Who Is The 3rd Greatest Heavyweight Of All Time?

[StarshipTrooper]

Why so defensive? Have I really upset you that much?

Plus.. I'm not the one who ran away from the debate, because I had nothing to counter back with.

Upset? Not particularly. I simply don't suffer fools gladly.....in fact, I doen't suffer them at all

Poet

[macthechamp]

Upset? Not particularly. I simply don't suffer fools gladly.....in fact, I doen't suffer them at all

Poet

[The_Demon]

Holmes for me

[Jim Jeffries]

What on Earth has he done to deserve a top 3 position? Win against a very faded legend in Ali who had Parkinsons? Win a very close decision against a past-prime Norton?

You could make an argument for him being in the top 10, but in no way is he a top 3 all-time heavyweight.

I'm not a Holmes fan, but you cannot make an argument for not having him in your top 10.

yeah you're really mature. i bet your family likes having you around.

edit: for the posters who arent crying ******* who think people should be pistol whipped over an opinion. jack johnson has wins over sam langford, stanley ketchel, jim jeffries, and bob fitzsimmons. i dont see how anyone can say he doesnt have a phenomenal resume.

Except that he avoided Langford (and every other elite black fighter) like the plague while champ.
Ketchel was a middleweight.
Jeffries hadn't fought in SIX years.
Bob Fitzsimmons was 44 years old and shot to hell.

[DeepSleep]

Wow at first when I read the title to this thread I thought I knew who I thought was 3rd. After thinking about it for awhile it's very very tough to choose...

[Earl-Hickey]

Oliver Mcall

[geribeetus]

I'm not a Holmes fan, but you cannot make an argument for not having him in your top 10.



Except that he avoided Langford (and every other elite black fighter) like the plague while champ.
Ketchel was a middleweight.
Jeffries hadn't fought in SIX years.
Bob Fitzsimmons was 44 years old and shot to hell.

they're still huge names to have on your resume. lots of great wins are tarnished in some way. if it's not weight it's age. if it's not age it's turmoil outside the ring. if it's not turmoil outside the ring it's a secret injury that the fighter never bothered to mention to anyone until he lost. norton and frazier get credit for beating ali after the forced layoff. anyone who ends up beating vitali klitschko will get credit for beating him even after unretirement. lennox lewis made half of his comp look like middleweights with his 84 inch reach and 6 5+ frame. same with liston's reach. people just didn't care as much about size differences back then. he might've avoided langford while he was on top, but he still beat him on the way up.

i'll give you bob fitzsimmons though, i didn't know he was quite THAT old.

[JAB5239]

Most of his title defenses were against C level opponents. You think Marvis Frazier, Leon Spinks and Scott LeDoux were great wins for his legacy?

Well you got Johnson at 3, tell me about his title defenses. Im not trying to deride any fighter, but to make my point someone has to bite the bullet. What did Johnson do to be at 3? He wouldn't defend against ANY black contenders. Wouldn't rematch a more mature Langford, and beat a lot of good fighters very early in their careers. Its easy ton dismiss ANY fighter if you really want to.

Norton was not in his prime. All you have to do is observe his next few fights after the Holmes one to prove this.

This very well may have been the fight Norton peaked at. At the very least I would imagine its his greatest performance. What he did afterwords does not define what he did that night. Many fighters were not the same after less brutal encounters.

As for the era part, that doesn't do much. The Klitschko's are the best heavyweights of this era and I don't rank either of them within the top 10. Besides, everyone knows that Tyson was the best heavyweight of the 80s.

Not sure everyone knows that. And no matter, Holmes will always rank higher on any reasonable all time list.

[wmute]

This is a freaking tough call. I have no idea. IMO Louis and Ali are clearly 1 and 2, (for me 2 and 1). But behind them it starts getting really tough. Holmes, Dempsey, Jeffries, Lewis, Liston, Foreman, and Johnson are all worth considering IMO.

[JAB5239]

This is a freaking tough call. I have no idea. IMO Louis and Ali are clearly 1 and 2, (for me 2 and 1). But behind them it starts getting really tough. Holmes, Dempsey, Jeffries, Lewis, Liston, Foreman, and Johnson are all worth considering IMO.

In my opinion Holmes, Johnson, Lewis and Foreman are the only candidates for the #3 spot. I can think of reasons for and against all of them, but for my money its Holmes.