Disappointing 80's Heavyweights-Michael Dokes

After the golden age of heavyweights in the 1970's,it would have been easy to think that the excess of talented big men would continue into the new decade and the division would continue to flourish.
That didn't happen as a parade of heavyweights would disappoint fans and contribute to a division that would be dominated by two men at the top of the heap-Larry Holmes in the early part of the decade and Mike Tyson near the end...

The two that were thought of as the most talented of the bunch had lots of parallels in championship,yet disappointing careers.
Both held the WBA belt ( the lesser of the two at the time due to Larry Holmes holding the WBC title),both had fast hands,both would lose to lesser fighters,both had a propensity for entering bouts out of shape and both would pass away early in life.

Michael Dokes might have been the most talented of the group and had the best pedigree from the amateurs as he was the 1976 Olympic alternate in the heavyweight division.
Dokes was quite talented as his hands were the fastest of the bunch and he was an underrated puncher as well.
Dokes was a noted lover of the nightlife and didn't always come into fights in shape,which most notably backfired on him in a draw to undersized Ossie Ocasio in 1980.
A rarely motivated Dokes smoked Ocasio in one round in a rematch two months later,but Dokes then continued to battle fringe contenders for the next two years with the exception of a majority decision win over Randall "Tex" Cobb as Dokes waited for the title shot that he was promised.
Dokes had his choice of title shots and chose the path of least resistance in WBA champ Mike Weaver rather than the true champ in WBC beltholder Larry Holmes.
Dokes stunned Weaver and the TV audience with a stoppage after 63 seconds that was most noted for a Dokes flurry and a WAY too premature ending with an unneeded ending by the referee.
The public outcry was such that a rematch was ordered on a closed circuit broadcast that was touted as Night of the Heavyweights and was headlined by Larry Holmes-Tim Witherspoon.
Had things bounced and both won impressively,there could have been a unification bout next.
That wouldn't happen as Holmes struggled to a controversial split decision.
Meanwhile,amid the uproar of the Holmes win saw Dokes fight in the second best action fight of his career in getting a draw against Weaver,that most had Weaver ahead in a close bout.
Dokes didn't get the wakeup call as he was knocked out in a bout near his native Akron by Gerrie Coetzee in the tenth round and would then fight no bouts against top contenders for the next six years.

Dokes is best remembered by the casual fan for his 1989 fight against Evander Holyfield,which is most noted for the action and secondly for being the first bout that is well remembered as a Showtime broadcast.
The bout reestablished Dokes as a name after his 10 round TKO loss to Holyfield and he was able to parlay that into bouts for the next four years against young contenders and guys on the edge of contention.
The most memorable of these was his fourth round KO loss of the hands of Razor Ruddock,which established Ruddock as a contender after nearly beheading a defenseless Dokes in the corner.
Dokes then ripped off a nine bout winning streak over non-entities and two fringe contenders in Jose Ribalta and Jesse Ferguson in getting the nod for a title shot against Riddick Bowe.
Bowe dispatched Dokes in one round and essentially ended Dokes career against world class opposition.
Dokes would fight on for another few years against little known opposition before retiring in 1997.
The ending for Dokes would not be a pleasant one as he spent nine years in prison for attacking his fiance' and he would pass away a few years later from liver cancer.

I started this feature intending to cover several fighters in one post,cut it to two and decided as I wrote that this was so much fun that I think I am going to make this a recurring series!
Thanks to my nephew Jeff for giving me the idea for the post that became a series.
Look for a second installment soon!