Thoughts On This Top 20 Heavyweight List

[Mr Boxing9]

1.Joe Louis
2.Muhammad Ali
3.Jack Johnson
4.George Foreman
5.Larry Holmes
6.Jack Dempsey
7.Sonny Liston
8.Jim Jeffries
9.Lennox Lewis
10.Mike Tyson
11.Rocky Marciano
12.Joe Frazier
13.Riddick Bowe
14.Evander Holyfield
15.Sam Langford
16.Gene Tunney
17.James J. Corbett
18.Ezzard Charles
19.Jersey Joe Walcott
20.Max Schmeling
http://coxscorner.tripod.com/20heavyweights.html

[Joey Giardello]

1.Joe Louis
2.Muhammad Ali
3.Jack Johnson
4.George Foreman
5.Larry Holmes
6.Jack Dempsey
7.Sonny Liston
8.Jim Jeffries
9.Lennox Lewis
10.Mike Tyson
11.Rocky Marciano
12.Joe Frazier
13.Riddick Bowe
14.Evander Holyfield
15.Sam Langford
16.Gene Tunney
17.James J. Corbett
18.Ezzard Charles
19.Jersey Joe Walcott
20.Max Schmeling
http://coxscorner.tripod.com/20heavyweights.html

Riddick bowe is way to high!
Here is my list
1 Muhammed Ali
2 Rocky Marciano
3 Joe Louis
4 Jim Jefferies
5 Sam Langford
6 Jack Dempsey
7 George Foreman
8 Larry Holmes
9 Mike Tyson
10 Lennox Lewis
11 Gene Tunney
12 Joe Fraizer
13 Ezzard Charles
14 Evander Holeyfield
15 Bob Fizsimons
16 James j corbett
17 Sonny Liston
18 Harry Wills
19 Max Schmeling
20 Riddick Bowe

Here is may nearly list
Ken Norton
Sam Mcvey
Joe Jeanette
Jimmy Ellis
Michael Spinks
Jack Sharkey
Tim weathersppon
Louis Firpo

[BigMacFoster]

So Firpo,Witherspoon and Michael Spinks nearly makes your list yet floyd Patterson is nowhere to be seen?

floyd Patterson has become one of the most underrated fighters in boxing history

[Gettin Jiggy]

Bowe is to high

[billionaire]

1.Joe Louis
2.Muhammad Ali
3.Jack Johnson
4.George Foreman
5.Larry Holmes
6.Jack Dempsey
7.Sonny Liston
8.Jim Jeffries
9.Lennox Lewis
10.Mike Tyson
11.Rocky Marciano
12.Joe Frazier
13.Riddick Bowe
14.Evander Holyfield
15.Sam Langford
16.Gene Tunney
17.James J. Corbett
18.Ezzard Charles
19.Jersey Joe Walcott
20.Max Schmeling
http://coxscorner.tripod.com/20heavyweights.html

terrible list by a narrow minded old timer...jim jeffries was a bum would be annilated by every truly great.....holyfield is too low, lewis is not better than tyson, jack johnson is too high....

[Obama]

I agree with the first 3, Harry Wills would be on my list next, and guys like Walcott, Charles, and Corbett wouldn't make my top 20 at all. They're top 25 and top 30 material.

[GJC]

I agree with the first 3, Harry Wills would be on my list next, and guys like Walcott, Charles, and Corbett wouldn't make my top 20 at all. They're top 25 and top 30 material.

Wills was a great fighter but I think number 4 is way too high for him. I always think with Wills that he should have got his shot against Dempsey for sure but that it helped his legacy that he didn't.
I have little doubt that Dempsey would have beaten him, big heavyweights that wern't too quick were a bit of a speciality of Dempsey's.

[sonnyboyx2]

1.Joe Louis
2.Muhammad Ali
3.Jack Johnson
4.George Foreman
5.Larry Holmes
6.Jack Dempsey
7.Sonny Liston
8.Jim Jeffries
9.Lennox Lewis
10.Mike Tyson
11.Rocky Marciano
12.Joe Frazier
13.Riddick Bowe
14.Evander Holyfield
15.Sam Langford
16.Gene Tunney
17.James J. Corbett
18.Ezzard Charles
19.Jersey Joe Walcott
20.Max Schmeling
http://coxscorner.tripod.com/20heavyweights.html

These lists are pointless and only someones opinion..
if every fighter on this list was fighting on their `Best night` then surely Lennox Lewis would be knocked out by all except Langford, Tunney & Corbett and i would fancy Langford & Tunney to out-point Lewis...

Lewis vs Bowe - Bowe of Holyfield (1) fight
Lewis vs Frazier - Frazier of Fight of the Century or Manilla
Lewis vs Marciano - Rocky of the Charles 2 fight
Lewis vs Walcott - Walcott of the Louis fight
Lewis vs Tyson - Tyson from 86 -96
Lewis vs Charles - Charles of the Louis fight
Lewis vs Holyfield - Holyfield of the Foreman or Bowe 2 fight
Lewis vs Schmeling - Max of the Louis 1 fight

Lennox Lewis would be KOd in all the above fights..all the fighters rated above Lewis on the list would KO Lewis... Lets be honest here, what does Lennox Lewis bring to this list other than a victory over Tyson when Tyson was a decade and several prison sentences past his best days and a draw and a very disputed win over an aged Holyfield..That IMO does not entitle him to be the 9th greatest heavyweight who ever lived

[1SILVA]

1.Joe Louis
2.Muhammad Ali
3.Jack Johnson
4.George Foreman
5.Larry Holmes
6.Jack Dempsey
7.Sonny Liston
8.Jim Jeffries
9.Lennox Lewis
10.Mike Tyson
11.Rocky Marciano
12.Joe Frazier
13.Riddick Bowe
14.Evander Holyfield
15.Sam Langford
16.Gene Tunney
17.James J. Corbett
18.Ezzard Charles
19.Jersey Joe Walcott
20.Max Schmeling
http://coxscorner.tripod.com/20heavyweights.html

The top three in any order I agree. The rest is a matter of opinion

[BigMacFoster]

These lists are pointless and only someones opinion..
if every fighter on this list was fighting on their `Best night` then surely Lennox Lewis would be knocked out by all except Langford, Tunney & Corbett and i would fancy Langford & Tunney to out-point Lewis...

Lewis vs Bowe - Bowe of Holyfield (1) fight
Lewis vs Frazier - Frazier of Fight of the Century or Manilla
Lewis vs Marciano - Rocky of the Charles 2 fight
Lewis vs Walcott - Walcott of the Louis fight
Lewis vs Tyson - Tyson from 86 -96
Lewis vs Charles - Charles of the Louis fight
Lewis vs Holyfield - Holyfield of the Foreman or Bowe 2 fight
Lewis vs Schmeling - Max of the Louis 1 fight

Lennox Lewis would be KOd in all the above fights..all the fighters rated above Lewis on the list would KO Lewis... Lets be honest here, what does Lennox Lewis bring to this list other than a victory over Tyson when Tyson was a decade and several prison sentences past his best days and a draw and a very disputed win over an aged Holyfield..That IMO does not entitle him to be the 9th greatest heavyweight who ever lived

Well if only baseless predictions on hypothetical dream matches actually amounted to anything.Look at some of the examples you've used for christ sake.


Frazier against Ali the first time? Where took a tremendous amount of punishment at the hands of a non puncher who had fought just two fights in three and a half years and then you list another fight where he lost.

Lennox Lewis held a greater right hand than Ali ever did,Lennox Lewis wouldn't have needed as many blows to defeat Frazier with the beard that he sported.

Ezzard Charles had far greater performances than he did against Joe Louis,Louis was done at this point in his career and had a pulse that resembled that of his past title defences.


Tyson was in prison between 1992 and 1995 so exactly does this version defeat Lennox Lewis?

Would his fellow prison inmates be judging this fight?

I find it ironic that you often dismiss Lennox Lewis's landslide victory over David Tua with the comment that "David Tua was the fattest man to ever challenge for a title" yet you go ahead and list the Holyfield of the foreman fight,were a 28 year old champion got staggered by a 42 year old 257 pound challenger who was fifteen years past his peak.

Who was the "fattest man to ever challenge for a title" again?