The Michael Dokes vs. Mike Weaver or, alternately, Mike Weaver vs. Michael Dokes, boxing fights were a pair of fights that occurred in 1982 and 1983 and were for the World Boxing Association's world Heavyweight title. Both fights were considered controversial due to a separate set of situations. They are both among the most widely spoken about heavyweight boxing contests of the 1980s. In their first encounter, won by Dokes by a first round technical knockout, controversy ensued because many thought the fight was stopped too soon. The World Boxing Association, which sanctioned the bout, ordered a rematch. The controversy after the rematch, which was scored as a 15-rounds draw (tie) stemmed from the rematch's scoring, as many felt that either of the two boxers could have been given the win instead. The two contests were promoted by American boxing promoter Don King. Contestants Mike Weaver Mike Weaver was born June 13, 1951 in Gainesville, Texas. He moved early in his life with his family to Compton, California before setting in Pomona. In 1968, Weaver joined the United States Marine Corps and he went on to serve in the Vietnam War. Weaver became an amateur boxer while with the Marines; out of 26 amateur fights, he won 23 and became all-Marines and all-Services champion, while also competing at AAU and Golden Gloves tournaments. As a professional boxer, Weaver was considered a journeyman at first; he only won six of his first twelve fights, losing the other six. But, during a sparring session with another fellow U.S. Marine, Ken Norton, he got encouragement from Norton to keep on boxing and to train better for his fights. This turned out to be a turning point in Weaver's career. He later gained experience by sparring other boxing greats, such as George Foreman, Ron Lyle and Muhammad Ali. Despite a less-than-stellar professional boxing record, Weaver was a hard puncher. He started racking up wins, including a fifth-round knockout over Bernardo Mercado and a ninth-round knockout over Stan Ward, the latter avenging an earlier defeat to the same boxer. On June 22, 1979, Weaver fought World Boxing Council world Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes for Holmes' title at the Madison Square Garden in New York, New York in an HBO Boxing-televised event. This contest was witnessed by 14,136 fans, most of which were estimated to have been attending to see the Roberto Duran versus Carlos Palomino