BoxRec

A lot of the media regarded Nielsen as a bit of a joke, but even out of shape, he could bang a bit and had very underrated boxing skills.

Does Mercer hit hard enough to trouble Brian? Does he have the skill to outbox him?

I think Nielsen wins a wide decision against Ray.

What do you fellas think?

I'd take Mercer. Yes, he hits hard enough to trouble him.

Nielsen ahead on points, Mercer KO

giacomino wrote:Nielsen ahead on points, Mercer KO

x2

Nielsen feasted on old champs, who were way past it... so if we're talking about a prime Mercer, I give the Dane no chance at all. He may last the distance, though, as he had a very sound chin.

Nielsen didn't have much of a punch but he did have a great chin and good stamina, regardless of his blubbery appearance. I wouldn't have been surprised to see Super Brian outpoint Mercer, he would most likely be busier than Mercer and could out hustle Ray for a win. Mercer is vastly overrated imo and often looked like shit. We are talking about a guy who got his ass handed to him (twice imo) by Jesse Ferguson and that was a fight he needed to win to secure a title shot.

Would agree if it went the distance. Damiani was beating Mercer before getting crushed. But Nielsen feasted on old and/or smaller opposition and I can't remember him fighting anyone in Mercer's league as a puncher before getting KO'd by Tyson.

giacomino wrote:Would agree if it went the distance. Damiani was beating Mercer before getting crushed. But Nielsen feasted on old and/or smaller opposition and I can't remember him fighting anyone in Mercer's league as a puncher before getting KO'd by Tyson.

Yeah, where do the claims of this excellent chin come from?

Rover wrote:

giacomino wrote:Would agree if it went the distance. Damiani was beating Mercer before getting crushed. But Nielsen feasted on old and/or smaller opposition and I can't remember him fighting anyone in Mercer's league as a puncher before getting KO'd by Tyson.

Yeah, where do the claims of this excellent chin come from?

Tyson punched like a flower so I guess I was all wrong about Nielsens chin, my bad.

hhaehre wrote:

Rover wrote:

giacomino wrote:Would agree if it went the distance. Damiani was beating Mercer before getting crushed. But Nielsen feasted on old and/or smaller opposition and I can't remember him fighting anyone in Mercer's league as a puncher before getting KO'd by Tyson.

Yeah, where do the claims of this excellent chin come from?

Tyson punched like a flower so I guess I was all wrong about Nielsens chin, my bad.

And that was far from prime Tyson when they fight, and he dominated Nielsen anyway.

The only puncher on Mercer's level that Nielsen ever faced who didn't knock him out was the ghost of Tim Witherspoon. Prime Mercer takes him out in the later rounds, after getting outboxed on the way there.

Nielsen couldn't legitimately beat a 48 year old Larry Holmes and we're asking what Ray Mercer and his jab would do to him in a prime vs. prime contest. LOL. C'mon. This is stupid. Mercer by massacre. And I'm all for analyzing Mercer honestly with trying to get Ferguson to take a dive, "drawing" with Marion Wilson, etc etc etc.

zorndeslammes wrote:Nielsen couldn't legitimately beat a 48 year old Larry Holmes and we're asking what Ray Mercer and his jab would do to him in a prime vs. prime contest. LOL. C'mon. This is stupid. Mercer by massacre. And I'm all for analyzing Mercer honestly with trying to get Ferguson to take a dive, "drawing" with Marion Wilson, etc etc etc.

Did you see the Nielsen-Holmes fight? Holmes lost fair and square, the fact that he bitched about it afterwards does not change it. As for Mercer I'd say he was probably better that Nielsen but the fights with Ferguson and Wilson did in fact occur in his prime. Those fights should tell you that Mercer was well capable of losing to Nielsen, who was if anything a more consistent performer.

I'm willing to give it as being a possibility if Mercer came in woefully out of shape and had Hep B. I think stylistically he was all wrong for Nielsen. It also might have helped Nielsen's consistency that (allegedly) many fighters took dives against him.

zorndeslammes wrote:I'm willing to give it as being a possibility if Mercer came in woefully out of shape and had Hep B. I think stylistically he was all wrong for Nielsen. It also might have helped Nielsen's consistency that (allegedly) many fighters took dives against him.

He lost almost every round against Damiani, got outclassed by Holmes and embarrassed by Ferguson.

keithmoonhangover wrote:

zorndeslammes wrote:I'm willing to give it as being a possibility if Mercer came in woefully out of shape and had Hep B. I think stylistically he was all wrong for Nielsen. It also might have helped Nielsen's consistency that (allegedly) many fighters took dives against him.

He lost almost every round against Damiani, got outclassed by Holmes and embarrassed by Ferguson.

A) "outclassed by Holmes"? See also: Brian Nielsen. Except 5 years later. I stand by what I said earlier. Hell, you can watch the fight on youtube right now if you want.

B) "embarassed by Ferguson" would be really applicable if we weren't talking about a guy KO'ed by Dicky Ryan here in comparison.

Seriously, maybe someone can talk about Nielsen's great performance against Witherspoon based on the TKO4 on his record.

zorndeslammes wrote:

keithmoonhangover wrote:

zorndeslammes wrote:I'm willing to give it as being a possibility if Mercer came in woefully out of shape and had Hep B. I think stylistically he was all wrong for Nielsen. It also might have helped Nielsen's consistency that (allegedly) many fighters took dives against him.

He lost almost every round against Damiani, got outclassed by Holmes and embarrassed by Ferguson.

A) "outclassed by Holmes"? See also: Brian Nielsen. Except 5 years later. I stand by what I said earlier. Hell, you can watch the fight on youtube right now if you want.

B) "embarassed by Ferguson" would be really applicable if we weren't talking about a guy KO'ed by Dicky Ryan here in comparison.

Seriously, maybe someone can talk about Nielsen's great performance against Witherspoon based on the TKO4 on his record.

Mercer was thoroughly outclassed by Holmes, is that even debatable? He looked like shit against Ferguson (twice) and he was lucky to get a draw against Marion Wilson, a professional survivor who rarely even tried to win.
Nielsen collapsed from dehydration against Ryan so that fight is no good as a yardstick for either fighter, unless of course you also put a lot into Robinson's loss to Maxim.

No one is saying Nielsen was a great fighter but he would never have lost to Ferguson with a title fight on the line and he sure as hell never would have fought Marion Wilson to a draw. When Nielsen fought you knew that he would fight up to about the best of his ability, with Mercer you never knew what you'd get. The Mercer who fought Lewis to a standstill beats any version of Nielsen while the Mercer from the Wilson fight loses every round. Do you know which Mercer who would show up? I know I don't.

If we're talking "prime vs. prime" I'm generally assuming we're talking about each fighter at their best. I still don't think Nielsen's best would necessarily beat Mercer at anything but his absolute worst. I don't even think he could beat comeback Mercer circa-Wladimir Klitschko fight. The core issue is that I think Nielsen was/is a fraud.

zorndeslammes wrote:If we're talking "prime vs. prime" I'm generally assuming we're talking about each fighter at their best. I still don't think Nielsen's best would necessarily beat Mercer at anything but his absolute worst. I don't even think he could beat comeback Mercer circa-Wladimir Klitschko fight. The core issue is that I think Nielsen was/is a fraud.

Mercer was in his prime when he was schooled by Holmes, embarrassed by Ferguson and held to a draw by Wilson. If we are talking about in his prime AND at his best I agree that Mercer would win. In such a world Buster Douglas is the GOAT.
As for Nielsen, I don't think he was a fraud but he was well protected and his career was very carefully managed. A bit like Foreman's second career, not a fraud but not as good a a quick glance would suggest.

Well, I see Nielsen getting decisions he didn't deserve against much more busted fighters than those which Mercer struggled with and a lot of fights with strange circumstances - Jeremy Williams getting rabbit punched (and possibly taking a dive), Don Steele possibly taking a dive, Thomas Williams having evidence of taking a dive against Nielsen being used to convict him of one stateside, Tim Witherspoon dropping to a "knee injury" during their fight and a TKO loss after not throwing a right hand, Lionel Butler taking a knee due to a straight punch to the body that barely connected, Tubbs beating Nielsen then dropping out due to "injury"...this is a long list. Long. Dude is a fraud IMO. And Mercer, while he was inconsistent and had problems, he was not a fraud.

zorndeslammes wrote:Nielsen couldn't legitimately beat a 48 year old Larry Holmes and we're asking what Ray Mercer and his jab would do to him in a prime vs. prime contest. LOL. C'mon. This is stupid. Mercer by massacre. And I'm all for analyzing Mercer honestly with trying to get Ferguson to take a dive, "drawing" with Marion Wilson, etc etc etc.

x2

Mercer by decision in a competitive fight, although Francesco Damiani would have boxed Nielsens ears off.

Who did Nielsen ever beat?

Nielsen has no resume whatsoever - none at all.

He couldn't even widely outpoint a 50 year old Larry Holmes, but he'd widely decision Ray Mercer who was knocking around Lennox Lewis and Tommy Morrison? Who was giving Evander Holyfield hell? It's a fornicating insult to put Nielsen's name in the same sentence with Mercer's.

Honestly, it's insane the stuff you read on here. Truly insane.

hhaehre wrote: Mercer was in his prime when he was schooled by Holmes, embarrassed by Ferguson and held to a draw by Wilson. If we are talking about in his prime AND at his best I agree that Mercer would win. In such a world Buster Douglas is the GOAT.

Why don't you talk about what Mercer did with Lennox Lewis, Tim Witherspoon, Evander Holyfield and Tommy Morrison as his prime rather than referring to nights like Ferguson and Wilson when he was grossly overweight?

What did Nielsen do in all that time? Nothing. He didn't fight a single solitary top 10 ranked heavyweight - not one, until Mike Tyson waddled over and massacred him.

Nielsen is a novelty act. He is better matched with Butterbean.

hhaehre wrote:Did you see the Nielsen-Holmes fight? Holmes lost fair and square, the fact that he bitched about it afterwards does not change it. As for Mercer I'd say he was probably better that Nielsen but the fights with Ferguson and Wilson did in fact occur in his prime. Those fights should tell you that Mercer was well capable of losing to Nielsen, who was if anything a more consistent performer.

I'm beginning to perceive a troll here.

Holmes lost fair and square to Brian Nielsen?

Your judgement is appalling.