BoxRec

What happened that night '2nd May 1998' to Spencer Oliver when he faced Serguei Devakov for the European (EBU) Belt.
I know Spencer was hurt badly but was it due to that fight alone, was this fight a mismatch or was it due to shots that he had taken in previous bouts that caught up with him?
Never got to see Spencer fight, just wondering what he was like (style/technique), he had a good record until that injury put him out which leads me to believe he was a good prospect, any opinions???

Foggy wrote:What happened that night '2nd May 1998' to Spencer Oliver when he faced Serguei Devakov for the European (EBU) Belt.
I know Spencer was hurt badly but was it due to that fight alone, was this fight a mismatch or was it due to shots that he had taken in previous bouts that caught up with him?
Never got to see Spencer fight, just wondering what he was like (style/technique), he had a good record until that injury put him out which leads me to believe he was a good prospect, any opinions???

Spencer had left the "prospect" tag behind at this stage I feel.
he had already beaten Benichou and Belcastro, Devakov was his 4th or fifth defense of the European crown.
Cronic shame what happened, but Spencer definately wasn't himself that night.
Top fella is Spencer

Yeah, I remember watching him when he was being hyped up but that was the one fight I missed.

What exactly happened? How badly was he beaten?

Weight-drained fighters are always vulnerable late on in a gruelling fight. The Russian had looked great in the gym before the fight and lived up to it in the ring. He hurt Oliver early, then wore him down and took him out late. It was very similar to Paul Ingle's beating at the hands of Mbulelo Botile. Ingle was also hurt early, soaked up punishment throughout, and the final knockdown proved near-fatal.
Both Ingle and Oliver were tight at the weight. This is why the Board are so funny about weight nowadays (check weigh-ins, etc).

A real shame what happened although he wasnt a fighter i rated particularly highly but a good honest pro and a nice guy...glad he is still involved in boxing and has fully recovered!

HH

My lasting memory of that night, is how Spencer dragged himself off the canvas after the final knockdown and beat the count before collapsing.
What guts!

I rated Spencer, and really thought that he had it in him to challenge for a world title, he wouldn't have beaten fighters like Morales, Jones and McKinney, but he was no worse than some of the guys who challenged for the major titles at that time.

Looking back, it was good to see him fight Mullings. I'm not sure that fight would be made these days.

bennie wrote:It was very similar to Paul Ingle's beating at the hands of Mbulelo Botile. Ingle was also hurt early, soaked up punishment throughout, and the final knockdown proved near-fatal.
Both Ingle and Oliver were tight at the weight. This is why the Board are so funny about weight nowadays (check weigh-ins, etc).

A good comparison, I was at the Ingle fight at it was very obvious from early on Ingle was not himself.

I remember watching Olivers last fight on TV going from memory he didn't look as poor or take a big a beating as Ingle did, however I am going from memory from fights I only watched once for the obvious reasons.

Terrible shame Ingles recovery hasn't been as complete as Olivers.