By Cliff Rold

The Eight, Pt. 7

For any new boxing fan, the time is not long before a fellow fan points out a magic number which grows more mythologized with time: eight.  As in boxing’s original eight weight classes.  The number represents in the mind of many a time when the sport was compressed into fields which couldn’t help but be talented, couldn’t help but draw crowds, because there were so few places on the scale to go.  They were divisions marked by single champions ever challenged by a depth of contenders today’s seventeen weight classes rarely know.

Reflection and research reveals this was not always the case, but it was true often enough to bestow a mystique on boxing’s ‘original eight weight classes’ which carries through to the modern day.  As good as they can be, as great as some of their competitors have been and still are, weight classes prefixed by a “Jr.” designation will always be seen some as bastard spawn which took something away from the game no matter what they added.

Even with classes taking up space in between the old markers, the eight continue to provide memories and spilled blood today.  Over the course of this series, homage is paid to boxing’s original eight by identifying the best of their lot through the years.

Middleweight

In the closing days of 2009, the current World Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik added the third defense of his reign.  While his opponent, Miguel Espino, would be considered a fringe contender at best it wouldn’t really have mattered if he was fighting a greater light.  At Middleweight, every champion is fighting the long shadows of a glorious past. 

In the latter years of the nineteenth century, Middleweights could range from 140-166 pounds, morphing into limits around 155 pounds and finally settling at 160 in the early twentieth century. 

Since the modern gloved era’s championship took root with the lengthy reign of the "Nonpareil" Jack Dempsey from 1884-91, some of the greatest, maybe most of the greatest, fighters of all time have tried their hand in the Middleweight division.  Many of those men will be read about here. 

Many more whose names matter to the story of the sweet science will not only because there just wasn’t enough room.  Great fighters like Dempsey, Billy Papke, Ken Overlin, Fred Apostoli, Billy Soose, Joey Giardello and Emile Griffith along with modern exemplars like James Toney just missed the cut.  Inevitably, many readers will see flaw in some of these omissions.

It would be hard to argue against that.  It’s a terribly difficult weight class to rate.  It’s also a tremendous amount of fun. 

The evidence of why begins here with number 11-25.

The Top Twenty-Five

25) Roy Jones Jr. (1989-Present): The 1988 U.S. Olympian began his impressive professional career as a lethal Middleweight who rarely heard the final bell…career mark to date of 54-6, 40 KO…IBF Middleweight titlist 1993-94, 1 defense…Jones languished through the early years before a breakout performance on the undercard of Iran Barkley-Darrin Van Horn in 1992, stopping former Welterweight champ Jorge Vaca in one…two fights later, made big step up, decisioning future Middleweight titlist Jorge Castro by near shutout…scored three knockouts in a row before being matched with a young Bernard Hopkins for the vacant IBF belt in May 1993 on the undercard of Riddick Bowe-Jesse Ferguson…the fight was fairly uneventful with Jones winning a safe but decisive verdict…already struggling with the 160 lb. limit, would three fights at Super Middleweight, including a stoppage of rugged future Super Middleweight titlist Thulani Malinga in a non-title bout, before posting his only defense, stopping contender Thomas Tate in two in May 1994; it was the only knockout loss in Tate’s career…Jones would go on to lengthy title reigns at Super Middleweight and Light Heavyweight, both of which were detailed in examinations of those classes…Jones talent was on par with many of the great Middleweights but only a small portion of his substantive career was actually contested at or below 160…to his credit, he was the only Middleweight to beat Hopkins over a span of some fifteen years…Jones is a lock for the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) when he retires.

24) Holman Williams (1932-48): Before Roy Jones, this pride of Pensacola was one of the great fighters never to get his crack at the brass ring…career mark of 145-30-11, 35 KO, 1 No Contest…technically brilliant, Williams biggest drawback was a lack of power…turned professional as a 20-year old Lightweight, Williams would lose only one of his first 33 contests…competed for years as a world class Welterweight, beginning what would be an evenly split seven fight rivalry with Hall of Famer Charley Burley and besting the likes of Cocoa Kid…spent most of the 1940s in the Middleweight division, where he won two of three over Hall of Famer Lloyd Marshall, splitting a pair of bouts with the great Archie Moore, and besting tough contenders like Jack Chase, Bert Lytell, Jose Basora, and a young Bob Satterfield…ten of his losses came in his final seventeen fights, including decisions against Jake LaMotta and Marcel Cerdan…Williams was voted to the IBHOF in 2008.

23) Marcel Thil (1920-37): One of the great French fistic products, Thil was one of the standout talents in a deep pool of talent in the 1930s…career mark of 114-22-13, 54 KO…Thil at various times held claims to the NBA, IBU and EBU versions of the Middleweight crown from 1932-37, defending his claims 11 times…with over 100 fights to his credit, faced off with Hall of Famer Gorilla Jones in June 1932 to capture the NBA title and the vacant IBU belt, making his first defense one month later and avenging a 1927 loss to the excellent Len Harvey…avenged a non-title loss with a defense versus Kid Tunero in October 1933…over his five years near the top of the Middleweight division, would add another defense versus Tunero, best top contenders Gustave Roth and Jock McAvoy, and defeat Hall of Famer Lou Brouillard three times in a row, the last two by disqualification…lost his title claim via tenth round stoppage loss to Fred Apostoli in what would be Thil’s final fight…Thil was inducted to the IBHOF in 2005.

22) Tommy Ryan (1887-1907): Based in Van Nuys, California, Ryan was previously highlighted as one of the great Welterweights and remained as much a pioneer in the early Middleweight gloved era...career mark of 86-3-6, 22 KO, 4 no decisions, 6 no contests…World Champion 1898-1906, 4 defenses…after vacating the Welterweight crown in 1898, Ryan bested Jack Bonner in twenty rounds in October of the year to stake a claim to the Middleweight throne vacated in 1895 by Bob Fitzsimmons…traveled the country, competing in exhibitions with Heavyweights like Jim Jeffries and Tom Sharkey while dropping an official verdict to Kid McCoy and drawing with early Light Heavyweight great Jack Root…Ryan retired briefly in 1906, relinquishing the throne, only to make a short comeback the following year topped by a six round draw with his hand-picked championship successor Hugo Kelly…Ryan was elected to the IBHOF in 1991.

21) Teddy Yarosz (1907-22): Feather fisted but durable, the Pittsburgh-born product used skill and precision to stand out amongst a crowded field …career mark of 107-18-3, 17 KO…Yarosz laid various claims to the World Middleweight crown in Pennsylvania, New York and under the guise of the NBA from 1933-35…Yarosz turned pro just shy of his 19th birthday as a Welterweight, avoiding defeat until his 59th fight…bested veteran Vince Dundee in August 1933 for the Pennsylvania claim to the title, adding another decision win in the rematch the next month…over the next year, he’d add a win over former titlist Ben Jeby and stop aged former Welterweight champ Petey Latzo before a September 1934 unanimous decision in fifteen over Dundee for NBA and New York recognition as champion…injured his knee in losses for the crown to Babe Risko in January and September on 1935, the first of which leaving him with the lone stoppage defeat of his career…he’d bounce back in 1936, besting then-former titlist Risko on points and following with a points win over future titlist Ken Overlin…in consecutive fights to open 1937, he’d defeat future titlist Solly Kreiger, Hall of Famer Lou Brouillard, and lose a pair of decisions to the great Billy Conn…he’d avenge the Conn loss the following year and manage wins over Overlin, a young Archie Moore as he gradually grew into the Light Heavyweight division…at the higher weight, he’d split fights with Hall of Famer Lloyd Marshall and drop decisions to Ezzard Charles and Jimmy Bivins, picking up eight of his total losses in his last fifteen bouts…Yarosz was inducted to the IBHOF in 2006.

20) Gene Fullmer (1951-63): The Utah native looked and played the tough guy in the ring, living up to every ounce of his nickname “Cyclone”…career mark of 55-6-3, 24 KO…World Champion 1957; NBA titlist 1959-62, 7 defenses…Fullmer won his first 29, including a points verdict over future champion Paul Pender, before a decision loss to Gil Turner in April 1955; Fullmer reversed the verdict two months later and won seven of his next nine to earn a crack at Sugar Ray Robinson at Madison Square Garden for the title…captured the throne with a unanimous decision in January 1957 but, after two non-title wins, lost the title back to Robinson in five rounds on what some call the greatest punch ever thrown…Fullmer bounced back with nine wins in a row and, when the NBA withdrew title recognition from an inactive Robinson, was matched with Carmen Basilio for the vacant belt in August 1958…Fullmer stopped Basilio in 14 in Ring Magazine’s Fight of the Year…a draw with future champion Joey Giardello in his second defense preceded a second stoppage of Basilio in June 1960 before controversially drawing with the almost forty year old Robinson in December…Fullmer cleared up any arguments about the third fight with a clear win three months later to end their rivalry…two more defenses would follow, one a stoppage of reigning and ill-fated Welterweight champion Benny Paret before Fullmer closed his career with three fights against the great Dick Tiger from 1962-63…Fullmer lost the first on points and managed a draw in the return only to be retired after the seventh round, and from the sport, in August 1963…Fullmer was elected to the IBHOF in 1991.

19) Sam Langford (1902-26): Langford was arguably boxing’s greatest fighter in the first quarter of the twentieth century and, standing shy of 5’7, competed successfully from Lightweight to Heavyweight…career mark of 167-38-37, 117 KO, 48 no decisions, 3 no contests is forever stained by the reluctance of champions to risk their crowns against him...while competing around the Middleweight limit, Langford drew with Welterweight great Joe Walcott and bested the likes of Jack Blackburn and Heavyweight Joe Jeanette, appeared to some to get the better of Middleweight champion Stanley Ketchell in a no decision bout and lasted the full fifteen rounds with Heavyweight immortal Jack Johnson…Langford could easily be rated higher at Middleweight, but is easier to rate at Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight where he spent longer periods of his career…Langford was an inaugural member of the IBHOF in 1990. 

18) Mike Gibbons (1907-22): The St. Paul Phantom was one half of a Hall of Fame brother tandem, with Tommy Gibbons, which faced most of the very best of their time…career mark of 62-3-4, 38 KO, 58 no decisions…while never a champion, Gibbons competed with and bested many men who would win Gold…posted news wins over the likes of Jimmy Clabby and a young Jeff Smith on the way to a no contest faceoff with Middleweight titlist Eddie McGoorty in December 1912…from 1914-16, picked up news wins over Smith, future champion Al McCoy, Welterweight great Ted Lewis and Light Heavyweight great Jack Dillon…earned news wins over Harry Greb, former Middleweight champion George Chip, and Dillon again in 1917…split opinions in fights with former champion Mike O’Dowd later in his career, losing a rare official decision to O’Dowd in his penultimate fight in 1922…through over 130 bouts, the expert boxer was never stopped…Gibbons was inducted to the IBHOF in 1992.

17) Charles McCoy (1891-1916): “Kid” McCoy was a rangy, crafty boxer with knockout power who stood out as one of the premiere talents of the early gloved era…career mark of 86-6-6, 64 KO, 6 no decisions, 3 no contests…scored a major early triumph with a 15th round knockout of Tommy Ryan in 1896, followed three fights later with a disqualification win over early Welterweight great “Mysterious Billy Smith”…won a claim to the Middleweight crown with a 15th round stoppage of Dan Creedon but never truly solidified his hold on the throne as he pursued bigger purses and game…stopped by Hall of Fame Heavyweight Tom Sharkey in 1899 but bounced back with a decision over Hall of Famer Joe Choynski, whom he also stopped in four the following year…drew with Ryan in May 1900 and was stopped in five by former Heavyweight king James Corbett three months later…McCoy would grow into the newly formed Light Heavyweight division and fall short in a title bid versus Jack Root in 1903…credited with inventing the ‘corkscrew punch’…McCoy was added to the IBHOF in 1991.

16) Tony Zale (1934-48): From Chicago rather than Krypton, this “Man of Steel” learned as he went, honing his craft as a boxer and puncher on his way to the top of the division…career mark of 67-18-2, 45 KO…NBA titlist 1940-41, 2 defenses; World Champion 1941-47, 1 defense; 1948…Zale would lose 13 of his first 46 bouts into early 1939 before winning 19 of 20 on his way to the undisputed Middleweight crown…made a huge breakthrough with a points win over Al Hostak in January 1940, earning a crack at Hostak’s NBA title six months later where he stopped Hostak in the 13th…immediately lost a non-title affair against Billy Soose but rebounded by battering former champion Fred Apostoli to a points win before the year was out…stopped Hostak again in two in the first half of 1941 and decisioned Georgie Abrams to close the year and unify a Middleweight crown which had seen more than its share of disputes for the previous decade…appearing to be just peaking as a fighter, service during World War II saw Zale fight only once more before 1946, losing on points to Light Heavyweight Billy Conn in 1942…returned full time in January 1946, winning five tune up contests before the defense which began his road to immortality, the first of three fights with Rocky Graziano…Zale won the first, Graziano the second, each with a knockout, and both were named Fight of the Year for ’46 and ’47; both were candidates for Fight of the Century…Zale won the 1948 rubber match with a relatively easy third round knockout before being forced to surrender in the corner in his final bout, a 1948 defense against Cerdan…Zale was inducted to the IBHOF in 1991.

15) Charley Burley (1936-50): As noted previously in looking at the Top 25 Welterweights, legendary trainer Eddie Futch once opined that the Pittsburgh slickster was the best he ever saw…career mark of 83-12-2, 50 KO…the combination of talent, a sometimes dull style, race, and World War kept Burley from the title shot he rightly deserved…after fighting largely at Welterweight early on, Burley picked up an early feather in his Middleweight cap with a points win over novice future titlist Billy Soose in 1938…a full time Middleweight by the dawn of the 1940s, Burley continued a rivalry begun at Welterweight with Holman Williams, sandwiching two of his wins in the series around losses to a young Middleweight version of Ezzard Charles in a span of three months in 1942…scored the only knockout of the Williams series in the last of these four contests…dropped a split decision to Lloyd Marshall to close 1942 but would go unbeaten across 14 fights into 1945, drawing with the tough Cocoa Kid in 1943 and dropping Archie Moore three times en route to a points win in April 1944…lost to Williams in July 1945 before winning ten straight which included points verdicts over tough contenders Oakland Billy Smith and Bert Lytell…it has become fashionable to rate Burley higher than this is some quarters, and he was certainly a great fighter, but there might be some romanticizing there…Burley was elected to the IBHOF in 1992.
 
14) Jake LaMotta (1941-54): With a concrete chin, technical guile, and a willingness to face just about anyone, the Bronx Bull carved a place in history which only grew larger when Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorsese took his tale to the big screen…career mark of 83-19-4, 30 KO…World Champion 1949-51, 2 defenses…at a mark of 30-5-2, LaMotta posted a breakthrough win in February 1943 in his second contest with Sugar Ray Robinson, handing Robinson his first and only loss of the 1940s…would lose their third contest three weeks later and begin a four-fight rivalry with Welterweight great Fritzie Zivic, winning three into 1944…in eight 1944 bouts, LaMotta’s only loss would come in a close decision versus Lloyd Marshall and he would win ten of twelve bouts in 1945, losing twice to Robinson and besting hard men in Bert Lytell, Jose Basora, and Tommy Bell…decisioned an aging but still skilled Holman Williams in 1946 one month after Marcel Cerdan turned the trick…threw a bout with Billy Fox in 1947 to move himself closer to a title shot which was slow in coming…lost to Laurent Dauthille in February 1949 on points but rebounded in June of the year with a title winning effort versus Cerdan…struggling with weight, was well behind Dauthille in their September 1950 title fight before summoning a miracle knockout with seconds to go in the 15th and final round…LaMotta would have no such luck against Robinson in their sixth and final affair, stopped on his feet in the 13th round of the famous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre…career wound down quickly once the title was gone…LaMotta was an inaugural member of the IBHOF in 1990.

13) Ezzard Charles (1940-59): Like Roy Jones earlier in this list, the “Cincinnati Cobra” earned more acclaim higher on the scale but his early Middleweight work can’t be overlooked...career mark of 93-25-1, 52 KO…Charles competed at or near the Middleweight limit for the first three years of his career, facing remarkable competition…his first loss would come in his 16th fight, matched with former Middleweight champion Ken Overlin in June 1941; by March of the following year, Charles was able to work out a ten round draw in the rematch while winning a decision over teddy Yarosz and knocking out former Light Heavyweight titlist Anton Christoforidis in three…lost a split decision to the excellent Kid Tunero before his two finest Middleweight wins, easily outslicking Charley Burley in May and June of 1942…by the end of 1942 he was already sliding into the Light Heavyweight division at a mark of 28-2-1 with all the pieces of what some feel would became the best Light Heavyweight of them all, and a fine Heavyweight champion later, in place…Charles was an inaugural member of the IBHOF in 1990.

12) Marcel Cerdan (1934-49): The “Casablanca Clouter” was a ring genius who dominated the European scene at Welterweight and Middleweight before a tragic airline crash limited what was growing esteem on the world stage…career mark of 106-4, 61 KO…World Champion 1948-49…two of Cerdan’s losses were via disqualification…defeated an aging Holman Williams in Paris in July 1947 as he began to close in on a shot at the title, making his U.S. debut two fights later with a close, exciting decision over perennial contender Georgie Abrams…split contests with Cyrille Delannoit in Belgium in May and July 1948 to set up a crack at Tony Zale for the World crown…In the Fight of the Year, beat the fight out of Zale and forced a retirement in the corner after the eleventh round…scored consecutive knockouts in non-title affairs before losing the title in his first defense to Jake LaMotta, retiring in ten with a shoulder injury…was favored to win a planned rematch, but died while en route to the U.S…had a famous affair with French singer Edith Piaf documented in the excellent film “La Vie En Rose”…had the plane touched down, who knows what more Cerdan might have added to his legacy…was inducted to the IBHOF in 1991.

11) Dick Tiger (1952-70): Nigeria’s Tiger was a highly skilled, highly entertaining warrior who slowly developed into one of the best fighters of the 1960s...career mark of 60-19-3, 27 KO…WBA titlist 1962-63, 1 defense; World Champion 1963, 1 Defense; 1965-66…Tiger slowly evolved during the 1950s, learning his craft in the rings of Nigeria and the United Kindom before entering the U.S. scene in 1959…split a pair of decisions with future champion Joey Giardello and bested contender Holly Mims on points before the year was out…wins over contenders Henry Hank and Spider Webb helped him towards a shot at Gene Fullmer’s crown in October 1962…Tiger overwhelmed the champion to win the honors…after a draw in defense early the following year, Tiger gained lineal recognition as champion following the retirement of Paul Pender and promptly stopped Fullmer in seven in August 1963…lost the title in his next defense to rival Giardello and had to win five in a row, including a mauling of the famed Rubin Carter, to get a rematch in October 1965…Tiger regained the crown on points but lost it two fights later to Emile Griffith, coming off the floor but appearing to outwork the challenger enough to keep the crown…it would be Tiger’s farewell at Middleweight as he rose to capture the Light Heavyweight crown…Tiger was voted into the IBHOF in 1991.

To Be Continued with the Top Ten

Previous Installments of “The Eight”:

Semantics

The results here are compiled in two parts which tweaks the format used for the review of the nine Jr. Divisions conducted earlier this year.

First, a points-based comparison assigns points in part based on:
• Number of fellow champions faced (total) then divided into a competition score to flatten the field due to the fluctuation in titles recognized.
• Lineal World Titles
• Sanctioning Body Titles
• Title Defenses
• 2 Points per KO; -2 per KOBY; 1 per UD against fellow titlists
• Quality Wins (Points Assigned based on opponent accomplishments; i.e. lineal champions can count for 1, a single sanctioning body champion based on their sanctioning body total, discretionary points for established champions from other weight classes)
• Quality Losses (Losses to champion opponents -1 point; selective non-title losses)
• Draws (.5 points)

From this, a baseline is established and (as an exception here considering the depth of talent at Middleweight) the top seventy-five fighters are identified.  Further analysis focuses on the context of wins and losses, the relative dominance displayed in a fighter’s prime, and the strength of one’s era versus the competition faced, to get to a final top twenty-five.

Note: The websites of the IBHOF, Cyber Boxing Zone, International Boxing Research Organization, and BoxRec.com were all heavily consulted in compiling this effort.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com