Jimmy Ellis Jerry Quarry Joe Bugner Bob Foster Oscar Bonavena George Chuvalo Two stylistically very different contenders from 90s vs some solid contenders from 60s&70s. Personally I'd make Mercer&Akinwande favorites over all of them. Disagree?
Foster was never really a contender at heavyweight, it's not really fair to include him with the exception of Chuvalo, I would make all of those guys favorites over Akinwande (who was absolute garbage) and the rest either favorites or even money with Mercer Akinwande was Ernie Terrell with a bigger punch and a quarter the skill
If Bonavena had a bit more speed, he would have been a very tough test for either man. As it happens I think he was just too slow. Chuvalo could absorb a lot and I would give him a good chance vs Akinwande. Ellis might beat Mercer but Akinwande is a bad fight for him, a short counter-puncher vs a powerful spoiler? Bob Foster gets beat by both of them. Quarry can beat Mercer but again, Akinwande seems the sort who could cut Jerry and then spoil and frustrate him. As for Bugner.....he had the talent to beat either Akinwande or Mercer but he had too many bad fights mixed in with the good. He'd lose to at least one of those guys, on pure inconsistency alone.
Akinwande had some pop in his right though and he was good at preventing the other guy from fighting inside. I just can't see Ellis or Quarry dealing with the size, while Bonavena was slow and not big enough puncher
Who did Akinwande beat exactly? he was an absolute BUM of the first order... a tall, skittish bum whose best tactic was clinching
Guys like Tucker, Norris, Schultz and Zolkin. Not much, but I think his style would be very difficult one to handle for much smaller guys
Its the style of Akinwande that would do for a lot of guys, 6'7" guy, with a big right hand and a stinky style. Nah, he'd be hell on guys like Quarry who would find themselves deprived of their preferred counter-punching opportunities. Bugner was an enigma. I could see him beat Akinwande because he can match him for size and was a negative kind of guy himself. Anybody who loses though to Jack Bodell is probably losing to Ray Mercer too.
but would Jack Bodell compete with joe Frazier? Ali? goes both ways... sure, Bugner STUNK sometimes but others, he was pretty handy, a good contender... I'd give him a fine chance of outboxing Mercer and he'd be the best fighter not named Lennox Lewis that Akinwande was ever within 10 miles of
nobody, I didn't say otherwise. But have you seen Akinwande anywhere else than against Lewis, where he choked? He was better than Terrell and I still say he is very difficult guy to beat for small opponents
