Gary Mason vs. Ray Mercer

[Vlad]

12 rounds, who wins?

[DrDuke]

Mercer had more tools in the box, I see him outfighting Mason and stopping him eventually.

[Noxy]

Mercer pts

[scorpio83]

X3 I thought the same as Mercer out-box and out-punch Mason to either decision or stop him late.

[Bodyshot3]

Mason would not have disgraced himself in this fight......

...he had some power, timing, technique and heart but he was held back far, far too long by Duff and Lawless and was literally treading water for some vital years and badly lacking a tester-learner.

Put it this way - Gary was 31-0 before he went in with Jess Harding - and Jess was only "at best" a somewhat fringe European contender. By the time Lennox came round Gary was actually the novice, but with a 'better' pro record!

I like the fight with Mason having fought some better guys - maybe lost a couple - forcing him to dramatically improve. But he was always kept on the backburner and racking up wins against ho-hum guys or Americans past their prime.

It was a micro-managed career for Gary which failed to let him improve....and I think a more hardened Mason would've been a different proposition for Ray altogether.

[margaret thatcher]

mercer beats him up, mason was a poor man's bruno who is overrated by british boxing fans

[Bodyshot3]

mercer beats him up, mason was a poor man's bruno who is overrated by british boxing fans

Nobody is getting carried away by Gary over here mate ....and Mercer would've won.

The point being made is that a different Mason - if handled far, far better - could have been very considerably better. But that opportunity to crack-on was constantly delayed and that's what ultimately irks us. Potential missed.

Gary hit hard - probably a better mover than Bruno in the first place, certainly less upright and some sharp hands - but he spent years and years treading the same 'paddling pool' water and got disinterested in the sport as well. I think he was doing better paying jobs on the side.

The Mason story is not about a lack of tools - he was very capable indeed - but an absence of opportunity, direction and overall ambition from the Duff Lawless camp.

Big Adam Fogerty went the same way - massive geezer, heaps of underlying potential too - but badly stuck in the queue he decided to move back to Rugby League and was a fairly handy player in a rough old sport; not for fannies.

[margaret thatcher]

he was strong but even slower and more plodding than bruno, im not seeing all that ability. he looked like a very limited fighter to me who would've never cracked world level competition

[chinarich]

Gosh, I liked Gary Mason at the time but he wasn't world class. What was his best win? Tyrrell Biggs probably. Mercer would have destroyed him...

[Bodyshot3]

Handled better - a considerably better fighter - who'd have made progress during his career.
But he got bored, never got a wake-up fight and did not learn much from the guys Lawless-Duff churned out for him.

[gilgamesh]

I feel like Mercer would've pretty much mauled this dude. Mason might have won a few rounds, but Mercer would win a lot more and he'd win 'em far more emphatically.