THE SURVIVORS
“MYSELF, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Mathew Saad Muhammad, Jerry ‘The Bull’ Martin – he was beating guys up – Marvin Johnson and Victor Galindez,” said Michael Spinks, when asked for the top five light-heavyweights of his era.
That he listed six fighters speaks volumes about the depth of that hugely significant 175lbs crop that ran from the 1970s and into the 1980s.
That he left out Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Yaqui Lopez, Mike Rossman, John Conteh, Mate Parlov, Richie Kates, Vonzell Johnson, Jerry Celestine, Jesse Burnett, James Scott and Lottie Mwale tells you a little more about the volume of talent.
You could contend that Parlov and Conteh, who faced each other back in 1978 a couple of years after Spinks won gold alongside his brother in the 1976 Olympics were discounted from Spinks’ evaluation based on being around long before Spinks, who faced and defeated a series of headliners between 1980 and 1984.
It was arguably the best of times the division has seen and all the top guys were capable of beating one another. Yaqui Lopez beat Mike Rossman who beat Victor Galindez but Lopez would never win a world title. Eddie Mustafa beat Marvin Johnson
