Lets talk about Buster Mathis Snr. What memories and opinions do you have on this guy, one of the least talked about Heavyweight contenders of a spectacular era.
How highly do you rate him?
If he was around in another era would he have picked up at title? How about the early 80's against Page, Tubbs, Berbick, Weaver, Tate etc etc.
How about if he was around today and fought the likes of Valuev, Byrd and Brewster etc.
When I review his record it appears he fought Ali to a draw according to what I see...~
Referee: Chris Jordan 99-99 | Judge: Ernie Taylor 99-99 | Judge: Earl Keel 99-99 ~
~ NABF Heavyweight Title ~
Mathis was knocked down twice in the 11th, and twice more in the 12th.
Is this in need of a review by stats dept?
I remember him being George Foreman size but pretty mobile for his seemingly overly stocky build. Not a big banger in my mind especially for his size. He always outperfored how I "assumed" he was going to do...even in his losses. He didnt' always look in shape to me but I never noticed him huffin and puffin. His greatest surprise for me was his defeat of Chuvalo which he thoroughly deserved in my estimation. I never watched for his fights until he almost was out of the business. When I saw him fight Joe Frazier I just thought Frazier was taking an tune up fight. After that I had name recognition with him and I began to take notice. He was considerably more "cut" than his son if I recall.
aLI beat Buster pretty clearly and had him out on his feet in the last two rounds... after the fight Ali criticised the ref for not stopping the fight. Buster was a good boxer, pretty fast and with a decent punch... good jab and right hand... if he was around today he'd be champ but he was around when the division was at its height. Probably the best fight I have of Buster is his bout with George Chuvalo which was a real barn burner that Buster won on points and indeed he gave Chuvalo a bit of a bashing... was too fast for George...
The thing I remember about Mathis was that he was an excellent amateur who beat Joe Frazier in the Olympic trials but hurt his hand and Frazier went instead. I could be wrong about those exact details though.He was a good pro, he moved well for a big man. Frazier stopped him in their rematch in the pros.
expug wrote:The thing I remember about Mathis was that he was an excellent amateur who beat Joe Frazier in the Olympic trials but hurt his hand and Frazier went instead. I could be wrong about those exact details though.He was a good pro, he moved well for a big man. Frazier stopped him in their rematch in the pros.
Thats true, Mathis beat Frazier in the trials and then busted his hand and Frazier took his place.... Mathis was about 320 pounds when he first started boxing as an amutuer... I think at one point as a pro he was down to about the 230s.... but he was always pretty mobile and had good handspeed... I think after his boxing career he was beset by ill health, diabeates etc due to his weight which rose to over 400 pounds I think in his later years... I seem to remember reading an article where he talked about being addicted to food like others are addicted to drink and drugs...
buster mathis is underated. he was a very skilled big man. he gave frazier his toughest title fight outside of ali. Buster mathis was a very good boxer who possesed good speed and movement. I think the frazier fight ruined buster and he was never the same after. I think he could have made something of himself. entering the 11th round, i thought the fight was dead even.
Mathis was a very fast, skilled big man who could jab on the outside or throw blistering combos on the inside. In the 60s he was a danger to anybody but in the early 70s he was having a losing battle with diabetes and his weight problem got the better of him. I think Mathis-Ali in 67 would've been a good fight and much closer then their 1972 affair.
BoxBuzz wrote:When I review his record it appears he fought Ali to a draw according to what I see...~
Referee: Chris Jordan 99-99 | Judge: Ernie Taylor 99-99 | Judge: Earl Keel 99-99 ~
~ NABF Heavyweight Title ~
Mathis was knocked down twice in the 11th, and twice more in the 12th.
Is this in need of a review by stats dept?
.
It's being investigated, it may just be a bug due to an ongoing software update.
