my ranking , may be edited later :
1. Muhammad Ali
2. George Foreman
3. Joe Frazier
4. Larry Holmes
5. George Chuvalo
6. Earnie Shavers
7. Jimmy Young
8. Ron Lyle
9. Jerry Quarry
10. Ken Norton


remarks / reasons :
(1)
it was hard eciding between Holmes and frazier , so based on p4p and quality of opposition and quality of achievements against the opposition i went with frazier. frazier did much more in eliminating quality opposition , not only in this era , but on an all time basis as well. p4p frazier is stupendously better than holmes.
(2) had i allowed myself to include fighters who fought enough fighters of the 1970's , Gerry Cooney would have been #5.
(3) i may have some mistakes as i study this era only recently

my ranking , may be edited later :
1. Muhammad Ali
2. George Foreman
3. Joe Frazier
4. Larry Holmes
5. George Chuvalo
6. Earnie Shavers
7. Jimmy Young
8. Ron Lyle
9. Jimmy Ellis
10. Ken Norton


remarks / reasons :
(1)
it was hard eciding between Holmes and frazier , so based on p4p and quality of opposition and quality of achievements against the opposition i went with frazier. frazier did much more in eliminating quality opposition , not only in this era , but on an all time basis as well. p4p frazier is stupendously better than holmes.
(2) had i allowed myself to include fighters who fought enough fighters of the 1970's , Gerry Cooney would have been #5.
(3) i may have some mistakes as i study this era only recently

you have with this post now convinced me that your knowledge of this sport is very minimal or bordering on zero... Larry Holmes was not a dominant fighter in the 1970s he came to prominance in 78 so should fare far lower on your list

Why have you not included Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson, Joe Bugner and Oscar Bonavena...

Jimmy Ellis was a fighter of the 1960s and was finnished when fighting in the 70s

Earnie Shavers was a very limited boxer with a huge punch and beat no-one to justify a lofty position, he was also destroyed by Quarry in the opening round.

Yeah Shavers at 6 and no Quarry is a bit odd.

you have with this post now convinced me that your knowledge of this sport is very minimal or bordering on zero... Larry Holmes was not a dominant fighter in the 1970s he came to prominance in 78 so should fare far lower on your list

Why have you not included Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson, Joe Bugner and Oscar Bonavena...

Jimmy Ellis was a fighter of the 1960s and was finnished when fighting in the 70s

Earnie Shavers was a very limited boxer with a huge punch and beat no-one to justify a lofty position, he was also destroyed by Quarry in the opening round.
(1) i said i study this era only now
(2) i considered putting quarry and intended to do it but forgot doing it upon posting time , i will re-edit it now.
(3) patterson was really a small lightheavy of the 60's who competed at heavyweight and was finished at this time , haha
(4) regarding holmes , he was not very dominant in this era , true , but proven himself against some of this era's fighters.
(5) bugner was seriously considerred , and is a borderline top10 of the era , maybe i should include him , but more probably not. so i will continue to leave him outside , at least for now.

Holmes was dominant in the 70's. Don't let him fool ya with his preferences.

Holmes beat Shavers, won the title from Norton and defended it with masterful defences against Evangelista, the tough Mike Weaver(and future champ), Ocasio(who just twice beat top ranked Jimmy Young twice) and last but not least the rematch against Earnie Shavers all in the 70's. And Shavers was the most dangerous man in the division at the time, sure he was stopped by Quarry earlier in his career but he had just destroyed Norton(who also knocked out Quarry in 5).

This question will always cause arguments.. The reason being, is although the 70's are universally regarded as the 'Golden Era' of HW boxing, it was actually from 1965-1975..

Chuvalo, Bonavena, Mathis, Ellis and Mac Foster all declined in the early 70's, and were mainly retired by 75..

Ali
Foreman
Frazier
Norton
Quarry
Lyle
Holmes
Young
Shavers
Bugner

Holmes has to be in there.. He was the top contender of the 70's.. He started out in 73, beat a succession of contenders including Shavers, Alfredo Evangelista (EU champ) and the unbeaten Ossie Ocasio b4 winning it from Norton.. He then defended it successfully against Shavers and the up and coming Mike Weaver in 78 and 79 respectively..

(3) i may have some mistakes as i study this era only recently

OMFG! His diction is just like Klitschko2009's :rofl:

Poet

After I have seen many , but many are still missing of the fights between them , and with now regarding it as , say 1965-1980 and the exclusion of Larry Holmes , this is my current improved ranking :
1. George Foreman
2. Muhammad Ali
3. Joe Frazier
4. Ron Lyle
5. Earnie Shavers
6. Jimmy Young
7. Ken Norton
8. Charles Liston
9. Oscar Bonavena
10. Jimmy Ellis


11. George Chuvalo
12. Jerry Quarry
13. Floyd Patterson


If Liston is included in this list he would have to be above Patterson but below Norton. Liston fought only nobodies except of Ali and Patterson.

If Holmes is included , He would have to be somewhere in the first 4 , but it will have to rely on his post 70's achievements.

Based on his 70's achievements , he would have to be below Lyle (below 4).

Yeah Shavers at 6 and no Quarry is a bit odd.
Shavers KO'd Norton who KO'd Quarry who KO'd himself.
Shavers also stopped Jimmy Young and Jimmy Ellis .
Shavers also went the distance with Ali , something Quarry twice failed to do.
In Quarry's big fights he tended more to lose by stoppage than to win by stoppage .