my top 35 heavyweights of all time

[butterfly1964]

Jeffries is a hard spot to rank, and i have no problem with him being ranked a little higher. TO ADDRESS THIS POINT, when langford refused to fight him it was in 1905 or 1906. LANGFORD WAS ONLY 155LB DURING THAT TIME. surely a 155lb man wouldnt want to challenge a chizzled 220lb champion?? langford did not reach his heavyweight prime till about 1909 or 1910 when he started to weigh around 180lb.











i agree, and i have considered this. knocking out a hank griffin in your 3rd pro fight is incredible.








sam langford's win resume at heavyweight matches up there with anyones in history outside of ali. its phenominal. in his heavyweight prime which consisted of MANY fights, he lost just a couple times.

IT WAS LANGFORD, NOT JACK JOHNSON, WHO DOMINATED THE ERA. WHY? LANGFORD BEAT THE BEST CHALLENGERS OUT THERE ON A CONSISTENT BASIS. johnson ducked the best challengers out there. IN ESSENCE, it was sam langford who cleaned up the heavyweight division during johnson's reign. NOT JACK JOHNSON.

then why did you rank langford below johnson?

[SuzieQ49]

cause even on langfords best day, he wouldn't have beaten johnson IMO.


- johnson faced langford in 1906. langford was only 155lb, but he was far more experienced and johnson was still green and just 185lb. johnson basically shutout langford knocking him down twice.


STILL, the fight never took place and jack johnson defintley ducked sam langford, so he gets points taken off.

[Heckler]

I totally forgot about langford to tell you the truth. To compile a list that accurately reflects your thoughts it takes quite some time.

[Da Iceman]

you could put norton and tunney a little higher, i thought norton beat ali 2 times and tunney beat greb i think 3 times.

[Southpaw Stinger]

1)Muhammad Ali
2)Joe Louis
3)George Foreman
4)Joe Frazier
5)Sonny Liston
6)Jack Dempsey
7)Rocky Marciano
8)Mike Tyson
9)Larry Holmes
10)Lennox Lewis
11)Jack Johnson
12)Jim Jeffries
13)Floyd Patterson
14)Ken Norton
15)Evander Holyfield
16)Ezzard Charles
17)Jersey Joe walcott
18)Rid**** Bowe
19)Max Schmeling
20)Gene Tunney

[K-DOGG]

Greatest World Heavyweight Champions

1. Muhammad Ali
2. Joe Louis
3. Larry Holmes
4. Jack Johnson
5. Jack Dempsey
6. Mike Tyson
7. Lennox Lewis
8. Rocky Marciano
9. George Foreman
10. Joe Frazier
11. Charles "Sonny" Liston
12. Evander Holyfield
13. James J. Jeffries
14. Ezzard Charles
15. Gene Tunney
16. Max Schmeling
17. Floyd Patterson
18. Max Baer
19. Jack Sharkey
20. "Jersey Joe Walcott
21. John L. Sullivan
22. James J. Corbett
23. Tommy Burns


This list is compiled and organized based on overall dominance, longevity, and performance above and beyond the championship level (the ability to pull it out when the chips are down). Social Impact is also a factor; but not as important as boxing related criteria.

[Da Iceman]

if its compiled on what you said joe louis would be on top then larry holmes.

[K-DOGG]

In your opinion.

[K-DOGG]

My process orbits around that criteria. Ali is on top due to his meeting that criteria, plus the depth of the division at the time he ruled, which was stronger than the Louis era and the Holmes era...though just barely. Also, his "above and beyond" portion plays out.

It's not an exact science; but I do the best I can to be consistant. To be fair, every little thing must be taken into consideration and the criteria must be the perspective of the era as well.

[oldgringo]

Ali
Louis
Holmes
Foreman
Marciano
Johnson
Holyfield
Frazier
Dempsey
Lewis

About what my rankings would be...for today at least it will suffice.

Good lists otherwise though, I tend to think that Holmes was underrated and put him into that third spot. I feel like he could have beaten (or given them a real run for their money) any other heavyweight throughout history prime for respective prime.

I feel like some would have a problem with the ranking of Holyfield too. He, Frazier and Dempsey are tough for me to rank in there, but I've seen much more of these two and have been aware of their careers moreso than Dempseys, thus my ranking.