Rank the Best to Worst Heavyweight Era During the past Half Century.

[Willow The Wisp]

Purely Subjective of course, as most discussions here are. I'm posting a study guide to aid in visually examining the best names operating within each 10 year block, dating back 55 years.
People will note the esteem of each top 10, and get a feel for the depth available to those elite men listed.

Quips relating to my personal ranking may be irresistible, but are not the point. Still, if you Can't resist those, be sure to post your reasoning.

Cruiserweights who did limited work beyond 200 lbs. fall back into their own category after the 1980s.

All in fun.



A. 1970 - 1979
1. Muhammad Ali
2. George Foreman
3. Joe Frazier
4. Larry Holmes
5. Ken Norton
6. Jerry Quarry
7. Ron Lyle
8. Earnie Shavers
9. Jimmy Young
10. Big John Tate
11. Jimmy Ellis
12. Gerrie Coetzee
13. Joe Bugner
14. Floyd Patterson
15. George Chuvalo
16. Oscar Bonavena
17. Mac Foster
18. Al Blue Lewis
19. Kallie Knoetze
20. Leon Spinks
21. Duane Bobick
22. Buster Mathis
23. Henry Cooper
24. Chuck Wepner
25. John Dino Dennis
26. Boone Kirkman
27. Randy Neumann
28. LeRoy Jones
29. Howard KO Smith
30. Roy Tiger Williams
31. Larry Middletown
32. Richard Dunn
33. Johnny Boudreaux
34. Jose Manuel Urtain
35. Jose Luis Garcia
36. Henry Clark
37. Gregorio Peralta
38. Florida Al Jones
39. Jeff Merritt
40. Ossie Ocasio
41. Lorenzo Zanon
42. Mike Schutte
43. Carlos De Leon
44. Ernie Terrell
45. John L. Gardner
46. Mike Koranicki
47. Danny McAlinden
48. Terry Hinke
49. Rodney Bobick
50. Jack O'Halloran
51. Ron Stander
52. Marvin Camel
53. Dale Ibar Arrington
54. James J Beattie
55. Jean Pierre Coopman
56. Terry Daniels
57. Bunny Johnson
58. Jack Bodell
59. Pedro Lovell
60. Pat Duncan
61. Alfio Righetti
62. Jodi Ballard
63. Walter Moore
64. Terry Krueger
65. Tom Pater
66. Eddie The Animal Lopez
67. Marty Monroe
68. Joe King Roman
69. Lynn Ball
70. Randy Stephens
71. Lou Esa
72. Billy Aird
73. Dante Cane
74. Marvin Stinson
75. Jimmy Richards
76. Jeff Shelburg
77. Rudi Lubbers
78. Giuseppe Bepi Ros
79. Tony Doyle
80. Juergen Blin
81. Domingo D'Elia
82. Bernd August
83. Fred Young Sanford Houpe
84. Guy The Rock Casale
85. Luis Pires
86. Earl Tripp
87. Mario Baruzzi
88. Alberto Lovell
89. Tony Pulu
90. Kevin Isaac
91. Greg Sorrentino
92. Young Sekona
93. Bill Sharkey
94. Miguel Angel Paez
95. Bob Stallings
96. Ted Gullick
97. Airman Fred Lewis
98. Albert Syben
99. Mircea Simon
100. Horst Geisler

A Few Just Missing the cut:
Pedro Agosto
Tommy Kost
Wendell Bailey
Claude Humphrey McBride
Sylvester Bump Kelly
Cliff McDonald
Nick Wells
Jerry Judge
Doug Kirk
George Scap Iron Johnson
Tom Fischer
Ngozika Ekwelum
Ron Drinkwater
Claman Parker
Eddie Neilson
Jerry Huston Jr
Bob Bozic
Obie English
Pedro Soto
Joe Alexander
Willie Burton
Joe Velmure
Ed Too Tall Jones
Ismael Ruiz
Macka Foley
Dave Matthews




B. 1980 - 1989
1. Larry Holmes
2. Mike Tyson
3. Gerry Cooney
4. Tim Witherspoon
5. Evander Holyfield
6. Mike Weaver
7. Gerrie Coetzee
8. Michael Dokes
9. Michael Spinks
10. Bonecrusher Smith
11. Frank Bruno
12. James Buster Douglas
13. Trevor Berbick
14. Tony Tucker
15. Pinklon Thomas
16. Donovan Razor Ruddock
17. John Tate
18. Carl The Truth Williams
19. Greg Page
20. Tony Tubbs
21. Renaldo Snipes
22. David Bey
23. Ken Norton
24. Randall Tex Cobb
25. Scott LeDoux
26. James Quick Tillis
27. Bert Cooper
28. Marvis Frazier
29. James Broad
30. Joe Bugner
31. Eddie Gregg
32. Scott Frank
33. Stan Ward
34. Steffen Tangstad
35. Tyrell Biggs
36. Mitch Blood Green
37. Floyd Jumbo Cummings
38. Jesse Ferguson
39. George Chaplin
40. Bernardo Mercado
41. Alfredo Evangelista
42. Lucien Rodriguez
43. Johnny Du Plooy
44. Adilson Rodrigues
45. Horace Notice
46. Bennie Knoetze
47. Willie de Wit
48. Gordon Racette
49. Philipp Brown
50. Larry Frazier
51. Tommy Franco Thomas
52. Seamus McDonagh
53. Henry Tillman
54. Proud Kilimanjaro
55. Jose Ribalta
56. Jimmy Clark
57. Jeff Sims
58. Larry Frazier
59. Lee Canalito
60. Mike Evans
61. Anders Eklund
62. Sylvain Watbled
63. Monte Masters
64. Cecil Coffie
65. Jimmy Abbott
66. ST Gordon
67. Kevin Babineaux
68. Robbie Williams
69. Craig Bodzianowski
70. Steve Zouski
71. Gordon Ferris
72. Tony Fulilangi
73. Elijah Tillery
74. Marty Capasso
75. Bobby Hitz
76. Chris McDonald
77. Joe Thomas
78. George Mostardini
79. Henry Milligan
80. Walter Daniel Falconi
81. Rocky Sekorski
82. Terry Davis
83. Ken Lakusta
84. Kip Kane
85. Walter Santemore
86. Gary Lightbourne
87. Pisa Fini
88. Funso Banjo
89. Hughroy Currie
80. Conroy Nelson
91. Reggie Gross
92. Lupe Guerra
93. Reiner Hartmann
94. Rodney Frazier
95. Bruce Grandham
96. Jerry Wimpy Halstead
97. Jeff Jordan
98. Eric Curry
99. Michael Greer
100. Scott Wheaton

A Few Just Missing the cut:
Dion Simpson
Glenn McCrory
Clarence Hill
Rudi Pika
Cedric Parsons
Jimmy Finn
Ken Schmidt
Mark Lee
Tony Anthony
Donnie Long
Thomas Classen
Felipe Rodriguez
Ali Haakim
Mary Konate
Rufus Hadley
Sammy Scaff
Demetrius Oak Tree Edwards
CJ Vescio
Dennis Alexio


C. 1990 - 1999
1. Lennox Lewis
2. Evander Holyfield
3. Mike Tyson
4. Rid**** Bowe
5. Ike Ibeabuchi
6. George Foreman
7. David Tua
8. Larry Holmes
9. Shannon Briggs
10. Ray Mercer
11. Tommy Morrison
12. Michael Moorer
13. Andrew Golota
14. Oliver McCall
15. Chris Byrd
16. Donovan Razor Ruddock
17. James Buster Douglas
18. Tony Tucker
19. Bert Cooper
20. Larry Donald
21. Alex Stewart
22. Michael Grant
23. Lou Savarese
24. Gary Mason
25. Francesco Damiani
26. Bruce Seldon
27. Kirk Johnson
28. Derrick Jefferson
29. Danell Nicholson
30. David Izon
31. Pierre Coetzer
32. Axel Schulz
33. Frans Botha
34. Henry Akinwande
35. Joe Hipp
36. Buster Mathis Jr
37. Jeremy Williams
38. Herbie Hide
39. Jimmy Thunder
40. Zeljko Mavrovic
41. Alex Garcia
42. Jorge Luis Gonzalez
43. Fres Oquendo
44. Obed Sullivan
45. Mike Perez
46. Orlin Norris
47. Vaughn Bean
48. Shazzon Bradley
49. Michael Bentt
50. Alexander Miroshnichenko
51. Steve Pannell
52. James Pritchard
53. Alexander Zolkin
54. Neven Pajkic
55. Peter McNeeley
56. Melvin Foster
57. Mike Williams
58. Ed Mahone
59. Terrence Lewis
60. Sefer Seferi
61. Don Steele
62. David Dixon
63. Phil Jackson
64. Richie Melito
65. Robert Davis
66. Courage Tshabalala
67. Rocky Pepeli
68. Keith McKnight
69. Solomon Haumono
70. Art Tucker
71. Przemyslaw Saleta
72. Curtis Shepard
73. Bronco Billy Wright
74. Scott Welsh
75. Tue Bjorn Thomsen
76. Kelvin Price
77. Cody Koch
78. Julius Francis
79. Daniel Dancuta
80. James Oyebola
81. Crawford Grimsley
82. Sam Hampton
83. Ross Puritty
84. Eric Butterbean Esch
85. Paea Wolfgramm
86. Ahmed Abdin
87. Dic*y Ryan
88. Boise Jimmy Ellis
89. Ray Anis
90. Samson Po'uha
91. Ed Mahone
92. Tom Glesby
93. Terry David
94. Gerald Mitchell
95. Fred Westgeest
96. Tim Tomashek
97. Paul Poirier
98. Bobby Harris
99. Magomed Abdusalamov
100. Rodolfo Marin

A Few Just Missing the cut:
Christophe Bizot
Mario Cawley
Mark De Mori
Saul Montana
Alonzo Highsmith
Rich Power
Pele Reid
Bobby Crabtree
Tim Puller
Michael Simuwelu
Brian Scott
Thomas Williams
Antoine Palatis
Jerry Goff
Kevin Ford
Mike The Giant White
Bobby Harris
Massimo Migliaccio
Billy Tompkins
Kilbert Pierce
Marselles Brown
Stanley Lee Wright
Mark Gastineau




D. 2000 - 2009
1. Wladimir Klitschko
2. Lennox Lewis
3. Chris Byrd
4. Vitali Klitschko
5. Alexander Povetkin
6. David Tua
7. Hasim Rahman
8. Corrie Sanders
9. Ruslan Chagaev
10. John Ruiz
11. Nikolai Valuev
12. Lamon Brewster
13. Oleg Maskaev
14. Evander Holyfield
15. Sultan Ibragimov
16. Mike Tyson
17. Jameel McCline
18. Tony Thompson
19. Samuel Peter
20. Eddie Chambers
21. Alexander Dimitrenko
22. Luan Krasniqi
23. Siarhei Liakhovich
24. Danny Williams
25. Sinan Samil Sam
26. Lance Mount Whitaker
27. Mariusz Wach
28. Clifford Etienne
29. Calvin Brock
30. Baby Joe Mesi
31. Aleksandr Ustinov
32. DaVarryl Williamson
33. James Toney
34. Dominick Guinn
35. Volodymyr Vyrchys
36. Lawrence Clay-Bey
37. Ray Austin
38. Jason Estrada
39. Cedric Boswell
40. Jean Francois Bergeron
41. Monte Barrett
42. Audley Harrison
43. Attila Levin
44. Kevin McBride
45. Martin Rogan
46. Charles Shufford
47. Donnell Holmes
48. Juan Carlos Gomez
49. Matt Skelton
50. Oleg Platov
51. Chazz Witherspoon
52. Brian Nielsen
53. Denis Boytsov
54. David Bostice
55. Mike Mollo
56. Timo Hoffmann
57. Roman Greenberg
58. Owen Beck
59. Derric Rossy
60. Tye Fields
61. Brian Minto
62. Johnathon Banks
63. David Cadieux
64. Raphael Butler
65. Kali Meehan
66. Elieser Castillo
67. Gerald Nobles
68. Vinny Maddalone
69. Michael Sprott
70. Friday Ahunanya
71. Leo Nolan
72. Paolo Vidoz
73. Andre Purlette
64. Alonzo Butler
65. Patrice L'Heureux
66. Cengiz Koc
67. John McDermott
68. Taurus Sykes
69. Albert Sosnowski
70. Tony Grano
71. Mario Preskar
72. Malcolm Tann
73. Taras *****ko
74. Rob Calloway
75. Travis Walker
76. Okello Peter
77. Guillermo Jones
78. Jo-el Scott
79. Duncan Dokiwari
80. Derek Bryant
81. Terry Smith
82. Carl Davis Drumond
83. Julius Francis
84. Shane Cameron
85. Nate Jones
86. Nicolai Firtha
87. Tomasz Bonin
88. Taurus Sykes
89. Eric Butterbean Esch
90. Richard ****o
91. Josh Imadiyi
92. Jovo Pudar
93. Damian Wills
94. Chauncy Welliver
95. Mike Bernardo
96. James Phipps
97. JD Chapman
98. Steffen Nielsen
99. Darrel Madison
100. David Defiagbon

A Few Just Missing the cut:
Faruq Saleem
Mark Potter
Nikolay Popov
King Ipitan
Rob Calloway
Jerome Le Banner
Josue Blocus
Scott Gammer
Skyler Anderson
Mark Krence
Talmadge Griffis
Chris Koval
Zuri Lawrence
Ondrej Pala
Chad Van Sickle
Joseph Chingangu
John Sargent
Steve Herelius
Lamar Stephens
George Linberger
Michael Marrone
Rene Monse
Fernely Feliz
John Carlo
Carl Davis
Roman Kracik
Billy Zumbrun
Chester Hughes
Julius Lloyd Long
Valery Chechenev



E. 2010 - 2019
1. Tyson Fury
2. Wladimir Klitschko
3. Deontay Wilder
4. Anthony Joshua
5. Vitali Klitschko
6. Andy Ruiz Jr
7. Luis Ortiz
8. Joseph Parker
9. Joe Joyce
10. Dillian Whyte
11. Alexander Povetkin
12. Jarrell Miller
13. David Haye
14. Kubrat Pulev
15. Agit Kabayel
16. Derrick Chisora
17. Bermane Stiverne
18. Charles Martin
19. Johann Duhaupas
20. Chris Arreola
21. Bryant Jennings
22. Tony Yoka
23. Tomasz Adamek
24. Carlos Takam
25. Robert Helenius
26. Dominic Breazeale
27. Tony Thompson
28. Aleksandr Ustinov
29. Gerald Washington
30. Hughie Fury
31. Tom Schwarz
32. Francesco Pianeta
33. David Allen
34. Erkan Teper
35. Artur Szpilka
36. Malik Scott
37. Adam Kownacki
38. Vyacheslav Glazkov
39. Nathan Gorman
40. Christian Hammer
41. Lucas Brown
42. Sergey Kuzmin
43. Mairis Briedis
44. Alex Leapai
45. Tony Grano
46. Travis Kauffman
47. David Price
48. Mahmoud Charr
49. Odlanier Solis
50. Seth Mitchell
51. Amir Mansour
52. Sam Sexton
53. Gary Cornish
54. Izuagbe Ugonoh
55. Timur Ibragimov
56. Bogdan Dinu
57. Andrey Fedosov
58. Edmund Gerber
59. Robert Alfonso
60. Herve Hubeaux
61. Tor Hamer
62. Bowie Tupou
63. Razvan Cojanu
64. Trey Lippe Morrison
65. Dillon Carman
66. Nick Webb
67. Kevin Kingpin Johnson
68. Richard Lartey Harrison
69. Lenroy Thomas
70. Joe Hanks
71. James McKenzie Morrison
72. Justin Jones
73. Adrian Granat
74. Kyotaro Fujimoto
75. Agron Smakici
76. John Wesley Nofire
77. Deven Vargas
78. Ed Latimore
79. Chauncy Welliver
80. Alexander Petkovic
81. Maurice Harris
82. Andrzej Wawrzyk
83. Michael Wallisch
84. Joey Dawejko
85. Rostislav Plechko
86. Richard Towers
87. Apti Davtaev
88. Niall Kennedy
89. Yasmany Consuegra
90. Joey Abell
91. Alexis Santos
92. Darmani Rock
93. Franz Rill
94. George Arias
95. Kelvin Price
96. Samuel Kadje
97. Iago Kiladze
98. Sean Turner
99. Evgenios Lazaridis
100. Skipp Scott

A Few Just Missing the cut:
Joshua Tufte
Dorsett Barnwell
Leif Larsen
Dmitry Kudryashov
Gregory Tony
Pawel Kolodziej
Daniel Martz
Arnold Gjergjaj
Donovan Dennis
Boban Filipovic
Steve Vukosa
Junlong Zhang
Eugene Hill Sr
Marino Goles
Ed Fountain
Pierre Madsen
Albon Pervizaj
Lateef Kayode
Vincent Thompson
Sonny Bill Williams
Marino Goles
Mark Hunt
Ratko Draskovic
Taishan Dong




F. 2020 - 2025+ ....Thus Far
1. Oleksandr Usyk
2. Tyson Fury
3. Joseph Parker
4. Daniel Dubois
5. Anthony Joshua
6. Agit Kabayel
7. Zhilei Zhang
8. Joe Joyce
9. Dilian Whyte
10. Deontay Wilder
11. Andy Ruiz Jr
12. Derek Chisora
13. Martin Bakole
14. Filip Hrgovic
15. Frank Sanchez
16. Efe Ajagba
17. Moses Itauma
18. Richard Torrez Jr
19. Luis Ortiz
20. Kubrat Pulev
21. Fabio Wardley
22. Otto Wallin
23. Arslanbek Makhmudov
24. Michael Hunter
25. Alexander Povetkin
26. Murat Gassiev
27. Zhan Kossobutskiy
28. Jared Anderson
29. Guido Vianello
30. Lawrence Okolie
31. Ryad Merhy
32. Stephan Shaw
33. Robert Helenius
34. Charles Martin
35. Tony Yoka
36. Hughie Fury
37. David Adeleye
38. Justis Huni
39. Umut Camkiran
40. Frazier Clarke
41. Lenier Pero
42. Carlos Takam
43. Jermaine Franklin
44. Simon Kean
45. Trevor Bryan
46. George Arias
47. Jonathan Guidry
48. Demsey McKean
49. Cassius Chaney
50. Solomon Dacres
51. Bohdan Myronets
52. Jose Larduet
53. Joe Cusumano
54. Hemi Ahio
55. Kevin Lerena
56. Mahmoud Charr
57. Junior Fa
58. Petar Milas
59. Viktor Vykhryst
60. Ebenezer Tetteh
61. Lukasz Rozanski
62. Vladyslav Sirenko
63. Joseph Goodall
64. Bakhodir Jalolov
65. Alexis Barriere
66. Ivan Dychko
66. Evgeny Romanov
67. Alen Babic
68. Jonathan Rice
69. Dante Stone
70. Michael Polite Coffie
71. Arslan Yallyev
72. Labinot Xhoxhaj
73. Deontae Pettigrew
74. Francis Ngannou
75. Ali Eren Demirezen
76. Gurgen Hovhannisyan
77. Jerry Forrest
78. Kem Ljungquist
79. Mike Balogun
80. Hussain Muhamed
81. Oleksandr Zakhozhyi
82. Macin Siwy
83. Carlos Negron
84. Peter Kadiru
85. Richard Riakporhe
86. Senad Gashi
87. Faiga Opelu
88. Kristian Prenga
89. Mark Petrovsky
99. Nelson Hysa
91. George Arias
92. Paul Gallen
93. Damian Knyba
94. Kingsley Ibeh
95. Alexander Frank
96. Mourad Aliev
97. Brandon Moore
98. Vartan Arutyunyan
99. Devon Young
100. Piotr Lacz

A Few Just Missing the cut:
Evgeny Tishchenko
Granit Shala
Sonny Conto
Antonio Mireles
Vartan Arutyunyan
Pryce Taylor
Georgiy Yunovidov
Agron Smakici
Skylar Lacy
Drake Banks
Stanley Wright
Christopher Lovejoy
****** Gadzhimagomedov
Ruann Visser
Robert Simms
Shaun Potgieter
Zhaoxin Zhang

[QueensburyRules]

- - Tubby Lar who used to be skinny then didn't make the Ring top ten until Foreman Retired ca 1977. All the emboldened were stock top Ring ranked fighters leading up to 1977.

Learning the timeline would greatly enhance your credibility...

1. 1970 - 1979
1. Muhammad Ali
2. George Foreman
3. Joe Frazier
4.
5. Ken Norton
6. Jerry Quarry
7. Ron Lyle
8. Earnie Shavers
9. Jimmy Ellis
10. Jimmy Young
Last place Larry Holmes

[Willow The Wisp]

- - Tubby Lar who used to be skinny then didn't make the Ring top ten until Foreman Retired ca 1977. All the emboldened were stock top Ring ranked fighters leading up to 1977.

Learning the timeline would greatly enhance your credibility...

1. 1970 - 1979
1. Muhammad Ali
2. George Foreman
3. Joe Frazier
4.
5. Ken Norton
6. Jerry Quarry
7. Ron Lyle
8. Earnie Shavers
9. Jimmy Ellis
10. Jimmy Young
Last place Larry Holmes

Spare me.

[Coverdale]

Spare me.

Queenie is the archetypal bitter imbecile, incapable of anything creative himself so spends his time crapping on people who are with his gibberish. He belongs on everyone's ignore list.

Thank you for the lists, interesting read.

[mattdonnellon]

I looked at your number 20's;
Tubbs
Bobick
Pulev
Chalmbers
Arreola
Thompson...is it just me or is Tubbs far and away the best of this lot?

Number 40;
Ocasio
Mercado
Mavrovic
Hammer
Clarke
Bergeron!
Ocasio for me.

Number 50;
Platov
Dacres
Mitchell
Witherspoon
Miroshnichenko
L.Frazier...
does it matter?

number 10;
Young
Smith
Mercer
Ruiz
Wilder
Whyte
Young for me, then Mercer, Ruiz, Smith, Wilder and Whyte.
Great stuff actually and I hope to get time to comment more, also in fairness the current lot will flesh out a lot. Initially, seems the 70's and 80's have more depth for me.

[Willow The Wisp]

I liked Chuvalo so much, I listed him twice! He might not be the only one. I'm pretty old yaknow.

[Willie Pep 229]

I would have Henry Cooper 10 spaces higher. Somewhere around you second Geroge Chuvalo at 17. In fact I think you should move 'Ol Enry into that slot.

Anybody #50 and higher I just don't recognize in any period.

[Willow The Wisp]

I would have Henry Cooper 10 spaces higher. Somewhere around you second Geroge Chuvalo at 17. In fact I think you should move 'Ol Enry into that slot.

Anybody #50 and higher I just don't recognize in any period.

Henry is, of course, much higher in the 1960s. His appearance in the 70s is due almost in full to his historic "losing" effort against the much younger (and bigger) Joe Bugner, for which many never forgave Joe.

[Willie Pep 229]

Henry is, of course, much higher in the 1960s. His appearance in the 70s is due almost in full to his historic "losing" effort against the much younger (and bigger) Joe Bugner, for which many never forgave Joe.

Ah! OK that makrs sense.

[QueensburyRules]

Spare me.

- - Plenty of Blubber left on Lar for you to subsist on...