Mike Weaver (boxer)

Michael Dwayne Weaver (born June 13, 1951) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1972 to 2000, and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1980 to 1982. He is widely regarded as one of the Best Heavyweight Boxers of the 1980s beating Heavyweight Champions such as Gerrie Coetzee and John Tate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Marines

Weaver was a member of the United States Marine Corps from 1968 to 1971, and went to Vietnam. During this time he started amateur boxing and training.

Professional career

Early years

By 1972 Weaver was living and training in California, and took up professional boxing. In his early career, Weaver was considered a journeyman opponent. He was frequently brought in on short notice and overmatched against more experienced and developed contenders, and used as a sparring partner for Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton, who famously nicknamed him "Hercules" due to his top developed muscle definition.

In 1976 Weaver beat well regarded veteran Jody Ballard, and in 1978 lost two close decisions. First to contender Stan Ward for the California State Heavyweight title, and then to Leroy Jones for the NABF heavyweight title.

Heavyweight contender

In late 1978 Weaver got a new team and manager and reeled off five straight knockouts, two of which came over top ranked opponents. In October 1978 he came off the floor to knock out hard hitting Colombian Bernardo Mercado in 5, and in January 1979 knocked out hulking old foe Stan Ward in 9 to win the USBA heavyweight title.

WBC heavyweight title challenge against Larry Holmes

These wins helped get him a high-profile world title fight against undefeated WBC champion Larry Holmes in New York's Madison Square Garden in June 1979. New cable channel HBO bought the rights to the fight as Weaver was so lowly-regarded the fight was seen as a mismatch and the networks didn't want anything to do with it (Weaver was 19–8 to Holmes' 30–0).

But, in a brutal contest, Weaver proved far better than expected, however, and gave Holmes a really tough battle. Holmes would rally by decking Weaver with a sharp uppercut in the 11th and in the 12th, Holmes pounded Weaver with powerful rights until the referee stopped the fight.

USBA heavyweight title contest

Although Weaver had lost, his surprise showing had made him a deserved high-profile name. Later in the year he was back, retaining his USBA belt with a 12-round decision over Scott LeDoux whom he outboxed rather than slugged with. Using his jab a lot gaining complimentary reviews generally.

WBA heavyweight champion

In March 1980, Weaver fought John Tate for the WBA title, in Tate's backyard of Knoxville, Tennessee. Tate was an amateur star from the 1976 Olympic team. As a pro he had put together a 20–0 record and won the vacant WBA title by decisioning South African Gerrie Coetzee over fifteen rounds, in front of 86,000 hostile fans in Pretoria, South Africa.

Weaver vs. Tate produced one of the divisions finest knockouts ever. The taller Tate dominated Weaver for all the first 10 rounds. But then with sheer determination a battered Weaver suddenly turned it around, pushing Tate backward. But he'd left it too late, according to the commentators, as only 5 rounds remained and Tate was expected to resume his lead. However, with only 40 seconds left in the 15th round, Weaver caught Tate bouncing off the ropes towards him with a devastating left hook. It dropped Tate to the canvas out cold for well over a minute. Press pictures showed Tate sound asleep whilst Weaver did a handstand alongside to celebrate.

In October 1980 Weaver made his first defense, traveling to Sun City, South Africa, to fight Gerrie Coetzee. Weaver was hurt and nearly knocked down in the 8th round but rallied down the stretch and knocked Coetzee out in the 13th round. Coetzee, a good boxer/puncher, had never previously been down, amateur or pro.

In 1981 Weaver outpointed the spoiler James "Quick" Tillis over 15 rounds in Chicago to retain his title after a year's inactivity.

Losing the title to Michael Dokes; controversy

Template:Main article After another year's inactivity, Weaver took on highly regarded Michael Dokes in Las Vegas, December 10, 1982. Dokes came out fast and dropped Weaver inside the opening minute. As Weaver covered up on the ropes and Dokes missed a few swings, referee Joey Curtis stopped the fight after 1:03 had passed and awarded Dokes the victory by technical knockout. This caused controversy due to the timing of the stoppage, and many in the arena accused the fight of being fixed.

However, four weeks earlier, the fatal fight between Ray Mancini and Duk Koo Kim at Caesars' Palace had taken place where Kim died as a result of a brain injury. On the morning of the fight, Nevada State Athletic Commission officials warned all officials participating in the card to protect the health of the boxers in order to avoid another potential fight-related fatality, which Curtis responded, "Everybody has Duk Koo Kim in the back of his mind," referring to the November 13 fight, as Dr. Lonnie Hammargren, a doctor who had performed brain surgery in a futile attempt to save Kim, attended the meeting.<ref name="NYT">Template:Cite news</ref> (ESPN later ranked this the #7 worst bad call by a referee in a fight, doing so in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>)

Weaver was given a rematch with Dokes on May 20, 1983, which ended in a 15-round majority draw; judge Jerry Roth gave Dokes a four-point victory while judges Harold Lederman and Larry Hazzard had it even.

Further title challenges and later career

In June 1985 Weaver took on Pinklon Thomas, who then held the WBC title. Weaver lost by eighth-round knockout. This would be Weaver's last title challenge although a notable 2nd-round KO of Carl "The Truth" Williams a skilled boxer would follow the defeat to Thomas. Weaver continued to fight for another 15 years. His career ended at the age of 49 with a sixth-round KO rematch loss to Larry Holmes.

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
60	Template:No2Loss	Template:Nowrap	Larry Holmes	TKO	6 (10), Template:Small	Nov 17, 2000	Template:Small
59	Template:No2Loss	41–17–1	Melvin Foster	TKO	9 (10)	Aug 8, 1998	Template:Small
58	Template:Yes2Win	41–16–1	Derrick Ryals	UD	10	Mar 27, 1996	Template:Small
57	Template:Yes2Win	40–16–1	George O'Mara	UD	12	Jun 21, 1995	Template:Small	Template:Small
56	Template:Yes2Win	39–16–1	Bill Corrigan	RTD	2 (12), Template:Small	Sep 17, 1994	Template:Small	Template:Small
55	Template:Yes2Win	38–16–1	Ladislao Mijangos	KO	2 (12), Template:Small	Jun 6, 1994	Template:Small	Template:Small
54	Template:Yes2Win	37–16–1	Bert Cooper	UD	10	Feb 27, 1993	Template:Small	Template:Small
53	Template:Yes2Win	36–16–1	Mike Gans	KO	5 (10)	Nov 17, 1992	Template:Small
52	Template:No2Loss	35–16–1	Lennox Lewis	KO	6 (10), Template:Small	Jul 12, 1991	Template:Small
51	Template:Yes2Win	35–15–1	Dion Burgess	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	Jul 18, 1990	Template:Small
50	Template:No2Loss	34–15–1	James Smith	UD	12	Apr 4, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
49	Template:Yes2Win	34–14–1	Philipp Brown	SD	12	Jul 27, 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small
48	Template:Yes2Win	33–14–1	Lionel Washington	TKO	1 (12), Template:Small	May 1, 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	32–14–1	Bobby Crabtree	KO	3 (10), Template:Small	Jan 31, 1989	Template:Small
46	Template:No2Loss	31–14–1	Johnny DuPlooy	KO	2 (10)	Apr 30, 1988	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	31–13–1	Johnny DuPlooy	Template:Abbr	6 (10)	Nov 28, 1987	Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	30–13–1	James Pritchard	TKO	6 (10), Template:Small	Aug 24, 1987	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	29–13–1	David Jaco	KO	2 (10)	Jul 29, 1987	Template:Small
42	Template:No2Loss	28–13–1	Donovan Ruddock	Template:Abbr	10	Aug 23, 1986	Template:Small
41	Template:No2Loss	28–12–1	James Smith	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	Apr 5, 1986	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	28–11–1	Carl Williams	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	Feb 16, 1986	Template:Small
39	Template:No2Loss	27–11–1	Pinklon Thomas	KO	8 (12), Template:Small	Jun 15, 1985	Template:Small	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	27–10–1	Tony Anthony	Template:Abbr	1 (10), Template:Small	Nov 9, 1984	Template:Small	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	26–10–1	Billy Joe Thomas	TKO	7 (10), Template:Small	Aug 31, 1984	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	25–10–1	Stan Ward	TKO	9 (15)	Sep 30, 1983	Template:Small
35	Template:DrawDraw	24–10–1	Michael Dokes	Template:Abbr	15	May 20, 1983	Template:Small	Template:Small
34	Template:No2Loss	24–10	Michael Dokes	TKO	1 (15), Template:Small	Dec 10, 1982	Template:Small	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	24–9	James Tillis	UD	15	Oct 3, 1981	Template:Small	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	23–9	Gerrie Coetzee	TKO	13 (15), Template:Small	Oct 25, 1980	Template:Small	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	22–9	John Tate	KO	15 (15), Template:Small	Mar 31, 1980	Template:Small	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	21–9	Scott LeDoux	UD	12	Nov 24, 1979	Template:Small	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	20–9	Harry Terrell	KO	4 (10), Template:Small	Sep 22, 1979	Template:Small
28	Template:No2Loss	19–9	Larry Holmes	TKO	12 (15), Template:Small	Jun 22, 1979	Template:Small	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	19–8	Oliver Philipps	KO	4 (10), Template:Small	Mar 2, 1979	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	18–8	Stan Ward	RTD	9 (12), Template:Small	Jan 18, 1979	Template:Small	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	17–8	Abdul Khan	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Dec 5, 1978	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	16–8	Bernardo Mercado	TKO	5 (10)	Oct 22, 1978	Template:Small	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	15–8	Mike Creel	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Sep 17, 1978	Template:Small
22	Template:No2Loss	14–8	Leroy Jones	UD	12	Aug 19, 1978	Template:Small	Template:Small
21	Template:No2Loss	14–7	Stan Ward	UD	12	Jan 24, 1978	Template:Small	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	14–6	Pedro Lovell	UD	10	Nov 15, 1977	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	13–6	Dave Martinez	KO	1 (10)	Sep 13, 1977	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	12–6	Bill Sharkey	MD	10	Apr 1, 1977	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	11–6	Dwain Bonds	KO	8 (10), Template:Small	Jan 19, 1977	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	10–6	Fonomanu Young Sekona	KO	6 (10)	Nov 4, 1976	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	9–6	Jody Ballard	Template:Abbr	10	Jul 14, 1976	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	8–6	Tony Doyle	TKO	9 (10), Template:Small	Jun 27, 1975	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	7–6	Mani Vaka	PTS	10	Aug 24, 1974	Template:Small
12	Template:No2Loss	6–6	Duane Bobick	TKO	7 (10)	Jul 26, 1974	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	6–5	Orville Qualls	KO	2 (8), Template:Small	May 31, 1974	Template:Small
10	Template:No2Loss	5–5	Rodney Bobick	Template:Abbr	10	Mar 22, 1974	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	5–4	Ellis McKinley	PTS	6	Feb 21, 1974	Template:Small
8	Template:No2Loss	4–4	Larry Frazier	KO	2 (6), Template:Small	Dec 11, 1973	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	4–3	Bob Swoopes	KO	1 (6)	Nov 9, 1973	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	3–3	Tony Pulu	KO	2 (6)	Oct 11, 1973	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	2–3	Lyn Martin	KO	1 (6), Template:Small	Sep 10, 1973	Template:Small
4	Template:No2Loss	1–3	Billy Ryan	Template:Abbr	2 (4), Template:Small	Feb 28, 1973	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	1–2	Carlos Lopez	PTS	5	Feb 2, 1973	Template:Small
2	Template:No2Loss	0–2	Howard Smith	Template:Abbr	5	Oct 31, 1972	Template:Small
1	Template:No2Loss	0–1	Howard Smith	Template:Abbr	3 (4)	Sep 14, 1972	Template:Small

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

• WBA heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)

Minor world titles

• NBA heavyweight champion (200+ lbs) (2×)
• International Boxing Authority heavyweight championTemplate:Efn (200+ lbs)

Regional/International titles

• WBA Americas heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)
• USBA heavyweight championTemplate:Efn (200+ lbs)
• Nevada heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)

External links

• Template:Boxrec