Ray Mercer appreciation thread!!!

[EpsilonAxis]

Here's to Ray Mercer...an overlooked boxing specimen due to his later losses and loss of his amazing punch resistance...

In his prime, Mercer was an immovable man...moreso than guys like David Tua...he had a chin comparable with McCall and Chuvalo in his day...

On top of that, he was a brutal puncher with a fantastic jab...almost a poor man's Sonny Liston, really.

Here's to MERCILESS Ray Mercer!!

[Illmatic]

fuck ray mercer. Hes a detriment to the sport and shouldve retired 10 years ago. Quit being an embarassment and leave the sport for good ray.

[joe the great]

I like Ray but who can forget his low points. His bribing Jesse Ferguson to take a dive and his loss to Kimbo.
Of course he did have high points. Koing Damiani and Morrison. His near wins over Holyfield and Lewis. And his extremely exciting fight with Bert Cooper.
I also loved his fight with Holmes who can forget Holmes looking at the camera and saying "I'm not Tommy Morrison; I'm not Tommy Morrison"? Then peppering Mercer with combinations.

[huki]

He was a pretty good fighter who usually fought to the level of his opponents and he had a few very good fights. Now he's getting choked out by an internet joke on MMA PPV's. :-(

[thesandman]

I like Ray but who can forget his low points. His bribing Jesse Ferguson to take a dive and his loss to Kimbo.
Of course he did have high points. Koing Damiani and Morrison. His near wins over Holyfield and Lewis. And his extremely exciting fight with Bert Cooper.
I also loved his fight with Holmes who can forget Holmes looking at the camera and saying "I'm not Tommy Morrison; I'm not Tommy Morrison"? Then peppering Mercer with combinations.

Mercer was a strange unit to be honest. I'm not sure if he was a very good fighter who underperformed in general, or an above average fighter capable of the odd top class performance.

[joe the great]

Mercer was a strange unit to be honest. I'm not sure if he was a very good fighter who underperformed in general, or an above average fighter capable of the odd top class performance.
He underperformed against Ferguson. If he'd won that fight he would've fought Bowe. Of course the same was true for Holmes. I think Holmes just had his number. I think Mercer came at least physically prepared for Holmes although mentally he probably underestimated him.

[brooklyn1550]

Respect to Ray Mercer - one of my favorite heavyweights of all time

He had a great jab, great power, and a great chin. He should hang the gloves up for good. The man has nothing to be ashamed of in his boxing career. The loss to Kimbo in MMA - well, that's another story.

[Zakman]

In his prime, Ray Mercer had a top level HW chin - along with Holyfield, perhaps the best of the 90s.

[Punisher33]

Great fighter in the 90s, gave ATG's like Lewis' and Holyfield tough close fights. I just hate the fact that joke Kimbo beat him, that really pissed me off.

[AG11]

Great 90's fighter. 90's. It's almost 2008, before you know it, it will be 2010. He needs to retire ASAP.

[Bodysnatcher]

Should have done better with his talents.

Fight against Morrison was great, entertainment wise...took everything Morrison had (including that hammering left hook...hey, it floored Ruddock) and then absolutely let rip and almost killed poor Tommy.

Great brawl with Lennox, too.

Lewis actually rates his win over Mercer in his top five favourite victories - he brawled with one of the best brawlers of the 90s, proving a few people wrong in the process. Again.

[Cruiser1]

Mercer was a strange unit to be honest. I'm not sure if he was a very good fighter who underperformed in general, or an above average fighter capable of the odd top class performance.

I'm leaning towards the former. Mercer was an olympic gold medalist so he definitely had the skillset. He just really underperformed at times and these "performances" always seemed to yield the opponent title shots that should have belonged to him. First with Holmes who went on to fight Holyfield and then Ferguson who got the shot at Bowe.