Rank the major players of the late 70s/early 80s light-heavyweight scene

[DINAMITA]

Please rank with regard to h2h/ability, not simply overall career greatness.

How would a league table look if all eight fought each other whilst all at their peaks?


Victor Galindez
John Conteh
Yaqui Lopez
Marvin Johnson
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
Matthew Saad Muhammad
Dwight Muhammad Qawi
Michael Spinks

:bbb

[Seamus]

Great era. I will have to think about this one and throw Mike Rossman in for the mix.

[teeto]

Victor Galindez
John Conteh
Yaqui Lopez
Marvin Johnson
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
Matthew Saad Muhammad
Dwight Muhammad Qawi
Michael Spinks

For me,

Spinks,
Galindez,
Qawi,
Conteh
Matthew Saad Muhammad
(i might get some heat from the placement of them last two, bu oh well i'm trying)
Eddie Mustaffa Muhammad
Marvin Johnson
Yaqui Lopez

And by the way i think Mike Spinks has a dam good resume at this weight.

[Longhhorn71]

I think you should expand it up to top 15 +....adding Jerry Martin, Jessie Burnett, Mike Quarry, James Scott, Jorge Ahumada & Richie Kates.

Gosh, wish Saturday afternoon CBS Sports Spectacular was still on TV.

[TBooze]

Fighting at their very best:



8 Yaqui Lopez
7 Marvin Johnson
6 Matthew Saad Muhammad
5 Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
4 Dwight Muhammad Qawi
2= John Conteh
2= Victor Galindez
1 Michael Spinks

[SuzieQ49]

Wow Conteh over Qawi?

[Sweet Pea]

Wow Conteh over Qawi?

Yup.

[TBooze]

Wow Conteh over Qawi?

The Americans never got to see the best of Conteh. In the two years before he won his title, he was the world's finest 175lber and could beat his fair share of Heavies.

The fame that came with being arguable the most popular British Sportsman of the 70s, ultimately ruined Conteh. And it showed in his ring performances from 76. By Parlov, he was a shadow of the fighter we once knew.

I only see Spinks and Galindez on that list being able to beat/seriously threaten Conteh in Britain during the 73/74 pre title period.

Qawi ultimately goes down as finding a way to lose (gallantly) his truly big fights, when many figured him favourite to win (Spinks/HolyfieldI).

[Longhhorn71]

Conteh does look to be pretty strong during the '73-74 period.

[Mantequilla]

the main problem i have with Qawi besides him being the most one-dimensional of them along with Johnson, is that he seemed inconsistent in the heart\will to win stakes.A big minus considering his pressuring style.

He was no Joe Frazier mentally.

[DINAMITA]

Yup.

:lol: There's no way you're getting away with a one-word input here! Get yer 1-8 on here pronto!

[DINAMITA]

the main problem i have with Qawi besides him being the most one-dimensional of them along with Johnson, is that he seemed inconsistent in the heart\will to win stakes.A big minus considering his pressuring style.

He was no Joe Frazier mentally.

Qawi was a machine when on form though.

What would your 1-8 be mate?

[DINAMITA]

I think you should expand it up to top 15 +....adding Jerry Martin, Jessie Burnett, Mike Quarry, James Scott, Jorge Ahumada & Richie Kates.

Gosh, wish Saturday afternoon CBS Sports Spectacular was still on TV.

My intention was just to focus on the bigger names, but if you want to expand it for your own answer, then please do.

[TBooze]

Qawi was a machine when on form though.

But that strength was also a weakness! A machine has not got the ability to change things around when things go wrong. That is why in part Qawi lost the Spinks and (the first) Holyfield fights, and why he is not further up my list.

[Sweet Pea]

:lol: There's no way you're getting away with a one-word input here! Get yer 1-8 on here pronto!

I don't waste time with lists anymore, personally. That is, unless I'm just bored and half-assing it (which is essentially what all lists are). Too many variables for ranking a fighter to make it practical. Ones like this aren't too bad actually, but top 50-100 ATG lists and the like are absurd when you really think about it.

But what the hell.

I think Conteh was the most skilled boxer from the list, with Spinks rating the highest overall due to his ability combined with his consistency and dominance. Galindez rounds out the top 3, all things considered. Saad was the only one of the 3 Muhammads who really led a consistent career, so I'd rate him above the other 2, with Lopez and Johnson rounding it out.

[Sweet Pea]

I wouldn't really count the first Holyfield fight as anything but a high point for Qawi. Certainly not a black mark.

[DINAMITA]

I don't waste time with lists anymore, personally. That is, unless I'm just bored and half-assing it (which is essentially what all lists are). Too many variables for ranking a fighter to make it practical. Ones like this aren't too bad actually, but top 50-100 ATG lists and the like are absurd when you really think about it.

But what the hell.

I think Conteh was the most skilled boxer from the list, with Spinks rating the highest overall due to his ability combined with his consistency and dominance. Galindez rounds out the top 3, all things considered. Saad was the only one of the 3 Muhammads who really led a consistent career, so I'd rate him above the other 2, with Lopez and Johnson rounding it out.

I have also packed it in with the lists. This guy is 36th, this guy is 52nd. Who the fuck knows or cares what the difference between them is.

Anyhow, cheers for your post. I am a bit surprised by the Conteh support on this thread. I thought he was underrated and little-known at his peak outside of the UK, but clearly not.

I think he is right up there with Buchanan as the best Brit in terms of ability in the modern era.

I really do like Qawi though. Temperamental and one-dimensional he may have been, damn good fighter on his night though.

[TBooze]

I wouldn't really count the first Holyfield fight as anything but a high point for Qawi. Certainly not a black mark.

Hindsight yes, but pre fight, a world class eight year veteran should not be losing to a twelve fight novice....

It was an excellent fight, the best the Cruisers have ever seen, but Qawi was a warm favourite pre fight, and even with hindsight could of/should of won.

[zadfrak]

The big thing with Qawi was that the guy was never the house fighter. He always seemed to be taking on the house fighter except for the Martin and Davis defenses and he didn't look terrific in those. Real real tough job to have winning streaks under those conditions and the Qawi management should've never ever taken that Holyfield fight in Evander's backyard.

[Longhhorn71]

Gotta give Marvin Johnson credit for coming back at an "older age" to win a version of the Lightheavy title.

I remember when he basically started all over on USA Fights in his comeback bid.

[My2Sense]

Please rank with regard to h2h/ability, not simply overall career greatness.

How would a league table look if all eight fought each other whilst all at their peaks?


1. Spinks
2. Qawi
3. Mustafa
4. Saad
5. Conteh
6. Johnson
7. Galindez
8. Lopez

The only ones I really feel confident about are Spinks and Qawi at 1 and 2, and Lopez at the bottom. The ones in between are tough to call, although we know that Saad and Mustafa already beat Johnson fighting at their peaks.

[TBooze]

Gotta give Marvin Johnson credit for coming back at an "older age" to win a version of the Lightheavy title.

I remember when he basically started all over on USA Fights in his comeback bid.

Kudos, I feel very dirty for not giving him proper credit. But not as dirty as Marvin!;)

[Mendoza]

1. Spinks
2. Qawi
3. Mustafa
4. Saad
5. Conteh
6. Johnson
7. Galindez
8. Lopez

The only ones I really feel confident about are Spinks and Qawi at 1 and 2, and Lopez at the bottom. The ones in between are tough to call, although we know that Saad and Mustafa already beat Johnson fighting at their peaks.


This is how close to how I see it as well. Spinks is #1 and Qawi is #2. Qwai coudl be viewed as #3, but I like him #2 here.

Mustafa, Conneth, and Sadd are 3, 4, and 5 . I'm cool with any arrangement on with these three in spots 3-5.

Johnson would be a the tail end of the list. Lopez would be last. I never saw much of Galindez.

The late 70's to early 80's was a great era of light heavyweight boxing. The divison is pure crap these days.

[Flea Man]

This is based ONLY on H2H effectiveness IMO

Spinks-The Best
Qawi-Fantastic pressure fighter, hard to budge on his day
Conteh-Best all-rounder, runs Foster and Spinks hard on his very best day IMO
Galindez-Tough as hell, although I think Mustafa lost rather than Galindez beat him.
Saad-A good version of Gatti if that makes sense, fantastic skills of recovery, powerful and fluid.
Mustafa-Seemed gun-shy from what I can see. Great skill, not much will to win from what I've seen.
Johnson-I don't know what to make of Johnson. Stopped Galindez and beat Parlov but Spinks made easy work of him. Can someone enlighten me to whether the Galindez win was flukey etc etc Saad beat him, although I han't seen that fight yet.
Lopez-I feel his limitations were laid out in the Saad fights. Would fight all the way whilst he was there, but I see most of the 'best' stopping him.

[Flea Man]

I have also packed it in with the lists. This guy is 36th, this guy is 52nd. Who the fuck knows or cares what the difference between them is.

Anyhow, cheers for your post. I am a bit surprised by the Conteh support on this thread. I thought he was underrated and little-known at his peak outside of the UK, but clearly not.

I think he is right up there with Buchanan as the best Brit in terms of ability in the modern era.

I really do like Qawi though. Temperamental and one-dimensional he may have been, damn good fighter on his night though.

:deal:good:good:good

[teeto]

I don't waste time with lists anymore, personally. That is, unless I'm just bored and half-assing it (which is essentially what all lists are). Too many variables for ranking a fighter to make it practical. Ones like this aren't too bad actually, but top 50-100 ATG lists and the like are absurd when you really think about it.

But what the hell.

I think Conteh was the most skilled boxer from the list, with Spinks rating the highest overall due to his ability combined with his consistency and dominance. Galindez rounds out the top 3, all things considered. Saad was the only one of the 3 Muhammads who really led a consistent career, so I'd rate him above the other 2, with Lopez and Johnson rounding it out.
I agree that Conteh is the most skilled as well, in the sense of being the most complete and possibly versatile. But Spinks is still the best and i think he would have beaten him.

[teeto]

This is based ONLY on H2H effectiveness IMO

Spinks-The Best
Qawi-Fantastic pressure fighter, hard to budge on his day
Conteh-Best all-rounder, runs Foster and Spinks hard on his very best day IMO
Galindez-Tough as hell, although I think Mustafa lost rather than Galindez beat him.
Saad-A good version of Gatti if that makes sense, fantastic skills of recovery, powerful and fluid.
Mustafa-Seemed gun-shy from what I can see. Great skill, not much will to win from what I've seen.
Johnson-I don't know what to make of Johnson. Stopped Galindez and beat Parlov but Spinks made easy work of him. Can someone enlighten me to whether the Galindez win was flukey etc etc Saad beat him, although I han't seen that fight yet.
Lopez-I feel his limitations were laid out in the Saad fights. Would fight all the way whilst he was there, but I see most of the 'best' stopping him.

Let me fix that for you-

Much better

[he grant]

You would have to put Spinks at the top as he beat a prime or near prime Johnson, Mustafa and Qwai ... at light heavy he had excellent physical advantages, skills and huge power ... I personally think the biggest challange to himn would have been a prime Saad who was an exrtremely tough, damgerous warrior ...

more to come ...

[Flea Man]

Let me fix that for you-

Much better

you know what I mean. Except Saad could actually box well, like Gatti he elected to get embroiled in wars and could come back.

There's an uppercut of his on youtube, just the punch. Wow.

[Sweet Pea]

Galindez was at the end of his road when Johnson got to him, and it was still a damn good fight prior to the KO.

I actually perfer Lopez to Johnson. Galindez at #7 can't even be justified unless you just don't know shit about him.