Since 1982 the great state of Ohio has crowned no less then three men as the heavyweight champion of the world. That’s not bad if you consider there are forty-nine other states plus the territory Puerto Rico who has delivered to us John Ruiz to contend with. Add Earnie Shavers who never was but was very close to being champ and well, it’s impressive!
Michael “Dynamite” Dokes captured the W.B.A heavyweight title on December 10, 1982 by halting Mike Weaver in the first round. This was a VERY controversial stoppage and it demanded a rematch. The two met again and this fight was called a draw. SAY WHAT??? Weaver pounded the body of Dokes throughout the fifteen round matches. The dubious draw enabled Dokes to retain his crown. On September 23, 1983 Gerrie
Coetzee of South Africa met Dokes at the now leveled Richfield Coliseum. In a major upset, Coetzzee bombed out Dokes.Coetzee would, in turn lose his title by knockout to the vastly underrated Greg Page.
In April of 1985 Tony Tubbs of Cincinatti outscored Page to win the W.B.A crown. Tubbs lost his title in January of 1986 to “Terrible” Tim Witherspoon. Tubbs would later meet Mike Tyson in Japan for the heavyweight title. He was stopped in two rounds. Tyson would return to Japan, later. By the time Mike Tyson returned to Japan in February of 1990 he had dominated the heavyweight division. He had defeated Trevor Berbick, “Bonecrusher” Smith, Tony Tucker and Michael Spinks to gain universal recognition as the “baddest man on the planet”. Now it’s 1990 in Tokyo, Japan. Tyson is very popular here and his opponent, James “Buster” Douglas has been brought to Tokyo to be just that. An opponent… “Buster” had failed in a 1987 attempt for the vacant I.B.F. title. Tony Tucker stopped him in the tenth round. VERY few gave Douglas a “snowball’s chance in hell ” to beat Tyson. That night of February 11, 1990 may have created the greatest upset of all time. Everything came together for Buster that night. He “owned” Mike Tyson. He spanked Mike Tyson. He dominated Mike Tyson. He won the heavyweight championship of the world. He was a long shot dream and a bookie’s nightmare all rolled up into one.
That ended up being Buster’s only career highlight clip. In his first defense he was clocked in three by Evander Holyfield. Buster would retire and then a few years later, return. He ran up a modest win streak but was then overwhelmed and destroyed in one round by the capable Lou Savarese.
Meanwhile Holyfield would lose the title to Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe. Guess whom Riddick picks for a soft touch defense? MichaelDokes. After Dokes lost his title to Coetzee his career went into a tailspin. To his credit he cleaned himself up and he made a very strong comeback. It led to a match with the upstart Holyfield who was just entering the heavyweight ranks after he had been a dominating champion at cruiserweight. Evander had defeated James “Quick” Tillis and former champion Pinklon Thomas on his initial foray into land of the giants. It was Dokes that was going to test the “Real Deal”. It was some fight! Even in a losing effort this may have been the defining moment of Dokes’ career. This was a war!!! It may very well have been among the best heavyweight fights of that year. Dokes would return soon after the loss to Holyfield and meet the streaking Donovan “Razor” Ruddock. The proud owner of one of the most feared punches of the day, the painful “smash”. It was a half uppercut, half hook with his left hand. In the fourth round they were picking Dokes off the canvas.
For all intents and purposes his tenure as a legitimate contender were over. But were they? Bowe pulled Dokes off the scrap heap years later and gave him a decent payday to be publicly humiliated. If someone offered you big bucks and a shot at the most famous title in sports, would you turn it down? Tony Tubbs is still plugging away. Please don’t sell Tony short. No he’ll never rival Ken Norton or Mike Weaver in the body beautiful department but he was strong, with very quick hands for a big man. He was smart too. He had a very solid amateur background. A lot of people forget the Tubbs gave Riddick Bowe his toughest fight on his way to title glory.
People also forget the outstanding amateur career forged by Michael Dokes. What Dokes, Tubbs and Douglas have in common other then being from Ohio is that all three never put training above all else. Could you imagine the heights they would have soared if only they would have gone that extra mile on the road? How about couple more rounds on the heavy bag or the speed bag? These men reached the top of the ladder but were unable to hang on to the top rung. They had it all and then they had nothing. I’m sure Buster is doing OK. He hit the cash cow when he met Holyfield. If Tubbs didn’t need the money then why is he still fighting? As for Michael Dokes…Life has not been very kind to Dokes. One thing that cannot be taken away from Dokes, Tubbs and Douglas, their names will forever be recorded in the record books as “heavyweight champion”. Now how many of us can say that?