Which boxer would win this dream tournament?

Question

First, you take every heavyweight champion from John L. Sullivan to today. Then, you make it be his best day of his life.

Then, every champion fights every other champion one hundred times.

Who, in your opinion, would have the best won/loss record?

(The fights are 15 rounds each, championship rules circa 1970)

And..Why did you pick this boxer?

IMPORTANT NOTE: I already know that this is impossible.

Another IMPORTANT NOTE: Each boxer fights the best fight of his life in EVERY fight. There is no fatigue, there are no injuries that are carried from fight to fight. Boxers can get injured and KO'd in any individual fight.

Answer 1

it would be Larry Holmes and Ali fighting in the final, and ALi taking a close decision in 65 fights, Holmes UD/SD in 10 fights, Ali takes 10 more fights by SD, the have 5 draws, and five DQ or NC

Answer 2

Muhammed Ali and George Foreman would do  the best.

Answer 3

ROCKY MARCIANO....... he will knock them all out... all in the first round...... and that's that!

Answer 4

This is a very interesting topic.  It makes a lot of sense, believe it or not.  It's one of the few ways to actually compare champions from different eras.  

One reason it makes sence is because styles make fights.  I have always maintained that "Fighter A" could beat "Fighters B,C, and D" all of whom could beat "Fighter E", who could beat "Fighter A".

Just one example:   ALI KO's Forman, stops Frazier and Liston, All of whom KO Norton who decisions ALI.  (I understand Norton never fought Frazier or Liston but it's just an example.  I also don't believe Norton would EVER best Prime ALI).

Same example in reverse.  Prime Tyson gets stopped by Lennox Lewis after knocking out Shavers, Rahman and McCall.  All of them might have a puncher's chance of stopping Lewis.  Again, just an example.  I really don't think Tyson could KO McCall if he's at his best.  He could but I don't think he would.  He might win on points.  

Taking your tournament into consideration,  I would have to say that Muhammad ALI would out-last All of them.  I say this for the same reason most consider him to be the Greatest.  How do you fight him?  EVERY champion has a weakness.  It just happens that NONE of them possess the tools or game plan to beat ALI when he's at his best.  

The ALI who lost to Frazier in 71 was a VERY different fighter from the one he was becoming when his career was cut short.  Had there been no exile, they would have fought in late 1969 instead of 71.  Frazier takes TOO MUCH punishment in EVERY fight over a few rounds.    He won the fight but Lost the War.  He SUFFERED Unimaginably and was never the same after the 71 fight.    He would suffer worse if there is no exile.  What has Frazier done with his career AFTER the 71 fight?

**************************************...

I once did a similar tournament.  In mine, I only used the TOP 12 Champions.  I list my TOP 12 in order by the number of losses each would suffer in a series of battles against the others on the list.  The Top 5 on my list are as follows.  

Muhammad Ali

Joe Louis

Larry Holmes

Lennox Lewis

George Forman

**************************************...

I sum this up by listing those with the best chance of scoring a win over a PRIME ALI.    

Larry Holmes:   35%....Holmes has nearly everything needed to be the perfect Hvt.  At 6'3''/212lbs. He has the right blend of speed and power and toughness to dish it out and take it with anyone.  His only weakness would be ALI's lateral movement.  ALI would keep Holmes off balance and cause him to fall behind on points.     Holmes, with his jab, speed and strength would be "All In Ali's Way"  and he would not make it easy for ALI.  He would score a few wins, perhaps the most of all the other champs.

Joe Louis: 30%.....I rank Louis second but I think Holmes has a better chance of beating ALI than Louis does.  The reason Louis is second is because I believe he has the style to beat Holmes.  .....Louis lacks the footwork to seriously deal with ALI.  As fast as he is,  ALI has to slow down momentarily to throw punches.  Louis has the best chance of nailing him when he does.  Tyson has speed and so does Holmes.  However, neither is the sharp combination puncher that Louis is.  Neither has the balance to compliment their speed enough to cope with ALI.  ALI is too smart and cagey to be stopped by any of the champions on the list.  However, Louis is the only one who could possibly hit him with enough combinations to keep him on the defensive and score a knockdown to take a decision.

LENNOX LEWIS: 30%...Lennox is so much bigger and stronger than ALI he would HAVE to present problems.  His ONE Glaring weakness is that he is SO easy to hit if you're nearly his height.  NO ONE is as fast as ALI so he would Certainly get hit OFTEN.  Still he has the Size, Strength, Power and Reach to give ALI ALL Kinds of Problems.  The other weakness Lennox has, that would cost him against ALI, is that he has poor stamina.  He simply CAN NOT go 15 with ALI.  There is the slight chance he could hurt ALI early, keep him on the defensive, and score a points win.   The odds of this happening are,  well, 30% at best.  That might be a stretch.  

TYSON: 25%....IF ANYONE has a chance to Nail ALI and stop him it's Tyson.  He has more power and speed than Louis and is near equal to Forman in power.  It's probably a stretch to give him 25% chance but it could happen.  The biggest problem for Tyson is that he has HORRIBLE balance.  He might have a puncher's chance against young Clay, who wasn't as strong as ALI 67, but you said PRIME so..........sorry Mike.  

FORMAN:  15%....Though we never saw ALI at his POTENTIAL BEST,  the same could possibly be said of Forman.  What if someone had actually Taught George HOW to USE his power?  Young Forman never did punch correctly.  I can't justify giving George more than 15% because the question is not what COULD have been, it's what WAS.  

HOLYFIELD, MARCIANO, FRAZIER, DEMPSEY, each have between 10%--15%.  Believe it or not,  LISTON and JOHNSON have the least chance.  Liston is JUST TOO SLOW.  Johnson, though he would beat some on the list,  styles make fights.  ALI can do everything Johnson can do, but better.  I have always said Jack is more like a poor man's Larry Holmes than ANY version of ALI.