Heavyweights?

Question

Rank your top ten heavies of all time post 1920. If you would like to take the time to explain your rankings please feel free to do so.

My list:

1) Muhammad Ali - In my mind no explanataion needed. Simply the fastest heavyweight of all time, with an iron chin and heart to boot. If fighters could compete like major league baseball teams and fight the all time greats in a "162 game season" he wouldn't finish undefeated but he'd fininsh on top.

2) Joe Louis - Bum of the month club or not 25 consecutive title defenses may never be matched again.

3) Rocky Marciano - Regardless of people questioning his competition, quite an achievement to finish your career undefeated.

4) Larry Holmes - vastly underrated.

5) George Foreman - To lose and then win the title 20 years apart is remarkable. May sound strange but could legitimately be placed #2 on this list.

6) Evander Holyfield - Great heart, ducked no fighter, and the only man to win the title 4 times.

Answer 1

I like your list Brent. Although I think Foreman and Holmes would both be rough matchups for Marciano. I think Jack Johnson belongs up there. I think Frazier beats Holyfield. But all of those guys belong there.

I disagree with Tyson. As I've said before here, he's never beatin a great fighter in their prime. He lost at 24 (his prime) to a journeyman(Douglas). And he never came back and avenged a loss.

In what should have been classic showdown fights with Holyfield and Lewis, he got whupped.

Not training properly for fights(Douglas) or outside distractions aren't an excuse. A lot went on during Ali's and Louis's career's and like great champions, they overcame the obstacles!

3 times!

Answer 2

1.Muhammad Ali- The greatest of all time

2. Apollo Creed- Fast second to Ali, record 46-0 before lost to rocky

3.Rocky Marciano-

4.Joe Louis

5. Rocky Balboa-  His will is unmatchable

6.Lennox Lewis

7.Joe Frazier

8.George Foreman

9.Mason "The Line" Dixon

10.Jack Johnson- he's not in your list ?

Answer 3

I agree with Ali and Louis being 1 & 2 due as much to their historical impact outside the ring as their great skill as boxers.  I put Jack Johnson at 3 for the same reason and feel social impact that betters the human condition is the crowing achievement of anyone's life, and in this area these three clearly surpassed the rest of boxing's heavyweight champions.  I rank Marciano 4 based on the undefeated record and his unshakable will to win.  I agree with you on Big George coming in at 5th and he arguably could be ranked above Marciano, but I don't feel George had the social and historical impact of my top three.  I usually put Larry Holmes at 6th, and again I agree, he was vastly under rated.  I rank Evander Holyfield at 7th, slightly ahead of both Dempsey (8th) and Joe Frazier (9th) the two best pressure fighters in heavyweight history.  I close out my top ten list with Ezzard Charles because he was to the light heavy division what Holyfield was to the cruiser weights, simply the best of that weight class.  I give Gene Tunney and Lennox Lewis honorable mentions, they just missed my top ten.  I am also surprised nobody mentioned Sonny Liston, another heavy hitter with intimidation as defining characteristic, and I will spare you my opinion on Tyson, I don't hold Mike in the esteem some do.

My List reads like this:

1. Muhammad Ali

2. Joe Louis

3. Jack Johnson

4. Rocky Marciano

5. George Forman

6. Larry Holmes

7. Evander Holyfield

8. Jack Dempsey

9. Joe Frazier

10. Ezzard Charles

Answer 4

Most you have up there except I added Jack Johnson because his reign was even more impressive because they threw every one at him trying to get rid of him. Max Schmelling when he was supposed to be past his prime upset Joe Louis, beat Young Stribling, was robbed against Jack Sharkey or would have had 2 wins over him. Can't help think he would have been greater if olitics weren't as they were. LEnnox Lewis is also one of the few heavyweight champions to beat every opponent he faced.

1. Joe Louis

2. Rocky Marciano

3. Jack Johnson (1894-1938)

4. Muhammed Ali

5. Jack Dempsey

6. Larry Holmes

7. George Foreman

8. Evander Holyfield

9. Max Shmelling

10. Lennox Lewis

Answer 5

I'm sorry but there is no way I could put Larry Holmes in front of George Foreman and no way I could put Evander Holyfield in front of Joe Frazier,  it's close though but I would flip flop them.

Answer 6

#1: muhammad ali

#2: joe louis

#3: rocky marciano

#3: jack dempsey (a tie with dempsey, almost similar  in style,size & power. won title in 1919 but reigned 'till '26, which is why he makes the list.....unless i misinterpreted the rules)

#5: gene tunney (excellent boxer, could've held title in almost any era)

#6: george foreman

#7: larry holmes

#8: joe frazier

#9: sonny liston (once kayo'd an opponent with a jab!)

#10: evander holyfield

Answer 7

Ali

Marciano

Louis

Foreman

Ibragimov

Peter

Holyfield

Holmes is a good pick

That is all I can think of

Answer 8

Well, Jack Johnson was the greatest of all time period, guys like Ali talk about him as their inspiration, plus nobody wanted him to be champ he wasn't expected to beat the champ and when he did everybody wanted him out and he just kept knocking everybody out because the judges were bribed to vote against him.

Post 1920 though:

1. Joe Louis-  How many title defense did he have? Simply the best, only one man beat him in his prime.

2. Rocky Marciano- 49-0, with 43 KOs

3. Larry Holmes- Beat tons of great fighters, the best of his era, gave many fighters their first loss, and started his career 48-0, what else can you say??

4. Mike Tyson- Say what you will, say he's washed up whatever you want, the man was a beast the likes no one had ever seen, started out 37-0 with 33 KOs the other 4 wins being by Unanimous Decision. On his career he still stands with 50 Wins coming by 44 KOs.

5. Jack Dempsey- The killer himself, the Mike Tyson of his generation, guy beat out a lot of great fighters, and I mean he knocked them out cold.

6. Muhammad Ali- Low ranking? Don't think so, at times he has been overrated his strategy in some of his biggest fights was to hang on the ropes, dance around and wait for his opponent to get tired. He did beat some of the best so you can't deny him a Top 10 spot.

7. Max Schmeling- Underrated as h**l the first guy to beat the great Joe Louis, he also beat  Adolf Heuser, Harry Thomas, Walter Neusel, Steve Hamas and Hein Domgorgen to name a few and had 40 KOs out of his 56 Wins.

8. George Foreman-  Oldest champ ever, but aside from that he also managed to win 76 fights with 68 KOs and only 5 losses.

9. Evander Holyfield- The man won the WBA belt four different times, beat Mike Tyson twice, knocked him out once actually. Just an overall great, great fighter.

10. Floyd Patterson- Got to give the man his due, held the title twice, total of more than 5 years, 55 wins with 40 KOs against a slew of good fighters.

Answer 9

1) Muhammad Ali

2) Sugar Ray Robinson

3) Joe Louis

4) Rocky

5) Joe Fraizer

6) Mike Tyson

7) Goerge Foreman

8)Evander

Answer 10

I think your list was pretty accurate

1)Muhammed Ali- he beat foreman,frazier,norton,liston and many more all in their primes,need i say more lol

2)Joe Luis- One of the greatest heavyweights of all time, he was everything that a heavyweight boxer should be, classy,smart,strong,intelligent and brave.

3)Jack Johnson- think about the time frame in which he was champion, think about the many odds he must have faced simply because of the color of his skin a lot of boxers in his era did not even want to be heavy weight champions because they feared retribution from the whites but johnson stood against all that and faced some really tough competition...keep in mind that he was not that big physically and had to rely more on skills than power.

4)Larry Holmes- A very complete boxer in his prime, anyone that wants to learn how to box right would watch his fights first

5)George Foreman- His knock out power was not of this world and winning the heavyweight championship at the age of forty is simply......not of this world either lol

6)Lennox Lewis- Another underrated great, he actually had a lot of knock out power although he relied more on his technical skills than his power he was probably one of the smartest heavyweights ever and the perfect combinattion of technical vision and power

7)Evander Holyfield- I never liked him very much, but i have to give it to him, he had a lot of heart, he had good skills and power and in his prime he was matched only be lennox.

8)Rocly Marciano- although he did not have a level of competition as tough as Ali's i have to admit that he was a remarkable fighter, he had monstrous power in both hands and a chin of steel he could hang in there with the best of them

9) jack Dempsey- He is my personal choise for the best white heavy weight (even moreso than rocky) he was tough, strong,brave and actually very smart in the ring just look at what he did to some of his opponents in his prime he terrorized the heavy weight division in a way that was only matched by tyson decades later.

10)  Mike Tyson- hate him or love him in his prime Mike was a beast, vicious,powerful fast and relentless,he made good boxers look like amateurs and dominated the heavyweight division with an iron fist, after he lost d'amato and fired rooney he essentially lost his foundation and crumbled because he did not have Ali's heart or Louis's unility but even Ali said that he would have a hard time beating tyson in his prime (and the douglas loss was bust he did not train for that fight,it was very evident) in his prime Tyson could give anybody problems (although i still think Ali would have beaten him) and he came at a time when interest in boxing was going down and he single handedly brought that interest back, the man deserves credit for that.

Answer 11

Your list is good but I would put Jack Dempsey above Joe Frazier and replace Ezzard Charles with Jack Johnson.

Answer 12

Good question sir and my opinion has changed just a little though not much on this.  Had it been an all time list, I would include Jack Johnson, and James Jeffries on here.  Here are my top ten and my reasons.

1.  (tie)  Joe Louis/Rocky Marciano.  Joe Louis was the champ for nearly 12 years and had a record 25 successful title defenses beating former champs Max Schmeling, James Braddock, Primo Carnera, Max Baer, Jack Sharkey, and Jersey Joe Walcott in his career.  Joe could box and had maybe the most effective jab in boxing history and tremendous punching power in both hands.  When Joe initially retired in 48, he had a record of 60-1-0 (51) finishing with a final record of 68-3-0 (54).  Rocky Marciano, despite his size, reach, etc, won every fight (49) anyway.  Perfect record of 49-0-0 (43)  Known for his tremendous endurance, stamina, heart, and great power in either hand.  Also very tough suffering only two flash knockdowns in his career and never hurt seriously.  Fought such fighters as Jersey Joe Walcott (2) Ezzard Charles (2) and Archie Moore (#1 ranked heavyweight contender at the time)  Amazing training regimen he intentionally fought at about 190 lbs and could have easily fought at 200 lbs much like Frazier which many fail to realize.  The man was a pit bull in the ring and the man who refused to lose.

3.  Muhammad Ali  The fastest heavyweight champ in history with amazing reflexes particularly eary in his career and the best footwork ever seen by a heavyweight in a boxing ring.  Very brash and arrogant, often predicting what round he would knock out an opponent.  Many regard him as the best and with good reason especially when you consider the quality of the fighters he fought such as Liston (2) Norton (20 Frazier (3) Foreman, Bonavena, Ellis, Chuvalo (2) Patterson (2) and Shavers among others.  Finished with a record of 56-5-0 (37) with 3 of those losses coming after he should have retired.  He was champ 3 times and defended his title a total of 19 times.  

4.  Larry Holmes finshed with a record of 69-6-0 (44) but was once one win away from tying Marciano's record when he lost his title to Michael Spinks.  Larry retained his title 20 times which is second to only Joe Louis and shares the record with Tommy Burns with 8 consecutive knockouts in title bouts.  Beat such people as Cooney, Ali, Berbick, Witherspoon, and Shavers during his great career.  Had arguably one of the gbest jabs in boxing history and have great ring savvy.  He makes a strong case as oneof the most underrated fighters in boxing history.

5.  George Foreman.  Big George won the title twice beating Joe Frazier at the age of 24 and again in 1994 at the age of 45 years old beating Michael Moorer which has to be one of the greatest boxing feats of all time.  Very strong and hard punching, George was a very intimidating fighter especially earlier in his career with a hard jab that set up his power punches.  Career record of 76-5-0 (68)  Was surly early in his career but became known as a good guy with a good sense of humor and very charming.  He beat such fighters as Frazier (2) Norton, Cooney, and Moorer in his amazing career.

6.  Gene Tunney.  A truly great fighter that of course is well known for beating the great Dempsey twice in his career.  Tunney was a very intelligent and well read man which was rare in his day among fighters.  He was the first champ to retire and stay retired as the title holder.  He was a very stylish boxer/fighter with great boxing skills and footwork in the ring.  He finished with a career record of 61-1-1 (45).  Despite his great record, many regard him as very underrated in boxing circles.  He beat such men as Greb 4 times, Dempsey (2) and Carpentier.  He was a true thinking fighter always boxing and moving looking to disect an opponents weaknesses and looking to counter.

7.  Jack Dempsey easily was one of the most famous fighters in boxing history known as "The Manassa Mauler" and "Jack the Giant Killer" was a brawler with quick hands and dynamite in both fists behind his bob and weave style of fighting.  Well known for the beating he put on big Jess Willard who outweighed Jack by almost 60 lbs and for climbing back in the ring after being knocked throught the ropes by Luis Firpo.  He along with Babe Ruth was one of the big stars of the Roaring 20's.  One knock against Jack was his failure to defend against black challenger Harry Wills.  Jack beat such fighers as Willard, Carpenter, Firpo, and Jack Sharkey.  Make no mistake about it, Jack would have been a challenge for anybody in the ring.  Record of 61-6-8 (51)

8.  Sonny Liston. One of the most misunderstood and mysterious fighters of all time.  Sonny is known for his two controversial fights with Ali and a bad reputation as a bad man.  He was a mean and menacing fighter with a powerful jab that he threw behind an 84 inch reach and 15" fists!  Well known for his menacing scowl before weigh ins and pre fight instructions, fighters were almost beaten before the fight even started.  Sonny finished with a career record of 50-4-0 (39) beating such notable fighters as Patterson(2) Cleveland Williams (2) and Folley.

9.  Joe Frazier will forever be known as being the first man to defeat the great Muhammad Al and knocking him down in the 15th round of their famous fight.  Joe was a tough and courageous fighter that always came forward looking to throw and land probably the most famous left hook in history.  Joe finished with a career record of 32-4-1 (27) and beat such fighters as Ali, Bugner, Bob Foster, Ellis, Quarry (2) Bonavena(2) and Chuvalo during his brilliant career.

10.  Ezzard Charles.  Underrated is an understatement when you think of Charles. (89-25-1 (51))  Charles was a very fast and hard hitting fighter with great boxing skills.  Well known as a great light heavyweight fighter before moving up to heavyweight and for his great title effort against the great Marciano and lasting the full 15 rounds.  Many of his career losses came after the Marciano fight.  When he met Rocky he was 79-12-1 (47).  Ezzard beat such notable fighters as Jersey Joe Walcott, Moore (3) and Burley in his great career.

Honorable mention

Evander Holyfield

Lennox Lewis

Floyd Patterson

Answer 13

Muhammad Ali

Joe Louis

Larry Holmes

Rocky Marciano

Jack Dempsey

Jack Johnson

George Foreman

Mike Tyson

Joe Frazier

Lennox Lewis