Top 50 ATG HW's

[andrewa1]

Lot of people seem to love talking about ATG HW's without putting much thought into who should be on the list or why. My criteria is 1. importance to boxing/history 2. in era resume (resume can include not just number of high quality opponents, but overall performance and facing the very best of the best) 3, Head to head, with the first two criteria being much more important than the last two. Basically, there can and should be some leeway, but as a general principle, the #1 and #2 fighters of each era should be ranked above everyone else, #3 and #4 above everyone else, etc (although older era top contender's get less respect under my list because face it, early 1900's era top contenders wouldn't even be top 100 cruiserweights today H2H). It's generally absurd to rank #3's above #1's just because you don't like the era. You can make as rational an argument that #3's being competitive with #1's in matches in their era was an indication of the weakness of the era as much as claiming its an indication of the strength of an era. I shorthanded the explanation for their placement by in era (approximate) designation (of course, era is fairly hard to define, and fighter can overlap in different era's, but its a good shorthand)

1. Muhammad Ali (best of his era(s), huge impact and resume)
2. Joe Louis (best of his era(s), huge impact and resume)
3. Rocky Marciano (best of his era)
4. Jack Dempsey (best of his era)
5. Lennox Lewis (best of his era)
6. Vitali Klitschko (best of his era)
7. John L Sullivan (best of his era, weak era, but first HW champ)
8. Larry Holmes (best of his era)
9 George Foreman (2nd best of era, became a champ in a much later era too)
10. Jack Johnson (best of era)
11 Mike Tyson (2nd best of era, can make an argument best of abbreviated era)
12 Wladimir Klitschko (2nd best of era, can make an argument best of era)
13 Joe Frazier (3rd best of most highly regarded era)
14. Gene Tunney (2nd best of era, can make an argument best)
15. James J Jeffries (best of weak era)
16. Max Schmeling (2nd best of era)
17 Jim Corbett (2nd best of era)
18 Evander Holyfield (3rd or 4th best of era)
19 Ezzard Charles (2nd to 4th best of era)
20 Jersey Joe Walcott (2nd to 4th best of era)
21 Floyd Patterson (hardest to quantify of list, very debatable how good he was, I'd put him 3rd of era)
22 Riddick Bowe (3rd or 4th best of era)
23. Sonny Liston (2nd or 3rd best of era)
24 Ken Norton (4th best of most highly regarded era)
25 Max Baer (3rd to 5th best of era)
26. Tommy Burns (2nd best of very weak era, would be a middleweight today)
27. Ingmar Johanson (4th or 5th best of era)
28. Jack Sharkey (3rd to 5th best of era)
29. Jess Willard (hard era to quantify, 2nd to 5th best of era)
30. Hasim Rahman (4th to 5th best of era)
31. Sam Peter (3rd to 4th best of era)
32. Henry Cooper (5th or 6th best of highest regarded era)
33 Archie Moore (3rd to 5th best of era)
34 Corrie Sanders (3rd to 5th best of era)
35. Luis Firpo (3rd to 5th best of era)
36 James J Braddock (5th or 6th best of era)
37 Ray Mercer (5th or 6th best of era)
38 Chris Byrd (4th to 6t best of era)
39 Billy Conn (4th to 6t best of era)
40 Jimmy Ellis (4th to 6t best of era)
41. Ernie Terrell (4th to 6t best of era)
42. Michael Spinks (4th to 6t best of era)
43. David Haye (3rd to 5th best of era)
44. John Ruiz (4th to 7th best of era)
45 Primo Carnera (4th to 7th best of era)
46. Ernie Shavers (4th to 7th best of era)
47. Jimmy Young (4th to 7th best of era)
48 Nicolai Valuev (4th to 7th best of era)
49 Ron Lyle (4th to 7th best of era)
50 Tony Tucker (4th to 7th best of era)

[Jam Jars]

Amazing that a guy that didn't even know that Vitali had a 4 year retirement yesterday now thinks he knows enough to give a list of HW ATG's.

[SBleeder]

Amazing that a guy that didn't even know that Vitali had a 4 year retirement yesterday now thinks he knows enough to give a list of HW ATG's.

Yeah, but he was undefeated during those four years.

[yoz]

Lot of people seem to love talking about ATG HW's without putting much thought into who should be on the list or why. My criteria is 1. importance to boxing/history 2. in era resume (resume can include not just number of high quality opponents, but overall performance and facing the very best of the best) 3, Head to head, with the first two criteria being much more important than the last two. Basically, there can and should be some leeway, but as a general principle, the #1 and #2 fighters of each era should be ranked above everyone else, #3 and #4 above everyone else, etc (although older era top contender's get less respect under my list because face it, early 1900's era top contenders wouldn't even be top 100 cruiserweights today H2H). It's generally absurd to rank #3's above #1's just because you don't like the era. You can make as rational an argument that #3's being competitive with #1's in matches in their era was an indication of the weakness of the era as much as claiming its an indication of the strength of an era. I shorthanded the explanation for their placement by in era (approximate) designation (of course, era is fairly hard to define, and fighter can overlap in different era's, but its a good shorthand)

1. Muhammad Ali (best of his era(s), huge impact and resume)
2. Joe Louis (best of his era(s), huge impact and resume)
3. Rocky Marciano (best of his era)
4. Jack Dempsey (best of his era)
5. Lennox Lewis (best of his era)
6. Vitali Klitschko (best of his era)
7. John L Sullivan (best of his era, weak era, but first HW champ)
8. Larry Holmes (best of his era)
9 George Foreman (2nd best of era, became a champ in a much later era too)
10. Jack Johnson (best of era)
11 Mike Tyson (2nd best of era, can make an argument best of abbreviated era)
12 Wladimir Klitschko (2nd best of era, can make an argument best of era)
13 Joe Frazier (3rd best of most highly regarded era)
14. Gene Tunney (2nd best of era, can make an argument best)
15. James J Jeffries (best of weak era)
16. Max Schmeling (2nd best of era)
17 Jim Corbett (2nd best of era)
18 Evander Holyfield (3rd or 4th best of era)
19 Ezzard Charles (2nd to 4th best of era)
20 Jersey Joe Walcott (2nd to 4th best of era)
21 Floyd Patterson (hardest to quantify of list, very debatable how good he was, I'd put him 3rd of era)
22 Riddick Bowe (3rd or 4th best of era)
23. Sonny Liston (2nd or 3rd best of era)
24 Ken Norton (4th best of most highly regarded era)
25 Max Baer (3rd to 5th best of era)
26. Tommy Burns (2nd best of very weak era, would be a middleweight today)
27. Ingmar Johanson (4th or 5th best of era)
28. Jack Sharkey (3rd to 5th best of era)
29. Jess Willard (hard era to quantify, 2nd to 5th best of era)
30. Hasim Rahman (4th to 5th best of era)
31. Sam Peter (3rd to 4th best of era)
32. Henry Cooper (5th or 6th best of highest regarded era)
33 Archie Moore (3rd to 5th best of era)
34 Corrie Sanders (3rd to 5th best of era)
35. Luis Firpo (3rd to 5th best of era)
36 James J Braddock (5th or 6th best of era)
37 Ray Mercer (5th or 6th best of era)
38 Chris Byrd (4th to 6t best of era)
39 Billy Conn (4th to 6t best of era)
40 Jimmy Ellis (4th to 6t best of era)
41. Ernie Terrell (4th to 6t best of era)
42. Michael Spinks (4th to 6t best of era)
43. David Haye (3rd to 5th best of era)
44. John Ruiz (4th to 7th best of era)
45 Primo Carnera (4th to 7th best of era)
46. Ernie Shavers (4th to 7th best of era)
47. Jimmy Young (4th to 7th best of era)
48 Nicolai Valuev (4th to 7th best of era)
49 Ron Lyle (4th to 7th best of era)
50 Tony Tucker (4th to 7th best of era)

And others.

[The Big Dunn]

Did you make a mistake or did you put vitali at 6 intentionally? WHat about sam peter-is his ranking missing a few 0's?

[GeneralZod]

Why is Floyd infront of Sonny if Liston KO'd him twice in the first round in his prime?

[andrewa1]

Amazing that a guy that didn't even know that Vitali had a 4 year retirement yesterday now thinks he knows enough to give a list of HW ATG's.

Huh? Wow, you are so braindead, you are actually making stuff up. I didn't even post about Vitali yesterday. Go back to school, boy, you've been owned.

[andrewa1]

And others.

Gee, nice smilies. Too bad you're too imbecilic to offer reasons why that's not accurate, or replacements for the positions. Dumbass.

[andrewa1]

Why is Floyd infront of Sonny if Liston KO'd him twice in the first round in his prime?

For the same reason Holyfield is in front of Bowe despite losing 2 (and arguably 3) of 3 matches to Bowe, and Tyson is in front of Holyfield despite losing 2 of 2 matches. His overall career was more impressive, even though the other fighter matched up well with him personally.

[PACnPBFsuck]

Lot of people seem to love talking about ATG HW's without putting much thought into who should be on the list or why. My criteria is 1. importance to boxing/history 2. in era resume (resume can include not just number of high quality opponents, but overall performance and facing the very best of the best) 3, Head to head, with the first two criteria being much more important than the last two. Basically, there can and should be some leeway, but as a general principle, the #1 and #2 fighters of each era should be ranked above everyone else, #3 and #4 above everyone else, etc (although older era top contender's get less respect under my list because face it, early 1900's era top contenders wouldn't even be top 100 cruiserweights today H2H). It's generally absurd to rank #3's above #1's just because you don't like the era. You can make as rational an argument that #3's being competitive with #1's in matches in their era was an indication of the weakness of the era as much as claiming its an indication of the strength of an era. I shorthanded the explanation for their placement by in era (approximate) designation (of course, era is fairly hard to define, and fighter can overlap in different era's, but its a good shorthand)

1. Muhammad Ali (best of his era(s), huge impact and resume)
2. Joe Louis (best of his era(s), huge impact and resume)
3. Rocky Marciano (best of his era)
4. Jack Dempsey (best of his era)
5. Lennox Lewis (best of his era)
6. Vitali Klitschko (best of his era)
7. John L Sullivan (best of his era, weak era, but first HW champ)
8. Larry Holmes (best of his era)
9 George Foreman (2nd best of era, became a champ in a much later era too)
10. Jack Johnson (best of era)
11 Mike Tyson (2nd best of era, can make an argument best of abbreviated era)
12 Wladimir Klitschko (2nd best of era, can make an argument best of era)
13 Joe Frazier (3rd best of most highly regarded era)
14. Gene Tunney (2nd best of era, can make an argument best)
15. James J Jeffries (best of weak era)
16. Max Schmeling (2nd best of era)
17 Jim Corbett (2nd best of era)
18 Evander Holyfield (3rd or 4th best of era)
19 Ezzard Charles (2nd to 4th best of era)
20 Jersey Joe Walcott (2nd to 4th best of era)
21 Floyd Patterson (hardest to quantify of list, very debatable how good he was, I'd put him 3rd of era)
22 Riddick Bowe (3rd or 4th best of era)
23. Sonny Liston (2nd or 3rd best of era)
24 Ken Norton (4th best of most highly regarded era)
25 Max Baer (3rd to 5th best of era)
26. Tommy Burns (2nd best of very weak era, would be a middleweight today)
27. Ingmar Johanson (4th or 5th best of era)
28. Jack Sharkey (3rd to 5th best of era)
29. Jess Willard (hard era to quantify, 2nd to 5th best of era)
30. Hasim Rahman (4th to 5th best of era)
31. Sam Peter (3rd to 4th best of era)
32. Henry Cooper (5th or 6th best of highest regarded era)
33 Archie Moore (3rd to 5th best of era)
34 Corrie Sanders (3rd to 5th best of era)
35. Luis Firpo (3rd to 5th best of era)
36 James J Braddock (5th or 6th best of era)
37 Ray Mercer (5th or 6th best of era)
38 Chris Byrd (4th to 6t best of era)
39 Billy Conn (4th to 6t best of era)
40 Jimmy Ellis (4th to 6t best of era)
41. Ernie Terrell (4th to 6t best of era)
42. Michael Spinks (4th to 6t best of era)
43. David Haye (3rd to 5th best of era)
44. John Ruiz (4th to 7th best of era)
45 Primo Carnera (4th to 7th best of era)
46. Ernie Shavers (4th to 7th best of era)
47. Jimmy Young (4th to 7th best of era)
48 Nicolai Valuev (4th to 7th best of era)
49 Ron Lyle (4th to 7th best of era)
50 Tony Tucker (4th to 7th best of era)