Top 10 Lightheavies All time

[Steak]

on the other hand, look at Mike Spinks' top ten wins at LHW...
Yanqui Lopez#5, Marvin Johnson #5, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad#1-3, Murray Sutherland#7, Jerry Celestine#8, John Davis#6, Dwight Muhammad Qawi #1, Eddie Davis #3, David Sears#6, Jim MacDonald#10.

and this was a strong era too.

[Benncollinsaad]

Dariusz also beat Harmon! And Richard Hall. Both by tko.

[Alec900]

It wasnt the best era ever, no, but theres a gap between Darius and Roy at LHW.
I wouldnt put Darius THAT low at LHW though.

top 25?

[Obama]

Whatever YOU think of him, his achievements can't be ignored. 48-2 with 23 title defences. Show me another great lhw with the same record!

You act like the WBO was recognized for all those title defenses.

[Benncollinsaad]

You act like the WBO was recognized for all those title defenses.

As far as I know, WBO is a recognized body/organisation. Not as "fancy" as WBA or WBC, but still recognized as the fourth major belt.

[Obama]

As far as I know, WBO is a recognized body/organisation. Not as "fancy" as WBA or WBC, but still recognized as the fourth major belt.

When was it recognized? Damn sure not when it was begun. More like a decade after that. I wrote an article on the history of the soup organizations a while back:

Although boxing has existed as far back as the 16th century, the World Title didn't emerge until the end of the 19th century when Jim Corbett won it by defeating American Champion John L. Sullivan. This ushered out the era of bare knuckle fighting and ushered in the era of the Queensberry rules. Nonetheless, not until 1920 would boxing even become an officially sanctioned sport as the NYSAC (New York State Athletic Commission) was formed. The Walker Law happened to be passed this year which regulated boxing in NY. Sadly, from the very onset of sanctioning boxing, there was division. The NBA (National Boxing Association) emerged in other states in 1921 to counter the NYSAC's influence. From 1927 to 1940, the two organizations often had different Champions. Only when people held recognition from both organizations were they considered World Champion. In 1962 the NBA became the WBA (World Boxing Association), and in 1963 the NYSAC supported the formation of the WBC (World Boxing Council). Not until 1984 would another sanctioning body emerge in the IBF, which was a direct result of division in the WBA. The IBF was recognized nearly immediately as legitimate. It's likely to be due to the fact that Larry Holmes (lineal Heavyweight Champion at the time) relinquished his WBC title when he was awarded the belt. Four years later (1988) the WBA would experience division yet again, leading to the formation of the WBO. Unlike the IBF however, the boxing world was not quick to recognize the WBO as legitimate. I can't seem to find when exactly they gained recognition, but it had to of taken around a decade. They didn't just hand out their title to the most established Champions out there. They made their own vacant title bouts between lesser qualified candidates. Francesco Damiani was their first Heavyweight Champion, and he's probably the least known "World Heavyweight Champion" of all time. The guy he beat to win the title wasn't exactly well known either (Johnny DuPlooy). The most recently established worldwide boxing organization that has attained some form of credibility is the IBO (International Boxing Organization), which has yet to be universally recognized. Unlike the IBF and WBO however, it didn't spawn from the WBA. It didn't spawn from any previously established organization. Although many people doubt the IBO will ever achieve recognition, I'm not so sure. The organization currently has as many Ring Champions or #1 contenders to a vacant title as half of the other recognized organizations do with a whopping total of 4:


Heavyweight - Wladimir Klitschko
*Light Heavyweight - Chad Dawson (Considering Bernard Hopkins is inactive)
Junior Welterweight - Manny Pacquiao
Flyweight - Nonito Donaire


Those are four promising fighters with a future. Two are top 10 p4p, and the two others seem to be on there way there. The legitimacy of this organization now rests in their hands.

[Benncollinsaad]

Fighters make the titles worthy, not the other way around. Would you say Ruiz is a better fighter than Ray Mercer because he held the WBA belt and Mercer only the WBO belt?? Guess not.

[Steak]

top 25?

sure, I have no problem with that. honestly, my boxing knowledge drops off badly before the 50s, so guys like Loughran or even Tunney and Conn I dont know much about. so I would never be able to make a fair top 25 list...but if I did, I probably would put Darius within the top 25.

Darius was a pretty good fighter though, despite having never fought Jones. he foughta lot of limited guys...but he also beat some real good ones too, most notably Virgil Hill(his best win). He wasnt like an Ottke, he was acutually quite a talented guy, with a very good left hand in particular.
I dont give a damn about those 'title' defenses though. its a nice stat, but in the end it doesnt mean jack ****.

Fighters make the titles worthy, not the other way around. Would you say Ruiz is a better fighter than Ray Mercer because he held the WBA belt and Mercer only the WBO belt?? Guess not.

any belt is garbage nowadays, but back in the 90s the WBO was looked at as absolute garbage. like moving a dead fighter up spots in their rankings, having terrible champions, etc.
the WBO back then was practicaly looked at then as the WBU is nowadays. if youre going to put stock into title defenses(Which I DONT at all), then the WBO's title defense streak should be the least meaningful of all.

[JAB5239]

Fighters make the titles worthy, not the other way around. Would you say Ruiz is a better fighter than Ray Mercer because he held the WBA belt and Mercer only the WBO belt?? Guess not.

Fighters do make titles worthy. But if you are not the best fighter in the division, the title means little.

And Ruiz was never the champion, but he was a better fighter than Mercer and had a better career.

[StarshipTrooper]

****ing bull**** not having roy Jones, his talent has yet to be matched.

This is a Biased list of Old time fighter's.

That's funny! I got ripped for ranking Jones number 12 p4p lol.

Poet