very poor example. Bert was a big banger and Moorer won the fight. Fragile should explain someone whose chin virtually explodes into pieces when they are caught flush. Not guys who get hurt by huge punchers and come back and knock them out.

I'm not saying he had a glass jaw, I'm saying it was fragile. Which other top fighters were decked twice by Bert Cooper?

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I'm not confused by the word fragile, you seem to be. As for questioning Cooper's power,

[keithmoonhangover]

I'm not confused by the word fragile, you seem to be. As for questioning Cooper's power,

I'm not confusing anything mate. Your definition of fragile is different to mine.

I'm not questioning Cooper's power. So there's no need to laugh like a child. I asked how many other top fighters had been decked twice by Cooper? I can't think of any.

As for Moorer's chin. Holyfield had him down 6 times. Cooper twice. That is my definition of fragile.

[jezzamundo]

To me a fragile jaw and a glass jaw sound like the same thing, although keith's interpretation is obviously different.

Also worth taking into consideration is jaw vs recovery. Patterson and Moorer were knocked down a lot in their careers, but also got up off the canvas a lot. Lewis, by comparison, was more resilient to being knocked down, but both times he was, did not recover (although the McCall stoppage was questionable).

Anyway, this fight it close to 50:50 for me, although I slightly lean towards Moorer by decision after visiting the canvas once.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I'm not confused by the word fragile, you seem to be. As for questioning Cooper's power,

I'm not confusing anything mate. Your definition of fragile is different to mine.

I'm not questioning Cooper's power. So there's no need to laugh like a child. I asked how many other top fighters had been decked twice by Cooper? I can't think of any.

As for Moorer's chin. Holyfield had him down 6 times. Cooper twice. That is my definition of fragile.

Laughter is only for children? Don't be so sensitive. Certainly I can't be expected to grasp your individual definition for a very clear word? If you meant something different than below average and unable to handle strong punches at all, rephrase it instead of continuing to use the same incorrect word.

[loaded_gloves]

Cooper could hit. End of. Ask Holyfield.

Here's the granite-jawed Oliver McCall on Cooper's power:

BoxingInsider: Who was the hardest puncher you faced?
Oliver McCall: “Bert Cooper. Left hook. That was the hardest punch that I ever felt and that I had to overcome. It felt like a truck had hit me. I never got hit by a truck but it felt like if a truck would have hit me.”
BoxingInsider: Who else is up there? Lennox?
Oliver McCall: “No, Lennox wasn’t one of the hardest punchers that I…Buster Douglas hit me harder than Lennox did. Right hand.”
BoxingInsider: How about Tyson? Is he up there?
Oliver McCall: “Tyson right there too. Lennox would probably be about fifth.”

[Bricks]

I'm not confused by the word fragile, you seem to be. As for questioning Cooper's power,

Cooper was a blown up cruiser, give some evidence of his "thou shalt not be questioned power"....hell even carl " hit me once so i collapse" williams handled Coopers power fairly well. The whole myth of coopers power was built around that beating of dewitt in his first real fight at HW and dewitt was a small HW.

Sure Cooper floored Moorer twice, but that doesnt constitute evidence of Moorer's decent chin and I do happen to think Moorer did have a decent chin and cojones and determination to go with it .

He was kayoed by whoah nellie punchers like Foreman and Tua with one shot, but early in his HW career recovered from 2 knockdowns from a good puncher like Stewart and survived Bonecrusher, even the Holy fight he kept getting up.....

Bottom line .

Cooper big puncher?=No
Moorer decent chin?= It's very worthy of debate but i think yes overall he did have a decent chin, not the best not the worst.

[Goodnight, Irene]

And yet Cooper, not a big puncher, almost KO'd Moorer in the first exchange of their bout.

Go figure.

[Tomasino]

I'm not confused by the word fragile, you seem to be. As for questioning Cooper's power,

I'm not confusing anything mate. Your definition of fragile is different to mine.

I'm not questioning Cooper's power. So there's no need to laugh like a child. I asked how many other top fighters had been decked twice by Cooper? I can't think of any.

As for Moorer's chin. Holyfield had him down 6 times. Cooper twice. That is my definition of fragile.

Laughter is only for children? Don't be so sensitive. Certainly I can't be expected to grasp your individual definition for a very clear word? If you meant something different than below average and unable to handle strong punches at all, rephrase it instead of continuing to use the same incorrect word.

I agree, it wasnt the greatest chin but not fragile by any means, especially considering he went up in weight.

[dempseyfire]

I'm not confused by the word fragile, you seem to be. As for questioning Cooper's power,

Cooper was a blown up cruiser, give some evidence of his "thou shalt not be questioned power"....hell even carl " hit me once so i collapse" williams handled Coopers power fairly well. The whole myth of coopers power was built around that beating of dewitt in his first real fight at HW and dewitt was a small HW.

Sure Cooper floored Moorer twice, but that doesnt constitute evidence of Moorer's decent chin and I do happen to think Moorer did have a decent chin and cojones and determination to go with it .

He was kayoed by whoah nellie punchers like Foreman and Tua with one shot, but early in his HW career recovered from 2 knockdowns from a good puncher like Stewart and survived Bonecrusher, even the Holy fight he kept getting up.....

Bottom line .

Cooper big puncher?=No
Moorer decent chin?= It's very worthy of debate but i think yes overall he did have a decent chin, not the best not the worst.

I've been ringside watching Cooper fight. The guy has SERIOUS power. He doesn't have many KOs of upper tier guys b/c his stamina always sucked and he'd gas out after starting strong.
Being a 'blown up cruiser' has nothing to do with punching power (I guess Jameel McCline hits harder than Joe Frazier )

[loaded_gloves]

Mugabi, go tell Oliver McCall that Bert Cooper is no puncher. It would be hilarious. I would pay you money to do it.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Or you could ask the plastic surgeon that worked on this dudes nose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQdQMZQLDhQ

[gregor]

Mercer (motivated version, like against Holyfield or Lewis) stops Moorer eventually.

Moorer's chin was average at best for a top fighter. It is true he was usually recovering quickly from knockdowns (like against Cooper and Holyfield), but anyway the combination of chin (average) and defence (far from perfect) made him always vulnerable.

Mercer is definitely not getting stopped here, so in order to win Moorer has to fight full distance without getting caught. And even if it goes to scorecards Mercer was able to give Lewis and Holyfield more than competitive fights, so the decision can go either way.

[Sportofkings]

I agree with you on your prediction, Moorer wins a competitve but clear decision after being hurt a couple of times. I think his superior boxing skills see him through against the more rugged, tougher, yet slightly limited Mercer. Moorer chinwas not especially weak, but it was not especially good either. I think its best to call his chin average. It wasnt as if it couldn't be dented by heavy punchers, but his chin wasn't Terry Norris esque in its weakness either.

As for Bert Cooper's power, if there was anything the man could do, it is punch. No light puncher would ever have been able to hurt a prime Holyfield

[Like a Boss]

I agree.

x2, except for Moorer having a fragile jaw. Those kinds of statements about high level fighters that didn't have granite chins are alarmingly frequent. Duane Bobick had a fragile jaw. I've watched Moorer eat too many bombs and come back from them for fragile to be an apt description for anything to do with him.

Moorer was down twice against Bert Cooper.

After the Cooper fight I always thought of his chin as fragile.

Moorer vs Cooper was a great fight

Both went down twice. They could both hit and both get up. In my mind tough, not fragile.

[jehu]

I see moorer winning via decision,moorers chin was average, always good shots that dropped him and took some bombs and stayed up right. I think cooper had decent to good power but was at times just not really into it. On a side note when ever you look at a shipping or courier parcel that says fragile on it the picture is of a glass or wine glass breaking. Fragile chin, glass chin same thing.!! chur

[jehu]

I see moorer winning via decision,moorers chin was average, always good shots that dropped him and took some bombs and stayed up right. I think cooper had decent to good power but was at times just not really into it. On a side note when ever you look at a shipping or courier parcel that says fragile on it the picture is of a glass or wine glass breaking. Fragile chin, glass chin same thing.!! chur

[gilgamesh]

I agree Moorer would beat Mercer by a decision while suffering a few scares along the way. Would be a fun one

[keithmoonhangover]

I see moorer winning via decision,moorers chin was average, always good shots that dropped him and took some bombs and stayed up right. I think cooper had decent to good power but was at times just not really into it. On a side note when ever you look at a shipping or courier parcel that says fragile on it the picture is of a glass or wine glass breaking. Fragile chin, glass chin same thing.!! chur

Pottery is fragile, but it ain't made of glass.

[jehu]

steady on kieth.