The Bizzare Career Of Ray Mercer, Was He A Underachiever?

[Southpaw16BF]

Well.

I feel Ray Mercer had a very bizzare career, and I think he could of achived more in the sport.

Mercer won GOLD at the 1988 Olympic, stopping everyone inside the distance. The man he defeated in the final Baik Hyun-Man, had stopped Andrew Golota in his previous fight.

In his Pro career he knocked out the unbeaten Tommy Morrsion, who would go on to beat George Foreman.

He also defeated top unbeaten contender Francesco Damiani. Ray also beat pretty decent Bert Cooper.

And Mercer in one of his greatest performances took a peak Lennox Lewis to the wire, in a fight alot of people thought he should of got.

Ray also beat Tim Weatherspoon, who was coming off a win over 8 straight wins which included a wins over Jorge Luis Gonzalez and Alfred Cole.

But Mercer can destroy guys like Morrision and push guys like Lennox Lewis. And then struggle with jouryman fighter Jesse Fergunson AND Marlon Wilson, who he drew with?

Talk about blowing hold and cold. I wonder if it was a motivation problem?

But I just think Ray had a bizzare career and at times think he is a little bit of a underachiever.

Thoughts?

[Sugarj]

If I remember rightly Damiani was the WBO heavyweight champ at one point.

Mercer also lost to a 40 odd year old comebacking Larry Holmes.

He had alot of talent but perhaps had problems motivating himself for matches that he was expecting to win.........a bit like Rid**** Bowe.

[Dynamite Kid]

Well.

I feel Ray Mercer had a very bizzare career, and I think he could of achived more in the sport.

Mercer won GOLD at the 1988 Olympic, stopping everyone inside the distance. The man he defeated in the final Baik Hyun-Man, had stopped Andrew Golota in his previous fight.

In his Pro career he knocked out the unbeaten Tommy Morrsion, who would go on to beat George Foreman.

He also defeated top unbeaten contender Francesco Damiani. Ray also beat pretty decent Bert Cooper.

And Mercer in one of his greatest performances took a peak Lennox Lewis to the wire, in a fight alot of people thought he should of got.

Ray also beat Tim Weatherspoon, who was coming off a win over 8 straight wins which included a wins over Jorge Luis Gonzalez and Alfred Cole.

But Mercer can destroy guys like Morrision and push guys like Lennox Lewis. And then struggle with jouryman fighter Jesse Fergunson AND Marlon Wilson, who he drew with?

Talk about blowing hold and cold. I wonder if it was a motivation problem?

But I just think Ray had a bizzare career and at times think he is a little bit of a underachiever.

Thoughts?

The Spoon fight was a very close fight that could of gone either way. I know Spoon felt hard done by when they gave the fight to Mercer. It was a high contact fight where both guys stood toe to toe and landed hard punches on each other, infact it was exactly the kinda fight you would expect these two to have.

I have never scored the Lewis fight but it seemed to me that Mercer could of won but he did not force the issue enough, that fight bubbled on the surface and that suited Lewis, Mercer shoulda turned into more of a war and he probably would of won.

I do like Ray Mercer a lot though, great chin,strong,tough.

[sonnyboyx2]

The Spoon fight was a very close fight that could of gone either way. I know Spoon felt hard done by when they gave the fight to Mercer. It was a high contact fight where both guys stood toe to toe and landed hard punches on each other, infact it was exactly the kinda fight you would expect these two to have.

I have never scored the Lewis fight but it seemed to me that Mercer could of won but he did not force the issue enough, that fight bubbled on the surface and that suited Lewis, Mercer shoulda turned into more of a war and he probably would of won.

I do like Ray Mercer a lot though, great chin,strong,tough.

well said...Mercer was almost humiliated by Larry Holmes, i agree with you on the Lewis fight, Mercer just never done enough to get the nod... same with the Witherspoon fight, i thought the scoring was terrible.. the downside of Mercers career was his 1st fight with Jesse Ferguson and the court case which followed

[Marcov]

I liked Mercer. In the early days he was very limited, relied on just his strength and power.
Morrison was handing it to Mercer til Ray caught that chin in classic fashion.

Even when Ray challenged Damiani, he was being outboxed til he caught him and stopped him.
Holmes even at that age had enough skills to outbox him and capture that wbo trinket.
Mercer turned pro at an advanced age and was slightly rushed. But his strength and solid chin kept him out of harms way. Later he developed a fine jab that kept him in bouts like the one against Lennox Lewis.

To tell you the truth in spite of his drawbacks, we could use a few solid heavy handed heavyweights like him in the division today.

[mickey malone]

Well.

I feel Ray Mercer had a very bizzare career, and I think he could of achived more in the sport.

Mercer won GOLD at the 1988 Olympic, stopping everyone inside the distance. The man he defeated in the final Baik Hyun-Man, had stopped Andrew Golota in his previous fight.

In his Pro career he knocked out the unbeaten Tommy Morrsion, who would go on to beat George Foreman.

He also defeated top unbeaten contender Francesco Damiani. Ray also beat pretty decent Bert Cooper.

And Mercer in one of his greatest performances took a peak Lennox Lewis to the wire, in a fight alot of people thought he should of got.

Ray also beat Tim Weatherspoon, who was coming off a win over 8 straight wins which included a wins over Jorge Luis Gonzalez and Alfred Cole.

But Mercer can destroy guys like Morrision and push guys like Lennox Lewis. And then struggle with jouryman fighter Jesse Fergunson AND Marlon Wilson, who he drew with?

Talk about blowing hold and cold. I wonder if it was a motivation problem?

But I just think Ray had a bizzare career and at times think he is a little bit of a underachiever.

Thoughts?

All 100% true..

Mercer could have been the Duran of the heavyweights but wasn't confident enough, and ***ed up Audley Harrison style, by not turning pro until he was 28 years of age..
OK, he did a fair bit better than Harrison, but seriously, what do these guys expect?..

Had Mercer cut short his army career and/or his amateur boxing career, both of which he excelled, he'd have more than possibly achieved ATG status..
Of recent times, he is by far, the most prominent of 'dark horse' heavyweights to under-achieve in boxing..

[Calilloyd]

Well.

I feel Ray Mercer had a very bizzare career, and I think he could of achived more in the sport.

Mercer won GOLD at the 1988 Olympic, stopping everyone inside the distance. The man he defeated in the final Baik Hyun-Man, had stopped Andrew Golota in his previous fight.

In his Pro career he knocked out the unbeaten Tommy Morrsion, who would go on to beat George Foreman.

He also defeated top unbeaten contender Francesco Damiani. Ray also beat pretty decent Bert Cooper.

And Mercer in one of his greatest performances took a peak Lennox Lewis to the wire, in a fight alot of people thought he should of got.

Ray also beat Tim Weatherspoon, who was coming off a win over 8 straight wins which included a wins over Jorge Luis Gonzalez and Alfred Cole.

But Mercer can destroy guys like Morrision and push guys like Lennox Lewis. And then struggle with jouryman fighter Jesse Fergunson AND Marlon Wilson, who he drew with?

Talk about blowing hold and cold. I wonder if it was a motivation problem?

But I just think Ray had a bizzare career and at times think he is a little bit of a underachiever.

Thoughts?

I think he went as far as he could.

[Obama]

Mercer had the makings of a great fighter. Started off as power punching brawler early in his career, molded into a refined technical boxer in his bouts with Holyfield and Lewis (both which easily could have gone to him), beat a faded Witherspoon, then pretty much gave up on his career. Not sure why, haven't bothered to look into it.

I'd say motivation was a key factor for him. He tried to pay off Ferguson in the first fight because he was out of shape and didn't want to blow his shot at Bowe (which he was "guaranteed" if he won). The Boogeyman however was no pushover. Calling him a journeyman isn't really fair imo. His other wins over James Buster Douglas and Samson Po'uha solidify him as a valid contender. I'm well aware the man has a lot of losses...but look he he lost to. Not exactly bums.