Tillis and Cobb probably could have been champs if 1)Tillis had fought better in his fight against Weaver and 2) Cobb had fought Weaver instead of Larry Holmes.
Through HW boxing history there have been figures who were better then journeyman but never seemed to reach the upper echelon. They still had the ability to seperate the contenders from the pretenders and served as effective gatekeepers to the top 10 or top 5. A few got title shots but were never successful. Here are a few:
1900s and teens- Sandy Ferguson, Fireman Jim Flynn
1920-50s- Charley Weinert, Paulino Uzcudun, Lee Savold,
1960s and 70s- George Chuvalo, Roy 'Tiger' Williams, Scott LeDoux
1980s- Tex Cobb, James Tillis, Jesse Ferguson
1990s- Ray Mercer, David Izon, Bert Cooper
2000s- Monte Barret, Fres Oquendo
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