The 60's A Deep Heavyweight Decade

[Ivich]

We all know the 70's is considered a great heavyweight decade,but the 60's was a solid one too.
Guys like the following plied their trade then.
Liston
Ali
Patterson
Quarry
Ellis
Bonavena
Folley
Machen
Rischer
Peralta
Foster
Lewis
Daniels
Erskine
Martin
London
Jones
Cooper
Richardson
Terrell
Mildenberger
Cleroux
Chuvalo
Frazier
Ramos
Williams
Lincoln
Spencer
Moore
DeJohn

Very deep decade for heavyweights.

[Willie Pep 229]

I have not looked . . . But in your opinion if I went to The Ring Magazine Anual Rankings and counted how many different HWs were ranked during a given decade, would a high number or a low number identify a 'strong decade'?

[kara]

I have not looked . . . But in your opinion if I went to The Ring Magazine Anual Rankings and counted how many different HWs were ranked during a given decade, would a high number or a low number identify a 'strong decade'?

Better not checks the 2000s then.. HA

[QueensburyRules]

We all know the 70's is considered a great heavyweight decade,but the 60's was a solid one too.
Guys like the following plied their trade then.
Liston
Ali
Patterson
Quarry
Ellis
Bonavena
Folley
Machen
Rischer
Peralta
Foster
Lewis
Daniels
Erskine
Martin
London
Jones
Cooper
Richardson
Terrell
Mildenberger
Cleroux
Chuvalo
Frazier
Ramos
Williams
Lincoln
Spencer
Moore
DeJohn

Very deep decade for heavyweights.

- - Very poor decade as folks tended to tune out Floyd and Ali who weren't fighting significant risks in between Sonny going bust. Joe has the best resume of the 60s as he fought top fighters Ali wouldn't fight or those he would fight later like Bonavena and Buster.

[Ivich]

I have not looked . . . But in your opinion if I went to The Ring Magazine Anual Rankings and counted how many different HWs were ranked during a given decade, would a high number or a low number identify a 'strong decade'?

Interesting question
It would probably identify a competitive decade,the rest would be open to personal interpretation imo.

eg The 50's was a competitive decade but far from a strong one, imo.
NB .
Ali fought 9 Ring ranked opponents and 1 worlds champiom in the 60's
Frazier fought 4 Ring ranked opponents in the 60's

[Anthony342]

We all know the 70's is considered a great heavyweight decade,but the 60's was a solid one too.
Guys like the following plied their trade then.
Liston
Ali
Patterson
Quarry
Ellis
Bonavena
Folley
Machen
Rischer
Peralta
Foster
Lewis
Daniels
Erskine
Martin
London
Jones
Cooper
Richardson
Terrell
Mildenberger
Cleroux
Chuvalo
Frazier
Ramos
Williams
Lincoln
Spencer
Moore
DeJohn

Very deep decade for heavyweights.

Balls deep, as it were.

[The D3vil]

- - Very poor decade as folks tended to tune out Floyd and Ali who weren't fighting significant risks in between Sonny going bust. Joe has the best resume of the 60s as he fought top fighters Ali wouldn't fight or those he would fight later like Bonavena and Buster.

Who exactly was Ali supposed to fight that he "wouldn't fight"?

[Ivich]

Who exactly was Ali supposed to fight that he "wouldn't fight"?

Ali fought nine ranked challengers and the champion, Queensbury Fool is as ignorant as a box of rocks.

[QueensburyRules]

Ali fought nine ranked challengers and the champion, Queensbury Fool is as ignorant as a box of rocks.

- - Brian London was ranked in spite of being as rank a contender that can be found in boxing history proving what a weak era Ali fought in.

Only reason he fought London was because he basically got kicked out of American venues because the insurance needed to cover the potential violence of his black ****** religion that wiped out Malcom was prohibitive.

Now, that ain't me disparaging London who was a game a fighter who ever existed, but weak chin + paper skin + small size = no hoper.

U don't even know if U the box or the rocks. I'd say U was the glue holding the box together for the rocks to vacation in.

[Willie Pep 229]

- - Brian London was ranked in spite of being as rank a contender that can be found in boxing history proving what a weak era Ali fought in.

Only reason he fought London was because he basically got kicked out of American venues because the insurance needed to cover the potential violence of his black ****** religion that wiped out Malcom was prohibitive.

Now, that ain't me disparaging London who was a game a fighter who ever existed, but weak chin + paper skin + small size = no hoper.

U don't even know if U the box or the rocks. I'd say U was the glue holding the box together for the rocks to vacation in.

I think we did this before . . .

Ali was a boxing traditionalist and when he won the title from Liston . . .

He first gave Liston the rematch. . .

He then defeated the former champion (Patterson). . .

He announced that he wanted to be a 'fighting champion' and said he would probably create his own 'bum of the month club.'

And then to cap off the tradition he began his foreign tour making a name for himself outside the States. Chuvalo; Cooper; London; Mildenberger.

In 1966 alone he fought five times. If you take the 16 month period from Patterson (11/65) to Folley (3/67) and his ban, Ali fought eight times. Once evey two months. All, save for your boy Cooper, were Ring ranked fighters.

RE Cooper: Dispite not being ranked, but because of the KD we all agree, as did Ali, that Cooper deserved a rematch--> just as a traditionalist would believe.

Ali was a fighting champ and a boxing traditionalist. He was doing it just as we would hope a HW Champion would.

What more can you ask of a champion?

He wasn't going to duck anyone. When they ban him, Frazier (6th) and Bonavena (7th) had just entered the rankings that year.

Since he didn't t hesitate to fight both when he returned why accuse him of ducking them in '67?

Everything about Ali says he would have fought them had the G not gotten in the way.