Top 10 Heavies from best to worst

[The Iron Man]

Nice list man, thanks for posting.

Obviously i have a few things i would change, for instance take Marciano off and put Tyson on. Foreman lower evander higher. The list i have below was made up for statistical information i guess. I made an excel spread sheet and gave each fighter a mark out of 10 for certain attributes and achievments, then got the total results and put them in a table accordingly. I didnt just do it on my own, i gave it to another poster who has quite a few different view, but who i also respect not to be biased (its poet if u know him). I can send you the spreadsheet if you want to take a look, and even edit it yourself.

For me Tyson has to be on the list, achievement wise he is up there in the top 3, and attribute wise he is up there in the top 5. He is let down slightly by the people he fought, but so to are Holmes, Holyfield, Lewis and Marciano. I couldnt help but notice what you said about Holmes beating Ali "that even though he was old, not any fighter can beat Ali". You rate ali at 3, and Holmes at 1. Tyson fought Holmes at more or less the same time in his career as Holmes fought Ali, and he done what no1 could do before and Knocked Holmes out.

[-CANE-]

1-Holmes
2-Louis
3-Ali
4-Lewis
5-Johnson
6-Liston
7-Frazier
8-Foreman
9-Evander
10-Marciano

I didn't go into this with a pre-given criteria. I don't usually do lists as they are unwieldy and subjective. If you go in with certain criteria your list is then practically already in place and you just throw the names down based on that.

I just thought about the best heavyweights, they came ot my mind and I then put them in order and see what criteria arises from the actual names as they appear.

1- Larry Holmes. Best all round heavyweight I've seen. Jab, right hand, uppercut, movement, smarts, chin and a huge heart. Fought in an era where there not many great fighters so fought an aged great one and stopped him. Ali was finished but not any fighter could stop him.

2- Louis. The most supreme puncher and finisher I've ever seen. Underrated footwork also. Always in range to get shots off when needed. Decent chin. Fought a lot of very good names and dominated his time. Would be a monster under modern conditions.

3- Ali. Very good fighter. Underrated left hook. Good punching combinatinos. Tough. Fought the best fighters possible and beat them a lot. Including a few names on this list.

4- Lewis. A good mix between Holmes and Louis. Good boxer and great finished when needed. Blasted out with two monster shots but his own worst enemy. When 'on' very hard to beat. Beat the best of his era including a name on the list.

5- Johnson. A genius. True genius who changed boxing and its style a lot in terms of defence and spoiling. In the list as an innovator and the geuine genius on the list.

6- Liston. A monster. Fighting machine as a contender (great finishes against Wiliams) and should have been a Champion long before. Great title wins over Patterson and unlucky to meet a Top Three guy in Ali when Liston was in the downturn.

7- Frazier. Another fighting machine. Decent chin. Underrated style and you need a very specific style to beat him. Foreman, Lennox and Holmes have it in particular. Beat Ali. Ali fought a good fight. Frazier was just better that first night. Only guy in my list with a win over a relatively fresh Top Three guy.

8- Foreman. Underrated. Dethroned a fellow great in spectacular fashion. Beat a good level of competition. Adapted to age and circumstance to have a second stab at things. Excellent chin. Solid power and underrated footwork, again always on hand to land the shots. Tactically inept as a younger fighter.

9- Evander. Agelss warrior. Wonderful wins. Great heart. Definitely more thna the sum of his parts and had some great achivements. Beat a near-great in Bowe, a potential Top Four guy.

10- Marciano. Underrated heart breaker fighter. Great win over Walcott who also fought one of his best fights possible at that age. Dominated his division. Impeccable record and left few blemishes to mar it. Win over Louis was spectacular even given Louis' age.

For my sins that is my list.

Thanks for that and I really like your list, disagree with a few minor places but not much really. A few of us recently did a consensus but the guy who has everyones votes hasn't been on for a while so we are still awaiting the outcome. My list is different from my accomplishment list which you have seen and is on my signature and it is very much like yours. I took into account everything I could think of including accomplishments, overall ability, who could beat who, who they actually beat and put them all at their best.
Regarding who could beat who is very difficult to assertain as has Johnson fought in Tyson's time he style would have been probably very different. Also fighters are generally bigger and the old timers may well have been an inch or two bigger but I discounted this and took everyone at the size they were. I also thought about natural ability and the best we ever saw each particular fighter.

I have tried to contact the guy with all the results but he hasn't got back to me yet, I just hope he is alright and nothing has happened. So I shall leave it until the end of the month and then I might ask everyone for their lists again and I shall then list the results. If you would like to be included then pm me or reply back on this thread and let me know. I shall not display my list yet as it's not fair and I will then put up everyone's lists for all too see and the final list of all the results added up.

[StarshipTrooper]

1-Holmes
2-Louis
3-Ali
4-Lewis
5-Johnson
6-Liston
7-Frazier
8-Foreman
9-Evander
10-Marciano

I didn't go into this with a pre-given criteria. I don't usually do lists as they are unwieldy and subjective. If you go in with certain criteria your list is then practically already in place and you just throw the names down based on that.

I just thought about the best heavyweights, they came ot my mind and I then put them in order and see what criteria arises from the actual names as they appear.

1- Larry Holmes. Best all round heavyweight I've seen. Jab, right hand, uppercut, movement, smarts, chin and a huge heart. Fought in an era where there not many great fighters so fought an aged great one and stopped him. Ali was finished but not any fighter could stop him.

2- Louis. The most supreme puncher and finisher I've ever seen. Underrated footwork also. Always in range to get shots off when needed. Decent chin. Fought a lot of very good names and dominated his time. Would be a monster under modern conditions.

3- Ali. Very good fighter. Underrated left hook. Good punching combinatinos. Tough. Fought the best fighters possible and beat them a lot. Including a few names on this list.

4- Lewis. A good mix between Holmes and Louis. Good boxer and great finished when needed. Blasted out with two monster shots but his own worst enemy. When 'on' very hard to beat. Beat the best of his era including a name on the list.

5- Johnson. A genius. True genius who changed boxing and its style a lot in terms of defence and spoiling. In the list as an innovator and the geuine genius on the list.

6- Liston. A monster. Fighting machine as a contender (great finishes against Wiliams) and should have been a Champion long before. Great title wins over Patterson and unlucky to meet a Top Three guy in Ali when Liston was in the downturn.

7- Frazier. Another fighting machine. Decent chin. Underrated style and you need a very specific style to beat him. Foreman, Lennox and Holmes have it in particular. Beat Ali. Ali fought a good fight. Frazier was just better that first night. Only guy in my list with a win over a relatively fresh Top Three guy.

8- Foreman. Underrated. Dethroned a fellow great in spectacular fashion. Beat a good level of competition. Adapted to age and circumstance to have a second stab at things. Excellent chin. Solid power and underrated footwork, again always on hand to land the shots. Tactically inept as a younger fighter.

9- Evander. Agelss warrior. Wonderful wins. Great heart. Definitely more thna the sum of his parts and had some great achivements. Beat a near-great in Bowe, a potential Top Four guy.

10- Marciano. Underrated heart breaker fighter. Great win over Walcott who also fought one of his best fights possible at that age. Dominated his division. Impeccable record and left few blemishes to mar it. Win over Louis was spectacular even given Louis' age.

For my sins that is my list.

Excellent insights! You've clearly watched all these guys fight and that is the best thing one can do before rating fighters. Please stick around! Your views will be heartily welcomed by myself and my compatriots here. And guys? Sorry I haven't been posting of late but I haven't been well. Hopefully I'll be posting here fulltime again before long. Thanks guys!

Poet

[Neckodeemus]

Nice list man, thanks for posting.

Obviously i have a few things i would change, for instance take Marciano off and put Tyson on. Foreman lower evander higher. The list i have below was made up for statistical information i guess. I made an excel spread sheet and gave each fighter a mark out of 10 for certain attributes and achievments, then got the total results and put them in a table accordingly. I didnt just do it on my own, i gave it to another poster who has quite a few different view, but who i also respect not to be biased (its poet if u know him). I can send you the spreadsheet if you want to take a look, and even edit it yourself.

For me Tyson has to be on the list, achievement wise he is up there in the top 3, and attribute wise he is up there in the top 5. He is let down slightly by the people he fought, but so to are Holmes, Holyfield, Lewis and Marciano. I couldnt help but notice what you said about Holmes beating Ali "that even though he was old, not any fighter can beat Ali". You rate ali at 3, and Holmes at 1. Tyson fought Holmes at more or less the same time in his career as Holmes fought Ali, and he done what no1 could do before and Knocked Holmes out.

Thanks, and thanks for reading my list and comments guys. I realised the Holmes/Ali/Tyson thing could have been a problem and just go on the belief that Holmes is tough for a prime Ali but a prime Holmes beats a prime Tyson.

I rate Rocky over Tyson. I'm well into Marciano right now so could be swayed by that, great record, very good wins and a nightmare of a fighter.

[StarshipTrooper]

Thanks, and thanks for reading my list and comments guys. I realised the Holmes/Ali/Tyson thing could have been a problem and just go on the belief that Holmes is tough for a prime Ali but a prime Holmes beats a prime Tyson.

I rate Rocky over Tyson. I'm well into Marciano right now so could be swayed by that, great record, very good wins and a nightmare of a fighter.

There's always going to be some debate on the margins. Most of us, I think, agree on roughly 7 fighters out of the 10. The discussion revolves around who the remaining 3 should be and what order the whole should go in. I think you'll find that this particualar thread is more congenial then other threads: Most of our discussions are really chats among friends here.

Poet

[Neckodeemus]

There's always going to be some debate on the margins. Most of us, I think, agree on roughly 7 fighters out of the 10. The discussion revolves around who the remaining 3 should be and what order the whole should go in. I think you'll find that this particualar thread is more congenial then other threads: Most of our discussions are really chats among friends here.

Poet

Yeah, Top Tens usually start arguments but this thread seems less judgemental and that is good. I'm getting stick elsewhere for my Tyson views but you have to tell it as you see it otherwise there is no point following the sport.

[StarshipTrooper]

Yeah, Top Tens usually start arguments but this thread seems less judgemental and that is good. I'm getting stick elsewhere for my Tyson views but you have to tell it as you see it otherwise there is no point following the sport.

You won't get flack on this thread! We're all friends here and if someone butts in and tries to start fights we run him off right quick. All boxing views are welcome here and discussed like friends sitting down to a cup of joe. Fights aren't welcome: Intelligent, friendly discussion is!

Poet

[TheGreatA]

1. Wladimir Klitschko
2. Lennox Lewis
3. Vitali Klitschko
4. Mike Tyson
5. Ali
6. Rid**** Bowe
7. Jose Luis
8. Evander Holyfield
9. Rocky
10. Roy Jones

[-CANE-]

1. Wladimir Klitschko
2. Lennox Lewis
3. Vitali Klitschko
4. Mike Tyson
5. Ali
6. Rid**** Bowe
7. Jose Luis
8. Evander Holyfield
9. Rocky
10. Roy Jones

Cheers manchine that made me laugh mate. I know your knowledgable from most of your other posts and this is your sense of humour.

[LondonRingRules]

I'm getting stick elsewhere for my Tyson views but you have to tell it as you see it otherwise there is no point following the sport.

** Everyone gets stick on their Tyson views.

No fighter has ever risen so high so fast or fallen harder in plain view of the public. Don't recall your rating of Tyson, but IBRO puts him in the unlucky 13 slot, ahead of Holy but behind Lewis which seems apropo for his career.