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

A Few Just Missing the cut:
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
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. Tony Thompson
21. Larry Donald
22. Alex Stewart
23. Michael Grant
24. Lou Savarese
25. Gary Mason
26. Francesco Damiani
27. Bruce Seldon
28. Kirk Johnson
29. Derrick Jefferson
30. Danell Nicholson
31. David Izon
32. Pierre Coetzer
33. Axel Schulz
34. Frans Botha
35. Henry Akinwande
36. Joe Hipp
37. Buster Mathis Jr
38. Jeremy Williams
39. Jimmy Thunder
40. Zeljko Mavrovic
41. Alex Garcia
42. Herbie Hide
43. Jorge Luis Gonzalez
44. Fres Oquendo
45. Obed Sullivan
46. Mike Perez
47. Orlin Norris
48. Vaughn Bean
49. Shazzon Bradley
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. Michael Bentt
62. Don Steele
63. David Dixon
64. Phil Jackson
65. Richie Melito
65. Robert Davis
67. Courage Tshabalala
68. Rocky Pepeli
69. Keith McKnight
70. Solomon Haumono
71. Art Tucker
72. Przemyslaw Saleta
73. Curtis Shepard
74. . Bronco Billy Wright
75. Scott Welsh
76. Tue Bjorn Thomsen
77. Kelvin Price
78. Cody Koch
79. Julius Francis
80. Daniel Dancuta
81. James Oyebola
82. Crawford Grimsley
83. Sam Hampton
84. Ross Puritty
85. Paea Wolfgramm
86. Ahmed Abdin
87. Eric Butterbean Esch
88. ****y Ryan
89. Boise Jimmy Ellis
90. Ray Anis
91. Samson Po'uha
92. Ed Mahone
93. Tom Glesby
94. Terry David
95. Gerald Mitchell
96. Fred Westgeest
97. Tim Tomashek
98. Paul Poirier
99. Bobby Harris
100. Rodolfo Marin

A Few Just Missing the cut:
Christophe Bizot
Magomed Abdusalamov
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
Massimo Migliaccio
Marselles Brown
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. Chauncy Welliver
94. Mike Bernardo
95. James Phipps
96. JD Chapman
97. Steffen Nielsen
98. Darrel Madison
99. David Defiagbon
100. Faruq Saleem

A Few Just Missing the cut:
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
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. Tor Hamer
61. Bowie Tupou
62. Razvan Cojanu
63. Trey Lippe Morrison
64. Dillon Carman
65. Nick Webb
66. Kevin Kingpin Johnson
67. Richard Lartey Harrison
68. Lenroy Thomas
69. Joe Hanks
70. James McKenzie Morrison
71. Adrian Granat
72. Kyotaro Fujimoto
73. Agron Smakici
74. John Wesley Nofire
75. Deven Vargas
76. Ed Latimore
77. Chauncy Welliver
78. Alexander Petkovic
79. Maurice Harris
80. Andrzej Wawrzyk
81. Michael Wallisch
82. Joey Dawejko
83. Richard Towers
84. Apti Davtaev
85. Niall Kennedy
86. Yasmany Consuegra
87. Joey Abell
88. Alexis Santos
89. Darmani Rock
90. Franz Rill
91. George Arias
92. Samuel Kadje
93. Iago Kiladze
94. Sean Turner
95. Evgenios Lazaridis
96. Skipp Scott
97. Leif Larsen
98. Joshua Tufte
99. Dmitry Kudryashov
100. Dorsett Barnwell

A Few Just Missing the cut:
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. Jose Larduet
52. Joe Cusumano
53. Hemi Ahio
54. Kevin Lerena
55. Mahmoud Charr
56. Junior Fa
57. Petar Milas
58. Viktor Vykhryst
59. Ebenezer Tetteh
60. Lukasz Rozanski
61. Vladyslav Sirenko
62. Joseph Goodall
63. Bakhodir Jalolov
64. Alexis Barriere
65. Ivan Dychko
66. Evgeny Romanov
67. Alen Babic
68. Petar Milas
69. Jonathan Rice
70. Dante Stone
71. Michael Polite Coffie
72. Arslan Yallyev
73. Labinot Xhoxhaj
74. Deontae Pettigrew
75. Francis Ngannou
76. Ali Eren Demirezen
77. Gurgen Hovhannisyan
78. Jerry Forrest
79. Kem Ljungquist
80. Mike Balogun
81. Hussain Muhamed
82. Oleksandr Zakhozhyi
83. Macin Siwy
84. Carlos Negron
85. Peter Kadiru
86. Richard Riakporhe
87. Senad Gashi
88. Faiga Opelu
89. Kristian Prenga
90. Mark Petrovsky
91. Nelson Hysa
92. George Arias
93. Paul Gallen
94. Damian Knyba
95. Kingsley Ibeh
96. Alexander Frank
97. Mourad Aliev
98. Vartan Arutyunyan
99. Devon Young
98. Piotr Lacz
99. Evgeny Tishchenko
100. Brandon Moore

A Few Just Missing the cut:
Granit Shala
Sonny Conto
Antonio Mireles
Pryce Taylor
Skylar Lacy
Drake Banks
Christopher Lovejoy

[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...