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....based on ability, competition, and overall perspective title reign (that means how they faired in the time in which they lived); and also quality of opposition leading up to title reign since some fighters didn't get a title shot at the time they should have. And, how they played the "role" of heavyweight champion in representing the sport. (this is a social subconscious element....AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, NOT THE MAIN DECIDING FACTOR....just A factor) This is NOT a head to head ranking.
Also: these heavyweights are based on the pre-1979 definition of a "heavyweight"; anybody over 176 Lbs.
1. Muahammad Ali
2. Joe Louis
3. Lennox Lewis
4. Jack Johnson
5. Larry Holmes
6. Jack Dempsey
7. Joe Frazier
8. Rocky Marciano
9. Evander Holyfield
10. George Foreman
11. Charles "Sonny" Liston
12. Ezzard Charles
13. Mike Tyson
14. Sam Langford
15. "Jersey" Joe Walcott
PS: The reason, if you were wondering, why neither of the Klitschko brothers are nowhere near the Top 15 is simply because they are still active. Just as you can't get voted into the Hall of Fame until you've been retired for some time, I do not rank active fighters as the scope of their career is not complete.....though both brothers are fast approaching that area.
Anyway, there's may current Top 10 with the 5 that just missed.Comment
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1) Muhammad Ali
Greatest oppostion ever faced in Heavyweight history. Greatest oppostion ever DEFEATED in Heavyweight history. Nuff said really.
Even though i don't rate boxers based on H2H fantasy fight nonsense, IMO Ali is the closest thing we've ever had in boxing to being an unbeatable fighter when he was at the peak of his abilities.
2) Joe Louis
Longest reigning UNDISPUTED champ in Heavyweight history. Beat more world rated Heavyweights than anybody outside of Ali. Faced 8 Hall of famers overall, defeated all but 2 if i'm correct. Also possesed one of the most complete skillsets ever seen out of a Heavyweight.
3) George Foreman
Has 2 of the most brutally dominant wins over 2 of the greatest Heavyweights to ever live. Oldest man ever to capture an undisputed/lineal Heavyweight title. Not alot of depth on his resume, and i believe there is a HUGE gap between Big George and my #1 & #2 Heavyweights, but i've always valued signature wins over great fighters over a long stretch dominance over sup-par oppostion.
4) Joe Frazier
Arguably has the greatest win in Heavyweight history with his win over Ali and did a pretty thorough job of clearing out the top half of the Heavyweight division from 66-71. Beating alot of solid contenders along the way like (Quarry, Machen, Bonavena, Chuvalo, Jones, Ellis etc.) One of the better and more underrated reigns in Heavyweight history culminating with a win over the consensus GOAT.
5) Evander Holyfield
Waffled with putting Marciano at this spot, but went with Holy because of his quality of opposition faced, plus the fact that Holy remained a viable contender/champ in the division almost twice as long as Marciano's entire career. Also, all of Marciano's best wins are over past prime ATG's. I feel Holy's wins over past primer's like Holmes, Foreman & Tyson are slightly better than Marciano's over Charles, Walcott, Moore & a shot Louis. He also has a win over a prime elite Heavyweight in Bowe which Marciano also lacks.
Holyfield Beat, faced & was highly competitive with one of the staunchest levels of oppostion in Heavyweight history. Which is why i believe he belongs in the top 5.
6) Rocky Marciano
Had one of the most dominant, often underrated runs in Heavyweight history. The division was a bit dry and heavily aged at the time. But he fought just about every contender/champ there was to face and toppled them all. (NO BLUEPRINT!!!!!!11) 4 of those conquests are 1st ballot HOF'ers/ATG's. 3 out of 4 are generally regarded as top 25 P4P ATG's.
7) Mike Tyson
The most dynamically explosive combination of speed & power that the division has ever seen. I would say Tyson had THE most aesthetically pleasing style in boxing history. Not even a handful of boxers in Heavyweight history can say they cleaned out their crop of contenders as thouroughly and in as dominant fashion as Tyson during his reign as undisputed champ.
8) Larry Holmes
2nd longest reign as UNDISPUTED/LINEAL champ in Heavyweight history to go along with the 2nd most amount of title defenses. Took over the division by beating an ATG in Ken Norton in one of the greatest boxing matches in history. And would go on to beat the majority of the best contenders in the division like Witherspoon, Shavers, Cooner, Weaver, Smith, Berbick, Williams etc. But failed to truly clean out the division, and get that paper title out of the hands of sub-par contenders like Page, Dokes, Coetzee etc. Tyson for instance, did a far more thorough job cleaning out the division in under half the time of Larry's entire reign.
But still, Larry is one of the greatest, most consistent, most durable, highest ring IQ, elite skilled boxer that the division has ever seen. As proven when he toy'd with a prime undefeated Ray Mercer at the age of 43. Took several rounds off of prime Holyfield. And lost to Oliver McCall by the skin of his teeth(coming fresh off a TKO2 victory of Lennox Lewis) at the age of 46!
9) Lennox Lewis
Lennox to me, beat a better quality of opposition than Holmes who i rate ahead of him. But his KO losses to sub-par oppostion in his prime is what takes him down a notch.
Beat alot of very solid contenders (Ruddock, Vitali, Morrison, Mercer, Tua, Golota, Bruno, Botha, Tucker) 2 ATG's (Holy & Tyson) One of the best resumes of all time. But unlike any of his fellow ATG's in my top 10. He has 2 losses via KO to B- & C+ opposition in his relative prime. Still worthy of being mentioned among the 10 greatest heavyweights to ever live.[/U]
10) Sonny Liston
Liston's run from 59-63 was one of the most dominant runs in Heavyweight history. Just about completely cleaned out the division from top to bottom in devestating fashion and had Floyd Patterson & Cus'damoto running scared and milked what SHOULD'VE been Liston's title years earlier for as long as they could until the demand became overwhelming. Liston not only "beat" top highly regarded, highly ranked Heavyweight contenders but OBLITERATED them in horrific fashion. Without a shadow of a doubt should be rated as one of the 10 greatest Heavyweights of all time.[/U]Comment
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Top 3 Greatest Heavyweights of all time. (imo)
1) Earnie Shavers
2) George Foreman
3) Mike TysonComment
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Finally that troll Tommo1 was banned! Everyone look out for his alt HWblogger.Comment
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aaaaaaaaaaaaaComment
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"Power Rankings" - Today's Edition*
- Louis
- Ali
- Holmes
- Tyson
- Foreman
- Frazier
- Marciano
- Liston
- Lewis
- Bowe
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