Top 10 Heavies from best to worst

[Dazzaman]

My top 10

1 Ali
2 Louis
3 Holmes
4 Lewis
5 Johnson
6 Dempsey
7 Frazier
8 Tyson
9 Marciano
10 Holyfield
11 Foreman
12 Tunney
13 Liston
14 Charles
15 Patterson

OK, that's 15 but there were so many good fighters. My top 4 are pretty much set in stone but 5 to 13 were very tough to rank. Hard to leave such good fighters as Tunney, Foreman and Liston out of the top 10. Big Daddy, Wlad (gasp), Jim Jefferies & Old Jersey Joe were swinging around the top top 15 too.

Ali tops, his amalgam of sustained speed, smarts, durability, courage & more than adequate power was too much to overlook. Louis had really good power, skills, defence, durability and smarts. No one could build the sort of careers that these two guys did over nearly two decades at the top without being great at the game. Larry Holmes is, in my opinion the greatest heavyweight boxer I've ever seen. On his day, at his best, he could beat any of the other great champions by utilizing all of his many skills. Lennox is pretty much in the same category as Larry in my opinion, a large man with the best right hand I've seen, good speed, ring craft and excellent combinations. He could also beat any of the other fighters more often than not on any given day.

In fact, most of these guys could score wins against any of the others, though some would win decidedly more due to physical attributes more than anything else. Some of the smaller guys would suffer against the giants of the division but it wouldn't be a given....

I gotta say that if Vitali had not taken himself out of the game during what would have been his prime years, he would likely have made this top 15. He seemed to be the heir apparent to Lewis & would have made a pretty decent champion imo....

[JAB5239]

1 Ali
2 Louis
3 Holmes
4 Lewis
5 Johnson
6 Dempsey
7 Frazier
8 Tyson
9 Marciano
10 Holyfield
11 Foreman
12 Tunney
13 Liston
14 Charles
15 Patterson


OK, that's 15 but there were so many good fighters. My top 4 are pretty much set in stone but 5 to 13 were very tough to rank. Hard to leave such good fighters as Tunney, Foreman and Liston out of the top 10. Big Daddy, Wlad (gasp), Jim Jefferies & Old Jersey Joe were swinging around the top top 15 too.

Ali tops, his amalgam of sustained speed, smarts, durability, courage & more than adequate power was too much to overlook. Louis had really good power, skills, defence, durability and smarts. No one could build the sort of careers that these two guys did over nearly two decades at the top without being great at the game. Larry Holmes is, in my opinion the greatest heavyweight boxer I've ever seen. On his day, at his best, he could beat any of the other great champions by utilizing all of his many skills. Lennox is pretty much in the same category as Larry in my opinion, a large man with the best right hand I've seen, good speed, ring craft and excellent combinations. He could also beat any of the other fighters more often than not on any given day.

In fact, most of these guys could score wins against any of the others, though some would win decidedly more due to physical attributes more than anything else. Some of the smaller guys would suffer against the giants of the division but it wouldn't be a given....

I gotta say that if Vitali had not taken himself out of the game during what would have been his prime years, he would likely have made this top 15. He seemed to be the heir apparent to Lewis & would have made a pretty decent champion imo....

Pretty good list Dazz, thanks for posing it. I think you have Dempsey and Tunney to high, and Foreman and Liston to low. Could you explain why they're at where they're at?

[McGoorty]

No doubt

:- THE INDISPUTABLE H.W. All Time TOP 10

1. MARVIN HART.

2. ROCKY MARCIANO.

3. JOE LOUIS.

4. MUHAMMAD ALI.

5. JACK DEMPSEY.

6. JOHN L. SULLIVAN.

7. JACK JOHNSON.

8. GENE TUNNEY.

9. JEM MACE.

10. PETER JACKSON.

, ,

, ,

"You talkin' to me ???

[McGoorty]

:- THE INDISPUTABLE H.W. All Time TOP 10

1. MARVIN HART.

2. ROCKY MARCIANO.

3. JOE LOUIS.

4. MUHAMMAD ALI.

5. JACK DEMPSEY.

6. JOHN L. SULLIVAN.

7. JACK JOHNSON.

8. GENE TUNNEY.

9. JEM MACE.

10. PETER JACKSON.

, ,

, ,

"You talkin' to me ???

So,... is nobody going to dispute the above claim about MARVIN HART being the greatest HW,................. ???????????,............. HART ?

[Barn]

So,... is nobody going to dispute the above claim about MARVIN HART being the greatest HW,................. ???????????,............. HART ?

Marvin Hart is the worst undisputed champion in history, I hope you're kidding.

[McGoorty]

Marvin Hart is the worst undisputed champion in history, I hope you're kidding.

Yes I was certainly kidding,... I was 'avin a laugh,............................................ ............ ,.......... In Fact I was getting worried that NO-ONE had made a poke at me,..... in fact I know little about him, no one does !!!!!!,.... if anyone does, I'd be interested to hear it....... .... The bit that I know tempts me to put him in the "Worst HW Champions ever and a bit of a fake like the other two that I don't rate any higher than him, and they are centuries apart, first John Ruiz, we know him,.... Gentleman John Jackson who had only THREE career FIGHTS ??????,.. and of course Marvin Hart, the man who would have been a 100 to 1 chance of beating Willard and probably would have been THRASHED by GANS.............. I'm, not surprised, Barnburner, that you were the first to notice,,,,...... you knew I was kiddin'. Dinch ya !!

[StarshipTrooper]

Yes I was certainly kidding,... I was 'avin a laugh,............................................ ............ ,.......... In Fact I was getting worried that NO-ONE had made a poke at me,..... in fact I know little about him, no one does !!!!!!,.... if anyone does, I'd be interested to hear it....... .... The bit that I know tempts me to put him in the "Worst HW Champions ever and a bit of a fake like the other two that I don't rate any higher than him, and they are centuries apart, first John Ruiz, we know him,.... Gentleman John Jackson who had only THREE career FIGHTS ??????,.. and of course Marvin Hart, the man who would have been a 100 to 1 chance of beating Willard and probably would have been THRASHED by GANS.............. I'm, not surprised, Barnburner, that you were the first to notice,,,,...... you knew I was kiddin'. Dinch ya !!

I think most of us were pretty sure you were kidding hence no shots taken :chuckle9: We'd only take shots at you if we thought you really meant it :cool9:

Poet

[McGoorty]

I think most of us were pretty sure you were kidding hence no shots taken :chuckle9: We'd only take shots at you if we thought you really meant it :cool9:

Poet

yeah,.. I've been laughing for days about it.... I like to make a bogus post now and then, it's not seemly for an Australian "Bloke" to be seen with a stiff upper lip, and we got good reasons too,..... ever seen "Breaker Morant". one of the great movies..... anyway, the Aussies told the poms at their firing squad to "shoot straight ya bastards",... and that's just one reason.

[StarshipTrooper]

yeah,.. I've been laughing for days about it.... I like to make a bogus post now and then, it's not seemly for an Australian "Bloke" to be seen with a stiff upper lip, and we got good reasons too,..... ever seen "Breaker Morant". one of the great movies..... anyway, the Aussies told the poms at their firing squad to "shoot straight ya bastards",... and that's just one reason.

Yep, seen it.....based on a true story from the Boer War. If I remember right, the book they based the movie on was "Scapegoats Of The Empire". Pommies loved ****ting on Aussies for some bizzare reason.

Poet

[McGoorty]

Yep, seen it.....based on a true story from the Boer War. If I remember right, the book they based the movie on was "Scapegoats Of The Empire". Pommies loved ****ting on Aussies for some bizzare reason.

Poet

The pommies didn't like the Aussie free spirits, seems they took terms like, "toffy bastard", "Bludger", "ya stewpid Drongo;s", "Get ****ed yer ****'s and other lovely terms of endearment, after all we wanted to give our cousins a hand, but we had to open our mouths and mention the words that terrified all little English boys in those days, for every little English boy wanted to play cricket for England./////// and the words, "the Demon Bowler" Fred Spofforth, the nightmare of all England, a "Colonial" who showed 'Em up at their own invention (Australia has since perfected the game,.... are you there G.J.C. ??),............... it is all fact,..... No one from outside Australia or England (and INDIA) can understand Aussies or Pom culture without understanding the impact of Cricket,..... it's in the D.N.A.