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

[mattdonnellon]

I matched the 70's against the 90's by selecting the 11-20 fighters and I have highlighted my picks. I tried to match the men based on their performances in their decade but it would be easier to match the best version of them, though not as accurate, eg the 70's Patterson was not as good as the 60's version etc. I think Coetzee overall was better than Morrison but the 70's Coetzee did not accomplish as much as the 90's Morrison, if that makes sense?


11. Gerrie Coetzee v Tommy Morrison
12. Joe Bugner v Michael Moorer
13. Floyd Patterson v Andrew Golota
14. George Chuvalo v Oliver McCall
15. Oscar Bonavena v Chris Byrd
16. Mac Foster v Donovan Razor Ruddock
17. Henry Cooper v James Buster Douglas
18. Al Blue Lewis v Tony Tucker
19. Kallie Knoetze v Bert Cooper
20. Duane Bobick v Larry Donald (Tony Thompson didn't box in the 1990's so I subbed in Donald)

I'm amazed at my picks as I expected a fairly even balance, perhaps it is just my take...

[Haka]

E. 2010 - 2019

Povetkin > Haye > Joyce > Miller > Whyte

[QueensburyRules]

Holmes isn't ranked in the top ten until March 1977, as expressed by The Ring annual rankings for 1976.

Which is funny because he doesn't take on any serious competition until November 1977 (Arllington) and finally Shavers in March 1978.

I think maybe Holmes' inclusion in the 1976 annual Ring rankings (March 1977) stinks of Don King.

We're these The Ring Magazine's corrupt years? I wonder. Holmes inclusion at #6 in March 1977 is not warranted.

Funny but Holmes fights a 5-1 fighter (Horace Robinson 5-8-0 career) on the Foreman-Young undercard. A Don King Promotion.

Don King knew how to protect his fighters, until he was done using them. Then he kicked them to the curve.

I got to go with the argument that Holmes wasn't a serious fighter until Shavers in March 1978.

- - Well, he did beat reputed legend Roy Williams in 1976 which gave him is first ranking AFTER George retired.

And prior he beat Rodney Bobick while ducking Big Bro Duane who knocked him out of the Olympic trials and who was Ring ranked before Lar.

Tubby Lar who was still skinny then was an utter nobody until he became the Giant sucking sound after the last of the Big Four of Frazier, Ali, Big George and finally Norton retired because Lar ducked the lucrative rematch.

[Willow The Wisp]

Of course I don't. I am just speculating. Hell the FBI had little proof. But Holmes' fight history until Shavers does not warrant a #6 ranking.

So how did he get there?

End of the year means nothing. Do you think if a fighter gets KOed in Janurary of 1977 they are going to include him in their 1976 ranking which they published in March 1977? Of course not.

See uf you can find Buster Douglas as recognized champion* in the annual rankings.

You wont, because he beat Tyson in 1990 and lost to Holyfield in Mach 1991. See 'end of the year rankings' mean nothing until they post them four months later.

But that's irrelevant because Holmes doesn't have the 1976 resumé to warrant a #6 ranking.

*As being ranked #1. The Ring was in that bizarre period where they weren't identifying champions but they usually put the champ in the #1 slot. Buster never got the #1 slot because of the timing.

The Don King, Johnny Ort scandal was limited to a small number of fighters being (very arguably) inserted, and Holmes placement was not ever part of the deal.

The boxers who were involved in the scandal were:

• Donald (Biff) "The Terror" Cline, a police officer - given five first-round knockouts in 1976
• Mike Colbert, already a legitimate contender - given three wins in 1976
• Paddy Dolan - given four wins in 1975
• Ike Fluellen - given two wins in Mexico in 1976
• Anthony House - given seven wins in 1975 and 1976
• Hilbert Stevenson - given five wins and a draw with House in 1976
• Four other boxers in the tournament—Greg Coverson, Vonzell Johnson, Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Richard Rozelle—were credited with a total of 11 fake wins in 1975 and 1976

It was a very bad time for Boxing and for The Ring.

But soon, both would recover.
it's Fkg Boxing.


Remember, that you can NOT take the element of subjectivity out of boxing ratings, and, that McGovern was utterly crushed in the 72' elections, and; that media is, in part, in the business of selling newspapers through exciting stories.


Holmes was a prospective 1972 Olympian (Lost to Bobick, who had a huge win over Teofilo Stevenson in the 71' Pan-American games), and by 76' was climbing fast.


I've got nearly ALL issues of The Ring. But they're in boxes, stored. I'd dig those out to properly track Larry Holmes ascending ranking, but what's the point? The Ring's world rankings were never perfect. Nobody's were.

Larry came up the right way, by beating increasingly better opposition.

1976
Club fighters
Joe Gholston, 15-10-1 / 15-18-2 (4)
Fred Askew, 10-12-1 / 15-16-2 (8)

Fringe contenders
Roy Williams, 23-4-0 / 30-6-0 (22)

1977
Club Fighters
Horace "Big City" Robinson, 5-1-0 / 8-6-0 (4)

Fringe contenders
Tom Prater, 17-3-1 /24-21-1 (15)
Fred Young Sanford Houpe, 12-1-0 /14-6-0 (12)
Dale Ibar Arrington, 22-3-1 / 28-7-2 (21)


The following year, Holmes would beat Shavers and Norton, and with Ali aging all the way out, would become number ONE in the world; a distinction that he would preserve for the next 7 years.

[Willie Pep 229]

The Don King, Johnny Ort scandal was limited to a small number of fighters being (very arguably) inserted, and Holmes placement was not ever part of the deal.

The boxers who were involved in the scandal were:

• Donald (Biff) "The Terror" Cline, a police officer - given five first-round knockouts in 1976
• Mike Colbert, already a legitimate contender - given three wins in 1976
• Paddy Dolan - given four wins in 1975
• Ike Fluellen - given two wins in Mexico in 1976
• Anthony House - given seven wins in 1975 and 1976
• Hilbert Stevenson - given five wins and a draw with House in 1976
• Four other boxers in the tournament—Greg Coverson, Vonzell Johnson, Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Richard Rozelle—were credited with a total of 11 fake wins in 1975 and 1976

It was a very bad time for Boxing and for The Ring.

But soon, both would recover.
it's Fkg Boxing.


Remember, that you can NOT take the element of subjectivity out of boxing ratings, and, that McGovern was utterly crushed in the 72' elections, and; that media is, in part, in the business of selling newspapers through exciting stories.


Holmes was a prospective 1972 Olympian (Lost to Bobick, who had a huge win over Teofilo Stevenson in the 71' Pan-American games), and by 76' was climbing fast.


I've got nearly ALL issues of The Ring. But they're in boxes, stored. I'd dig those out to properly track Larry Holmes ascending ranking, but what's the point? The Ring's world rankings were never perfect. Nobody's were.

Larry came up the right way, by beating increasingly better opposition.

1976
Club fighters
Joe Gholston, 15-10-1 / 15-18-2 (4)
Fred Askew, 10-12-1 / 15-16-2 (8)

Fringe contenders
Roy Williams, 23-4-0 / 30-6-0 (22)

1977
Club Fighters
Horace "Big City" Robinson, 5-1-0 / 8-6-0 (4)

Fringe contenders
Tom Prater, 17-3-1 /24-21-1 (15)
Fred Young Sanford Houpe, 12-1-0 /14-6-0 (12)
Dale Ibar Arrington, 22-3-1 / 28-7-2 (21)


The following year, Holmes would beat Shavers and Norton, and with Ali aging all the way out, would become number ONE in the world; a distinction that he would preserve for the next 7 years.

I never meant to say that Holmes was part of the 'fake wins' scandal but he was King's fighter while he was feeding them money for the fake wins.

I just don't see the necessary wins before Shavers that deserves a #6 ranking.

But as you say it is subjective . . .

But then again any fan of RICO would look at that ranking with a su****ious eye, considering the facts (paid wins) you posted. The timeline is too perfect for me to just accept it as coming without King's influence.

Just don't see the wins in the resumé.

[mattdonnellon]

Some years ago on another forum, along with two other posters, we did a list of the number of fights that took place in the following year after the Rings year end top ten ratings between these rated fighters. We also did the same for the pre-Ring ratings by using my personal top 10 year ends, 1883 onwards.
The results were I think interesting;
1883 to 90- 40 (8 years)
>1900 -51 fights
>10 -62
>20 -98
>30 -53
>40 -52
>50 -44
>60 -68
>70 -48
>80 -48
>90 -37
>2000 -37
>10 -34
>20 -22
If anybody needs clarification, please ask, my explanation seems poor even to me!
I must update 2021-to 2023.

[Willow The Wisp]

Some years ago on another forum, along with two other posters, we did a list of the number of fights that took place in the following year after the Rings year end top ten ratings between these rated fighters. We also did the same for the pre-Ring ratings by using my personal top 10 year ends, 1883 onwards.
The results were I think interesting;
1883 to 90- 40 (8 years)
>1900 -51 fights
>10 -62
>20 -98
>30 -53
>40 -52
>50 -44
>60 -68
>70 -48
>80 -48
>90 -37
>2000 -37
>10 -34
>20 -22
If anybody needs clarification, please ask, my explanation seems poor even to me!
I must update 2021-to 2023.

I'd like to see those pre-Ring top 10s for sure.

[mattdonnellon]

this decade so far for fights between the top 10 in the following 12 months, 3,3,4,2, 3 and so far in 2025 we have three, kabayel-Zhang, Usyk -Dubois and Parker v Bakole. Wardley and Hrgovic had one fight each, against fighters not in the 2024 end of year top 10 and Joshua and Fury are inactive so far. Different times!

[mattdonnellon]

I'd like to see those pre-Ring top 10s for sure.

I intend to revise some of them a bit as I did them some years ago but only minor changes. PS not trying to hijack your thread, I've printed off your lists for reference!
1882
1-Sullivan
2-Hadley
3-Godfrey
4-Kilrain
5-C C Smith
6-Grant
7-Mitchell
8-Cleary
9-McCaffrey
10-Eliott

1883

1-Sullivan
2-Mitchell
3-Godfrey
4-Kilrain
5-Miller
6-Cleary
7-Greenfield
8-Hadley
9-Woodson
10-McHenry Johnson

1884

1-Sullivan
2-McCaffrey
3-Kilrain
4-Burke
5-Mitchell
6-Farnan
7-Cleary
8-Godfrey
9-Cardiff
10-Thompson

1885

1-Sullivan
2-McCaffrey
3-Burke
4-Mitchell
5-Kilrain
6-Cleary
7-Cardiff
8-Killen
9-Godfrey
10-Lees

1886

1-Sullivan
2-Kilrain
3-Cardiff
4-Mitchell
5-Burke
6-McCaffrey
7-Killen
8-Godfrey
9-Lannon
10-Cleary

1887

1-Sullivan
2-Kilrain
3-Cardiff
4-Killen
5-Mitchell
6-Burke
7-Ashton
8-Godfrey
8-Jackson
10-McAuliffe



1888

1-Sullivan
2-Jackson
3-Killeen
4-Kilrain
5-Cardiff
6-Godfrey
7-Burke
8-Slavin
9-McAuliffe
10-Ashton

1989

1-Jackson
2-Sullivan
3-McAuliffe
4-Godfrey
5-Slavin
6-Killen
7-Cardiff
8-Kilrain
9-Ashton
10-Goddard

1890

1-Jackson
2-Slavin
3-Goddard
4-Godfrey
5-Corbett
6-McAuliffe
7-Kilrain
8-Choynski
9-Killen
10-Laing

1891

1-Jackson
2-Corbett
3-Slavin
4-Goddard
5-Kilrain
6-Godfrey
7-McAuliffe
8-Choynski
9-Laing
10-Maher

1892

Champion Corbett
2. Jackson
3. Goddard
4. Slavin
5. Choynski
6. Fitzsimmons
7. Hall
8. Godfrey
9. McAuliffe
10. Kilrain


1893

Champion Corbett
2. Jackson
3. Fitzsimmons
4. Denver Smith
5. Hall
6. Goddard
7. Slavin
8. Choynski
9. McAuliffe
10. Godfrey

1894

Champion Corbett
2. Jackson
3. Fitzsimmons
4. Smith
5. Choynski
6. Maher
7. Goddard
8. Hall
9. Slavin
10. Godfrey

1895

Champion Maher
2. Fitzsimmons
3. Jackson
4. Slavin
5. Smith
6. Choynski
7. Felix
8. Hall
9. Creedon
10. ODonnell

1896

Champion Corbett
2. Fitzsimmons
3. Maher
4 Choynski
5. Sharkey
6. Armstrong
7. Creedon
8. Goddard
9. Ruhlin
10. ODonnell


1897

Champion Fitzsimmons
2. Maher
3. Sharkey
4. Choynski
5. Childs
6. Corbett
7. Ruhlin
8. Jeffries
9. ODonnell
10. Armstrong

1898

Champion Fitzsimmons
2. Jeffries
3. Sharkey
4. Maher
5. Corbett
6. McCoy
7. Ruhlin
8. Childs
9. Armstrong
10. Choynski

1899

Champion Jeffries
2. Sharkey
3. Fitxsimmons
4. Maher
5. McCoy
6. Corbett
7. Kennedy
8. Ruhlin
9. Childs
10. Martin


1900

Champion Jeffries
2 Fitzsimmons
3 Corbett
4 McCoy
5 Ruhlin
6 Sharkey
7 Childs
8 Maher
9 Kennedy
10 Martin

1901

Champion Jeffries
2 Ruhlin
3 McCoy
4 Childs
5 Sharkey
6 Root
7 Martin
8 Maher
9 Griffin
10 Gardner

1902

Champion Jeffries
2 Fitzsimmons
3 Ruhlin
4 Martin
5 Johnson
6 Gardner
7 OBrien
8 Root
9 Hart
10 Carter

1903

Champion Jeffries
2 Fitzsimmons
3 Johnson
4 Ruhlin
5 Gardner
6 Root
7 Hart
8 OBrien
9 Armstrong
10 McVey

1904

Champion Jeffries
2 Johnson
3 Hart
4 Root
5 OBrien
6 Gardner
7 Ruhlin
8 Ferguson
9 Martin
10 McVey

1905

Champion Hart
2 Johnson
3 OBrien
4 Jeanette
5 Root
6 Fitzsimmons
7 Ruhlin
8 Kaufman
9 J Twin Sullivan
10 Schreck

1906

Champion Burns
2 Johnson
3 OBrien
4 Langford
5 Jeanette
6 McVey
7 Kaufman
8 Schreck
9 Hart
10 Ruhlin

1907

Champion Burns
2 Johnson
3 Kaufman
4 Langford
5 Jeanette
6 McVey
7 OBrien
8 Schreck
9 Jim Flynn
10 Sullivan

1908

Champion Johnson
2 Langford
3 Kaufman
4 Burns
5 Jeanette
6 McVey
7 OBrien
8 Hart
9 Ross
10 Schreck

1909

Champion Johnson
2 Langford
3 Jeanette
4 McVey
5 Kaufman
6 Ketchell
7 OBrien
8 Ferguson
9 Lang
10 Schreck

1910

Champion Johnson
2 Langford
3 Jeanette
4 McVey
5 Kaufman
6 Burns
7 Lang
8 Jim Flynn
9 Dan Flynn
10 Curran

1911

champion Johnson
2 McVey
3 Langford
4 Jeanette
5 Wells
6 Jim Flynn
7 Al Palzar
8 Carl Morris
9 Dan Flynn
10 Clarke

1912

Champion Johnson
2 Langford
3 Jeanette
4 McVey
5 Gunboat Smith
6 Willard
7 Ross
8 Mc Carthy
9 Jim Flynn
10 Palzar

1913

Champion Johnson
2 Smith
3 Langford
4 Jeanette
5 McVey
6 Jim Johnson
7 Pelkey
8 Willard
9 Moran
10 Carpentier

1914

Champion Johnson
2 Langford
3 Jeanette
4 McVey
5 Carpentier
6 Clarke
7 Dillon
8 Wills
9 Levinsky
10 Coffey

1915

Champion Willard
2 Johnson
3 Moran
4 Dillon
5 Wills
6 McVey
7 Jeanette
8 coffey
9 Langford
10 Morris

1916

CHAMPION Willard
2 Wills
3 Miske
4 Dillon
5 Morris
6 Levinsky
7 Moran
8 Weinert
9 McVey
10 Jeanette

1917

Champion Willard
2 Wills
3 Fulton
4 Langford
5 Norfolk
6 Miske
7 Greb
8 Dempsey
9 Jeanette
10 Gibbons

1918

Champion Willard
2 Wills
3 Dempsey
4 Fulton
5 Gibbons
6 Greb
7 Miske
8 Meehan
9 Madden
10 Jeanette

1919

Champion Dempsey
2 Wills
3 Fulton
4 Greb
5 Gibbons
6 Carpentier
7 Miske
8 Johnson
9 Norfolk
10 Brennan

1920

Champion Dempsey
2 Wills
3 Fulton
4 Greb
5 Gibbons
6 Carpentier
7 Miske
8 Norfolk
9 Tunney
10 Weinert

1921

Champion Dempsey
2 Wills
3 Fulton
4 Gibbons
5 Greb
6 Carpentier
7 Miske
8 Tunney
9 Beckett
10 Brennan

1922

Champion Dempsey
2 Wills
3 Greb
4 Gibbons
5 Miske
6 Tunney
7 F.Johnson
8 Brennan
9 Beckett
10 Carpentier

1923

Champion Dempsey
2 Wills
3 Firpo
4 Tunney
5 Carpentier
6 Miske
7 Gibbons
8 Greb
9 Renault
10 F.Johnson

[Haka]

Povetkin > Haye > Joyce > Miller > Whyte

Povetkin > Haye > Joyce > Miller > Luis Ortiz > Whyte